The Bridge, April 19, 2012

by Cassandra Hemenway Brush

Farmers’ market devotees will be in for surprises this summer, as the Capital City Farmers Market prepares for a

slew of new vendors, rotating vending sites, a variety of cooking demos from Slow Food Vermont and New England Culinary In-stitute, and at least one potential change that has sparked a controversy: the removal of vendor Pete’s Greens from the summer market.

Amid its regular announcements last month, the CCFM e-newsletter featured an article explaining why it had banned long-time vendor Pete’s Greens from the 2012 summer market.

“When the outdoor market starts in May, you may notice Pete’s Greens is not the first

vendor at the market’s State Street entrance,” the notice stated. “After being given ample notice and continuing to neglect his atten-dance requirement, the five member board has (after much deliberation and consider-ation) decided to replace Pete’s Greens with two new farmers. We wish him well in all his future endeavors.”

The article explained, “The market mem-bership votes on rules that all our vendors must follow to participate in the market. A key rule is for vendors to attend and sell at the market (for at least half of the markets they attend). This key rule is critical to the character of our market and ensures the con-nection between farmers/vendors and our market’s customers.”

Since then, the board and Pete’s Greens owner Pete Johnson of Craftsbury have agreed to meet to compare their attendance records and revisit the issue. The meeting took place on Wednesday, April 18, after press time. Leading up to the meeting, how-ever, were some strong opinions.

“It seems to me it’s a bit over the top,” said John Snell, who stood outside the April 7 winter market holding a sign that said “Market Board: Bring Back Pete’s Greens” for several hours. Snell also handed out fliers featuring the newsletter article, a list of all the market board members’ contact informa-tion, and his own take on it.

“. . . [Pete] is a leader in the local agricul-ture, a superb grower and businessman, and deserves better than this flawed decision by the Market Board,” Snell wrote, describing himself as a “long-time market customer.”

Johnson himself maintains that he has not violated any market rules, because he at-tended 12 of 23 markets last summer, despite the fact that he was in the middle of rebuild-ing part of his farm, which was devastated in a fire last January. He said he has written records of attendance for every market.

“It’s pretty cut and dry from my perspec-tive,” Johnson said in a telephone interview

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Connecting Montpelier and nearby communities since 1993 | APRIL 19–MAY 2, 2012

Cover photo: Molly Willard working at Wellspring Farm in Marshfi eld in 2011. Photo by Corey Hendrickson.

see MARKET, page 6

Changes at the Capital City Farmers Market

PAGE 2 • APRIL 19 – MAY 2 , 2012 THE BR IDGE

THE BR IDGE APRIL 19 – MAY 2 , 2012 • PAGE 3

Am I Seeing DOUBLE?No! April is two-for-one subscription month! Buy one subscription to The Bridge any time this month and we’ll send another to a friend or relation for FREE!

HEARD ON THE

STREETCity Council Highlights

An atypically short Montpelier City Council meeting began April 11 with a unanimous vote to approve Police Chief Tony Facos’s request to order a $21,941 Chevrolet Impala

police cruiser from Cody Chevrolet. The rationale as written in the meeting’s agenda indi-cated that although a State of Vermont bid price from another dealer was “roughly 1.8 per-cent ($398) lower . . . staff ’s recommendation to purchase . . . from Cody” was based on the positive relationship already experienced with their sales, service and parts departments. The purchase price is within a $25,500 budget specified.

Five other requests passed unanimously. Approvals for two will result in the closure of Langdon Street on Saturday, May 5, from 7 to 10 a.m., for Onion River Sports’ Annual Bike Swap and from 1 to 10 p.m. for Three Penny Taproom’s anniversary party. A band will be featured and an outdoor tent erected for the second event. The council also granted permis-sion to close Governor Aiken Avenue from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 22, so that Earth Day vendor and information booths can be erected there.

Also passed were a proposal to do a show featuring a marching band on May 4 at the Ver-mont College Gym and the acceptance of Lincoln Financial Group’s three-year guaranteed rates for city employees’ disability- and life-insurance plans. The only request not granted was a declaration of intent to reimburse certain expenditures of indebtedness regarding Carr lot improvements. This was tabled after councilor Alan Weiss indicated he’d noticed inconsistent wording in the text of the proposal.

Other highlights included Planning Director Gwendolyn Hallsmith’s update regarding rezoning measures required to assure compliance with the city’s master plan adopted in 2010. Augmented by a slide show, Hallsmith stressed among other ideas her conviction that development in downtown, for which she feels there’s room, could provide increased afford-able living space.

Before adjournment, councilor Thierry Guerlain exhibited an article he’d clipped from the Wall Street Journal indicating that the North Carolina–based Cree company has halved the price of its LED streetlights. LED’s already cheaper-than-average cost has influenced their consideration for installation in Montpelier.

—Ron Merkin

The Wrath of Irene

The Herald of Randolph, with the Public Press of Bethel, has announced publication of The Wrath of Irene, a 234-page history of the impacts of the storm with 250 photographs.

Herald editor and publisher M. Dickey Drysdale says the book is “an account of the physi-cal destruction of the historic . . . storm and the human response in the towns and scattered settlements of the White River Valley.”

Reportedly, sales outlets are “finding it hard to keep up with the demand.”Drysdale said, “We’re unabashedly proud of this wonderful book,” noting that 50 percent

of the profits will be donated to the Irene Relief Fund of the Central Vermont Community Action Council (CVCAC). “The first donation of $1,000 was made April 17,” he noted.

The Wrath of Irene sells in color for $39.95 and in black and white for $24.95 and can be obtained at Bear Pond Books in Montpelier (229-0774) or at Bud & Bella’s Bookshop in Randolph (728-9509).

—Nat Frothingham

P.O. Box 1143, Montpelier, VT 05601Phone: 802-223-5112 | Fax: 802-223-7852 montpelierbridge.com; facebook.com/montpelierbridge

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Corrections

The e-mail address given for Noblestone Press in the story “Len Irving: A Poet for the People” [April 5], was incorrect. The correct address is [email protected].

The tagline for “Why We Throw Money At Things That Make Us Cry” [Opinions, April 5] should have read: “Josephine Kelly is a student in Amy Thornton-Kelly’s homeschool journalism class.”

The Bridge regrets these errors.

Peepers again, and, surprise, on this very hot mid-April night, toads are trilling. I’ve never heard them before May. So, as long as we don’t get a late-April subfreezing

cold snap lasting more than just overnight, all will be OK with these record early signs of spring. And how about some rain? Returning snipe and woodcock who probe wet earth for a living use this wet time of year to fatten up and start the breeding process. But this spring, they are finding less and less of that soft muddy ground to probe! Perhaps it will be pouring rain by the time this goes to press! Now where did I leave my raincoat?

—Nona Estrin

Nature Watch

ADVERTISE! May 3: non-mailed issueadvertising deadline: Friday, April 27

May 17: mailed issueadvertising deadline: Friday, May 11

Contact Carl or Carolyn: 223-5112, ext. 11, [email protected] or [email protected]


by Bob Nuner

Starting Food Works a quarter of a cen-tury ago, Joseph Kiefer brought a work ethic learned on a dairy farm west of

Albany, New York. Like many before him,

he allows that he didn’t appreciate the 5:30 a.m. wake-up, gutter cleaning and chores in his youth, but those chores before the days of industrialized farming, and the connection to the land, have served him since. In Kiefer’s case, that work ethic eventually landed him

Working on a Mission: Fix, Don’t Manage, Hunger

Sandra Lory, Food Works program coordinator, works with children in a demonstration at Highgate Housing’s Good Food Good Medicine garden in Barre. Photo courtesy Food Works.

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Lots of seeds, including organic seeds from High Mowing and soil to plant them in from Vermont Compost Co. and Grow Compost Co.


a master’s degree from Goddard’s Institute for Social Ecology, where his master’s work focused on how to transform schools into community learning centers for food.

Kiefer is quick to rope into the conversa-tion Food Works’s executive director, Martin Kemple.

Kemple’s route to Food Works includes an extended time in Africa, where he observed the influence of industrialization and urban-ization on rural life. His interests include community and how people stay connected and support one another. Coming back to the U.S., he saw the same disintegrative is-sues at work in rural America, and, seeing Kiefer’s creation, he says he said to himself, “I want to learn that,” and he joined the organization.

Kiefer’s and Kemple’s strong respect for each others’ strengths are evident through-out our conversation. Generalizing broadly, Kiefer is on the front lines, while Kemple keeps things moving behind the scenes. Kiefer referred to the synergy between the two of them and the energy that their coop-eration engenders within the organization, alluding to the “joy in coming to work” when people can energize one another.

Teaching People to Feed Themselves

Food Works proposes what some might call a radical alternative to our culture’s pre-dominant industrial food model, focusing on hunger prevention and food autonomy, “not hunger relief . . . or hunger manage-ment,” Kiefer says. They teach people to

feed themselves good, nutritious food that, in this society, is often beyond the reach of the underserved and those just getting by. Food Works seeks not only to teach those who may never have had an opportunity to appreciate good, nutritious food, but also to educate the teachers, who in turn “reeducate students’ tongues” away from what Kiefer called the “addicted” relationship to indus-trially processed foods loaded with fat, salt and sugar.

Food Works employs a variety of avenues, using both in-service teacher training, work-shops and graduate-credit courses offered through Vermont’s colleges, as well as their hands-on Two Rivers Farm. For the colleges, Kiefer says, Food Works does the teaching and all the paperwork; the colleges put their imprimatur on the teaching, providing the graduate-level credits.

Food Works helps teachers change the learning paradigm in their classes. Building upon an experiential model that engages stu-dents in a multidimensional way, the hands-on work engages student’s minds, muscles and senses. In this mode of teaching, it’s common, Kiefer said, that unmotivated students suddenly come alive, interested. Troublemakers become involved leaders, and experiential learning takes place in which the context is the fundamental necessity of food and the pleasures and health it can provide.

In a comprehensive training program in Barre schools last year, for example, Food Works had kids in all the grades divide into groups and then make food from scratch and assess it. Their work involved language skills,

quantification and hands-on work. “They ate their learning” in this model, a successful model, Kiefer argues, that works against the multiple stimulae that bombard kids’ senses in modern culture. It’s learning they can retain and build on because it’s “something they’ve experienced in their bodies, sensory based,” unlike learning that is abstract and “lacking in meaning.”

About food as a teaching tool, Kiefer says, “It’s rich in math, it’s rich in science, it’s rich in language arts and literacy, it’s rich in his-tory, and it’s just a contextual way of inspir-ing children to learn.”

By helping teachers integrate food and nutrition education into the curriculum and then helping them integrate the curriculum into their teaching day, Food Works acts as a mentor and coach, guiding the teachers who, in turn, open students’ minds and hearts to a lost connection to the land.

Continuing to Pursue a Social Mission after 25 Years

The organization has a strongly felt social mission. It doesn’t accept the idea that poor food—and consequently, poor nutrition and resulting poor health—need be the norm. Indeed, Kiefer averred that when some parts of society cannot obtain reasonably priced, healthy food that’s not processed or loaded with salts, fats and sugar, the problem is one that has moral and even, in his view, criminal dimensions that implicate the larger culture.

Kemple and Kiefer point to organizational successes that include nutrition programs

like Vermont Food Education Every Day and passage of Rozo’s Law (named after South Royalton representative Rosemary McLaughlin)—the Vermont Farm to School law that allocates money to teach about where food comes from and provide increas-ing amounts of fresh foods for consump-tion in the schools. Other programs include youth-led gardening programs, buying clubs and Food Works’s online foods exchange, Harvest to Market.

At the celebration of their 25th year, Food Works looks to the future with an ongo-ing capital campaign that will build their outreach programs and further the renova-tions at their demonstration project, Two Rivers Farm at the Jacob Davis farmstead. The farm house with handsome lines, visible from Route 2 behind Agway and the former National Guard armory, has had significant work done to it already, with the raising of the house and installation of a new cellar beneath. That cellar now houses a new com-munity root-crop storage facility, and in the future the spot will be home to other Food Works and Two Rivers Farm buildings (such as greenhouses) and activities.

Communications Director James Askew noted, as part of their fundraising and food-community building exercises, a major up-coming event on July 7. The event’s theme will be “food security in an age of climate change” and will feature well-known speak-ers like Bill McKibben of Middlebury and Ben Hewitt, author of the popular The Town That Food Saved.

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last week. “Throughout last summer’s mar-ket, for the early part of the season I was not going to many markets because we were getting the farm rebuilt. . . . I had some communication with the market manager about it and she suggested I ask the board for special exemption. I expected it to be denied, and it was . . . so for latter half of the market season . . . I went to 12 of the 23 summer markets. Nobody asked me if I went to enough. I thought the market was track-ing it. . . . I thought it was all set.”

Not everyone viewed the issue as being purely about attendance. One woman, who asked not to be named, argued with Snell about his position.

“The summer market is for small people,” she said. “The space should be for small farms. [Pete’s] is a big-time operation. . . . Everything he offers is already in the mar-ket.”

Size had nothing to do with it, maintains CCFM Board President Jaiel Pulskamp of Main Street Market Garden.

“The size of Pete’s Greens did not play a part in our decision, although we speculate that his size may have something to do with why he can’t attend sufficiently,” Pulskamp wrote in an e-mail, stressing that the issue is really about attendance. In fact, Pulskamp

maintains that “CCFM is actually lenient compared to many [other markets]. Some farmers markets have a 75 percent or even 100 percent attendance rule.”

Meanwhile, Johnson still hopes to attend this summer. He has already planted starts for the market and has been counting on the income from it. “It is a significant portion of our income, he said. “It’s important for the farm. I had a lot of starts already going before I ever heard we weren’t going to be in it this year.”

The April 18 meeting comes after what Johnson says were many attempts on his part to discuss the matter in person. Visit The Bridge’s Facebook page for an update on the result of the meeting.

What Else Is New?Interspersed with the staple vendors selling

produce, breads, meats and cheeses, market manager Carolyn Grodinsky has set up a few rotating vendor tables, which will feature a different vendor each week.

“We rotate our craft vendors,” Grodinsky said, “so every week there’s a new group of vendors. I’ve tried to make the market dif-ferent and new.”

Grodinsky has also set up a rotating food-vendor site, so each week a different type of ready-to-eat food will be available, ranging from barbecue to Mexican and Peruvian to

vegan soups. Green Mountain Twisters will be baking pretzels on site; pizza and pasta makers will sell, too.

Everything from baby food to coffins may appear in the rotating spaces, along with other unusual products such as kombucha and kale chips. One table will be rotating five different potters all summer.

New regular vendors include Sweet Rowan Farm, selling pasteurized milk, and two new sources of produce: Harvest Hill Farm and Hatchbrook Gardens.

The market also offers several alcohol ven-dors, including Caledonia Spirits, Artesano Mead and North Branch Vineyards.

Twenty musicians are lined up to play throughout the summer, starting on May 26, she added, and she’s planning a Youth Farmers’ Market Day for the third Saturday in August.

The summer market opens May 5 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m in the parking lot across the street from the corner of Elm and State streets. The last winter market will be held outdoors at the Vermont College of Fine arts this Satur-day, April 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“I’m psyched for the market; it’s going to be great,” Grodinsky said. “You never know what you’re going to find week to week.”

Disclosure: Carolyn Grodinsky is also an ad sales representative for The Bridge.

MARKET, from page 1

John Snell, who stood outside the April 7 winter market protesting the removal of Pete’s Greens from the summer market. Pete Johnson and the Capital City Farmers Market board were scheduled to meet Wednesday night, April 18, to revisit the decision. Photo by Cassandra Hemenway Brush.

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Cooking With Cassandra


André Loumingou needed a bus to St. Johnsbury, which at first he thought might be late and then later we real-

ized did not exist. I’d met him because he greeted me, as I walked past, with a dark and grinning face, telling me (not asking) to help him. I could not help but respond.

He spoke with a heavy accent. Within a few minutes he explained that he spoke French and Spanish. His English required the listener to lean close and pay attention to every word. At the bus stop across from the Golden Dome, I joined him in scrutinizing the bus schedule, finding myself also unable to interpret it.

He whipped out a worn photograph—taken at least 20 years earlier—of himself with a white-haired woman in a long dress: he, a thin young African; she, an elderly, stout, fair-skinned westerner. He said some-thing hard to comprehend, except the word “sister.” Sister? I looked again at the picture; it seemed improbable that this woman was his sister, but stranger things have happened. He kept showing me the photograph, pos-sibly as some form of ID—or maybe he thought I knew her. He appeared to be looking for her. Perhaps she lived in St. Johnsbury? I noticed a couple of large duffel bags and a worn backpack at his feet. He felt certain the bus should have arrived at 4:15. It was now 4:45.

“You give me ride to St. Johnsbury,” he said. “I have 15 dollar.”

I had two children with me, getting antsy and wondering, Who was this man with the luggage and the accent? I couldn’t walk away and leave him on the sidewalk with his $15 and heavy bags. I hefted the backpack, and we walked to St. Augustine’s, whence he’d come. Along the way he told me his story.

André spent his earliest years in Angola, where his entire family had been killed dur-ing the civil war there in the mid-1970s. As an orphan, he’d been taken in by nuns, edu-cated in Paris and also in Portugal, earning a couple of impressive degrees. He also was a roofer and a mason, and he taught French, Spanish and Portuguese (his bags strained with the weight of his books). And now, he showed up broke and apparently without a home on the streets of Montpelier.

He explained that he had been working here a few years ago, and tried to renew his working papers, only to find himself “detained” for 18 months. He spoke of the states he liked best: Florida, Georgia, Texas. I couldn’t believe Vermont would not be on the list, so I gave us a plug. After a while, I got it: the states he favored were the ones in which he could sleep outdoors and not get cold. Vermont, by that measurement, did not rate.

That night, he slept in the Catholic Church. The next day, we drove to St. Johns-bury. I found out that his “sister” was actu-ally a nun who had helped him as an orphan. She’d told him, perhaps decades ago, to look her up when he was in the area. Originally from Newport, she was now 95 and retired in Florida. It wasn’t clear whether or not he was on a quest to find this nun, or if the picture of the two of them together was his

form of credentials. Either way, I began to worry about him.

He marveled at my business card, which read “Cooking with Cassandra” across the top. I told him about my blog, but the word “blog” did not seem to have any meaning to him. The word “cook” did, however. He told me about how he had cooked for President Ronald Reagan, General Alexander Haig, Francois Mitterand, and Canadian Governor General Romeo LeBlanc. He handed me a laminated newspaper article, which con-firmed all that he’d just said, from the Glen-nville (GA) Sentinal, where he’d apparently been living and working last December. The laminate had grown cloudy, presumably be-cause he’d handed it around so often. He clearly had to establish his credentials wher-ever he went, lest he be mistaken for—a concern of his made clear by the number of times he repeated it—someone who does not want to work. He wanted to work.

As a refugee recently released from what amounts to a prison, I imagine he found it necessary to repeat this mantra over and over, along with handing out his credentials: the sister and the article.

I felt ashamed for the freedom I wear so lightly; for the fact that I think Vermont is the best state because I have a warm-enough home; because I don’t have to hammer it into people that I like to work; because I don’t have to rate places by which are friendliest for sleeping outdoors; because I don’t have to hand out credentials in order to get taken seriously; and, mostly, because my family is intact; war happens, for the most part, over-seas in places like Angola or Afghanistan, or Iraq or Kurdistan, or Kosovo—places I don’t see, violences I don’t experience.

I left André in St. Johnsbury, with a little bit more food than he’d started out with and at least one more blanket. I prayed he would be OK wherever the next leg of his journey led him. Before we said goodbye, he promised he’d visit one day, and cook his favorite Angolan shrimp recipe for me. I hold him to that.

If you have a recipe that tells something about you and your background, contact Cas-sandra at [email protected]. Visit her website, cookingwithcassandra.com, for more great stories and recipes.

Angolan Shrimp and a Change of Perspective

André’s Angolan Grilled Shrimp

1 pound shrimp2 garlic cloves, crushed 1/2 cup green onions, including tops, chopped.1 teaspoon ground cumin1/4 teaspoon salt4 tablespoons wine vinegar4 tablespoons waterMake sauce by combining all ingre-

dients except shrimp and grinding them into a paste. Put the shrimp on skewers, brush with the sauce and grill until done (3 to 4 minutes or until they lose their translucency). Serve with extra sauce on the side.



Bewinged and sparkly, the snack fairies once roamed the halls of Union El-ementary School (UES), bringing lus-

cious treats of locally grown carrots, apples, Manghis’ whole-grain rolls and Cabot cheese to UES students. That was in the beginning, in 2006, when Theresa Murray-Clausen started the healthful-foods program. Now, the snack fairies no longer don wings; the program has been streamlined so that the children fetch fairy-certified boxes of snacks to bring back to their classrooms, but the sentiment remains the same: local, nutritious foods are made available to all children at UES regardless of their ability to pay.

Denise Ricker, snack-fairy program coor-dinator, used to volunteer for the program one hour a week a couple of years ago, when her daughter was 4. She started out, she said, just so her child could be in the school with her and become familiar with the setting. But when Murray-Clausen began to transi-tion out of the job, Ricker stepped in.

“I didn’t want the program to falter,” Ricker said. She started out splitting the po-sition with another person, but now she runs it alone, along with her team of “fairies” and volunteers.

The snack fairies serve up foods made lo-cally, such as maple yogurt from Butterworks Farm; fresh (often still warm) rolls from Manghis’ Bread; bagels from KC’s in Wa-terbury; apples and unsweetened applesauce from Champlain Orchards; and muffins and granola made at Montpelier High School. Also served are frozen Maine blueberries and carrot sticks (locally grown when in season).

Over 210 children—or about half the UES student population—benefit from the snack program daily.

Ricker said she has a goal of expanding the program to offer a wider variety of foods. But she has a perennial problem of needing consistent, committed volunteers.

“Because we are all local, and we want to [keep it affordable], we welcome more par-ents—or anyone willing to help us with our mission—to volunteer,” Ricker said. “You can volunteer for as little as one hour a week.”

In fact, Hunger Mountain Coop recog-nizes the program as being integral to the community enough that it offers its members up to a 6 percent discount for volunteering for the UES snack program. There are mini-mum requirements in order to get Hunger Mountain Coop benefits, Ricker added.

Not only do volunteers help keep the program affordable, she said, but the UES parent group donates a chunk of money to help fill in the gaps for students who run out of money, and the program also does its own fundraising. In mid to late May, Ricker said, the snack fairies will be selling half-pound bags of lettuce in order to raise money for the program.

“The lettuce is grown by one of our snack fairy volunteers,” she said, emphasizing the level of commitment that some of the volun-teers feel toward the program.

To learn more about the snack-fairy program, or to volunteer, e-mail [email protected].

In the interest of full disclosure, readers should know that the author of this story is, in fact, a bona fide snack fairy twice a week.

Snack Fairies Serve Up Healthy Food at UES

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by Sylvia Fagin

The Unitarian youth group makes soup and brings it over. The middle school holds a competition to see

which homeroom can gather the most food items. Local bakeries donate bread; grocery stores and farmers donate unsold meat and vegetables.

“There are hundreds of contributions” to the Montpelier Food Pantry, according to Kimberly Lashua, director. Every contribu-tion is essential to making sure that residents of Montpelier and the surrounding com-munities can access healthy, nutritious food when they need it.

The food pantry, housed at Trinity United Methodist Church, serves the communities of Berlin, Calais, East Montpelier, Middle-sex, Montpelier and Worcester. In 2011, the food pantry served 1,769 households; of those served, 11 percent were seniors and 31 percent were children.

Ensuring that everyone can have their

basic needs met is the goal of Just Basics, the umbrella organization of both the Montpe-lier Food Pantry and the Montpelier Home Delivery Program (also known as Meals on Wheels). Just Basics was formed in 2010 to strengthen the structure behind the two long-standing food programs. The goal of Just Basics is to address short-term food needs and to confront the root causes of poverty and dependence through just and sustainable solutions. To that end, Lashua’s very-part-time position is devoted to keeping the food pantry running while also schem-ing future activities.

The shelves of the food pantry are stocked with dry goods like pasta, beans, tuna and peanut butter, and fresh vegetables like car-rots, potatoes and onions. The food pan-try relies heavily on food donated by area grocery stores like Shaw’s; local bakeries, including Manghi’s and La Brioche; and res-taurants like Bagitos. These establishments donate perfectly good food that’s for some reason unsellable: meat that has reached its

sell-by date is frozen for the food pantry; bread that’s a little too brown for sale is do-nated; excess bagels are frozen and donated.

“Food Rescue” is the term for this kind of contribution. In the past, this food might have been sent to the dumpster, but now it’s captured and “rescued” for the food pantry. Each business might only have a little, but together it adds up to a lot of food for those who need it.

Lashua knows there’s more food out there at restaurants and stores that might end up in the dumpster or compost bucket. “Ultimately, we would reach out to all the businesses,” but it’s a matter of manpower, Lashua explains. “It would be great if some-one said, ‘I have a van and I’m familiar with food safety.’ If there were just four or five restaurants with some excess . . .” her voice trails off as she ponders the potential of a city-wide food rescue program.

Volunteers are at the heart of the Just Ba-sics programs. About 20 volunteers staff the food pantry “shopping” hours; others pick up unsold produce at the Montpelier farm-ers’ market, bread from bakeries and food from grocery stores. Volunteer drivers deliver meals to home-bound individuals through Meals on Wheels. Still others support ad-ministrative tasks or simply clean up.

One food business that supports the food pantry with donations is Two Guys in Ver-mont, a soup producer. When he began the business in 2010, co-owner Jeff Weinstein occasionally donated soup to the food pan-try. Then, last year, he attended the Vermont Foodbank’s annual conference on hunger.

“I was inspired to do something a little more solid,” based on his experience at the conference, he says. He made a long-term commitment to donate 2 percent of all the business’s food yields.

“At my scale, I don’t always have the op-portunity to donate large quantities,” he says, “but it’s a consistent commitment. It’s what I can do right now, and I feel good about it.”

So recent visitors to the food pantry were able to choose Two Guys in Vermont “veggie basil goodness” soup—not seconds, but the same quality soup found on store shelves.

When clients come to the food pantry,

they select the food that’s most appropriate for themselves and their family. Gone are the days of picking up a predetermined box of food.

“Maybe you’d rather make a big pot of something, like a bean stew, rather than eat a can of tuna,” Lashua explains.

Lashua notes that a majority of food-pantry clients come less than six times a year, though some come every month. Either way, clients need only register and answer a few simple questions—none of which are about income—before being able to choose a week’s worth of food once a month.

“We try to make it as friendly, accessible and nonjudgemental as possible,” Lashua says. “It’s difficult—you might meet your neighbor, or someone serving you might be your neighbor.”

In addition to maintaining the current food pantry program, Lashua has other hopes for the future. She’d like to expand the “grow a row” program, where local gardeners grow an extra row of vegetables to donate.

“One of my goals would be to have folks growing and gleaning, and using the church kitchen to process sauce and soups for the leaner months,” Lashua says. “Then, I’d like to include clients in harvesting and pro-cessing. That’s the dream—to get clients involved and to extend the season.”

The Montpelier Food Pantry, 137 Main Street, is open from 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesday and 5 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday. First-time users must register at Bethany Church, 115 Main Street (same hours).

For more information about using the food pantry, volunteering, growing a row or donat-ing, contact Kimberly Lashua at 595-9145. Like the Montpelier Food Pantry on Facebook or learn more at justbasicsvt.org.

This year’s Vermont Foodbank Hunger Con-ference will be held on May 8. See Tiny Bites on page 15 for details.

Sylvia Fagin writes about local food and agriculture from her home in Montpelier. Con-tact her via her blog, Aar, Naam ~ Come, Eat, or at sylviafagin.wordpress.com, or follow her on Twitter: @sylviafagin.

Back to Basics at the Montpelier Food Pantry

Bagitos co-owner Soren Pfeffer unloads bagels donated by his restaurant at the Montpelier Food Pantry. Photo courtesy Just Basics/Montpelier Food Pantry.

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by Marsha Barber

Some 1,500 to 2,000 migrant workers toil on Vermont farms—mostly dairy farms—milking cows, shoveling manure, and performing the hard labor that allows the

milk, butter, cheese and other products to reach our tables. Danilo Lopez, until very recently, was one of these workers. Now, thanks to financial help from family members who live in California, he volunteers with Migrant Justice, an orga-nization that gives voice to migrant workers to bring about social, legal and economic justice. In 2011, Migrant Justice worked to create a policy directing state police to stop immi-grant profiling, won more than $6,000 in back wages owed to migrant workers and organized unanimous support in the Vermont Senate agriculture committee for migrant-worker access to Vermont drivers’ licenses.

Lopez, 23, is from the state of Chiapas in Mexico. He comes from two generations of Mexican farmers. “When ‘dumping’ started to occur, our farmers couldn’t compete with the cheaper prices for crops. My grandfather lost his farm, and my parents had to leave for the city to try to find work,” Lopez said during a forum held on April 10 at the Hunger Mountain Coop called From Vermont to Mexico: Solidarity Without Borders, sponsored by unionized workers at the coop (UE Local 255), regional union organizers and Migrant Justice, represented by Natalia Fajardo.

By “dumping,” Lopez meant the dramatic increases in agricultural exports from the United States to Mexico since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed into law under the Clinton administration on January 1, 1994. Corn, wheat, soy products and meat exported from the United States are sold to Mexico at costs as much as 19 percent below what it cost Mexican farmers to produce.

According to Timothy Wise, research director of the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University, where he specializes in agricultural policy and rural develop-ment, five million Mexican farmers lost their farms as a direct result of NAFTA. “That’s why there’s such a huge influx of migrant worker to America,” he said in a short film excerpt shown at the forum. “According to my new study of U.S. dumping on Mexico after NAFTA, Mexican farmers [as a whole] on average lost more than $1 billion per year during the nine-year period of 1997 to 2005, with more than half the losses suffered by the country’s embattled corn farmers,” he said.

Peter Knowlton, president of UE Local 222, the Connecti-cut Independent Labor Union, and one of the facilitators of the forum at the co-op, said, “People think that Mexicans come here to take our jobs because they pay better than what they would make in Mexico. No. We destroyed their economy.”

For Lopez, all the statistics are gut-wrenchingly personal. “People started massively migrating to the city, to tourist places, to find work after farms started going under,” he said at the forum. “I have two younger sisters who were graduat-ing from high school and wanted to go to college. I felt I had to migrate to provide opportunities for my family.”

Lopez spoke about the difficulty of having to depend on others to, as he put it, “move around” once installed on a farm in Vermont. “I had an uncle who already worked on a farm here, and he told me, ‘Life is calm,’ meaning you’re kind of stuck on the farm; you can’t go anywhere; you feel like a child even though you’re an adult. You depend on others for everything. But the Vermont economy depends on us. The farms would be in trouble without us.”

Migrant Justice’s Farjardo said, “There is no guest-worker program for dairy workers. That’s why they’re undocu-mented. It isn’t because they want to be undocumented.”

She described a bill, S.238, that had just passed the Vermont House that would give migrant workers access to Vermont driver’s licenses. The bill still needs to pass the Vermont Senate, and Migrant Justice had organized a rally for April 18 (after press time) to garner support and send a message to legislators about the importance of migrant work-ers having access to independent transportation.

After the coop forum, Lopez spoke with The Bridge, with Farjardo serving as a translator. He worked on a dairy farm in Chittenden County for a year, along with one other mi-grant worker and two American workers. His job was to milk the farm’s 300 cows and clean manure. He worked around 50 and sometimes 60 hours per week. His pay was $800 every two weeks. “I usually worked three shifts every day,” he said. “I would work from 1 to 6 a.m., then go back to work at 10 a.m. and work until 1 or 2 p.m., then go back and work from 3 p.m. until around 6 p.m.”

“Sometimes things were good and I was treated well [by my employer], but other times it varied,” he said.

He talked about an accident where he was injured when a bull kicked him in the ribs and arm. “I went to my employer and said, ‘I need to go to the hospital,’ but he was busy. He said, ‘Just go rest. I can’t take you right now.’ I had to wait 24 hours to get to the hospital. If I’d had a driver’s license, I could have driven myself there and wouldn’t have had to wait.”

“The work was hard and there were many difficulties,” said Lopez,” but it was worth it because I was able to send money to my sisters to pay for college tuition and books.”

Lopez encountered one difficulty that had nothing to do with farm labor. In September 2011, he was a passenger in a vehicle when the American driver was stopped for speeding. “Instead of focusing on the white driver, the state trooper focused on me,” said Lopez. “I was just a passenger in the car and had not done anything to raise suspicion.”

Lopez was taken to the Middlesex police barracks and was eventually taken into custody by border patrol. Migrant Justice was called and stayed with Lopez until they man-aged to get him released approximately seven hours later. The incident resulted a bias-free policing policy, prompted by public outcry and support by Migrant Justice, that was signed by Governor Peter Shumlin on November 4, 2011. The policy instructs Vermont State Troopers not to identify people whose only suspected violation is that they are pres-ent in the United States without proper documentation. Lopez still has a pending court date regarding the stop. “I

feel optimistic about the outcome,” he said, “but you never know for sure.”

These days, Lopez is excited and grateful to be able to give back to Migrant Justice. “The work we do is something new for me,” he said, “something I can do for my community and something that motivates me to continue working for working for change.”

For more information about Migrant Justice, visit migrantjustice.net, e-mail [email protected] or call 658-6770.

Marsha Barber is a freelance writer. She lives in Montpelier and can be reached at [email protected].

From Mexico to Vermont: A Migrant Worker’s Story

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Danilo Lopez. Photo courtesy Migrant Justice.


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by Judy Greenwald

Welcome to the neighborhood. The Clean Slate Café, with its theme of “comfort food with a twist”

opened March 9 in the transformed space of the old Thrush Tavern in Montpelier, behind the Gulf Service Station at 107 Main Street, across from the Pavilion Office Building and a stone’s throw away from the Vermont State House.

It took five months to complete the fresh, new look, and the result is a bright, casual space that is warm, friendly and invit-ing. As you enter the Clean Slate, you can turn right or left into two renovated rooms. At the end of the room on your left is a well-stocked bar. At the end of the room on your right is a sparkling, clanging kitchen where you can see the chef preparing your plate of food. And the food is fabulous.

On my first visit to the café with two old friends, I chose a smoked-salmon sandwich, thick pieces of juicy, smoked fish on a crusty, Brioche roll served with herb cream cheese, capers and spinach. One of my companions enjoyed the pot pie du jour, which was savory lamb topped with puffed pastry. My other

friend had a thick corned-beef sandwich on marbled rye with melted local Gouda.

All the lunch items come with a choice of fries, pasta salad, green salad or coleslaw. Other choices on the lunch menu include burgers, quiches, vegetarian dishes, soups and hefty salads. A favorite with many din-ers is the spicy Cajun sausage and shrimp po’boy. I can’t wait to savor the red curry clam chowder. On a second visit, my friend started her meal with baked polenta. It was topped with roasted red peppers, local goat cheese and portabello mushrooms, and it was

fresh, pesto-creamy, gooey and perfectly delicious.

And who said lobster was only for summer meals? I chose the crisp and tender lobster fritters

to start—a great twist on a classic New Eng-land ingredient. For an entrée, my dining companion had the large slab of fall-off-the-bone pork baby back ribs, slow roasted and smoked for six hours, served with a cranberry BBQ sauce, mashed potatoes and coleslaw. Yours truly had the Smokey Slate burger. It was a succulent, perfectly balanced and perfectly seasoned burger, cooked as I re-quested to medium rare with a layer of Cabot melted cheese, a slice of ripe tomato, lettuce

and onion on a freshly baked bun. It was crunchy, with that great flame-seared flavor, accompanied by golden, crispy-on-the-out-side french fries. Napkin please!

Other mouth-watering dishes with a southern accent include crispy fried chicken and country gravy served over golden waffles with black-eyed peas and braised greens. For meat lovers, there are braised lamb shanks and rib-eye steaks. On each menu are several exciting vegetarian dishes, too.

From Geology to Restaurant-ology

Athene Cua is the owner of the Clean Slate Café. She and her husband met at UVM, after which she worked for the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources in the Depart-ment of Water Quality and also as a geologic consultant at contaminated sites in Vermont and New England. Cua and her husband moved to Washington, DC, after her hus-band got his present job at the U.S. Geologic Survey. In Washington, Cua worked at the Smithsonian writing and editing the Bulle-tin of the Global Volcanism Program. They summered in Vermont and were involved in creating the just-completed State of Vermont Geologic Map, presented to Governor Peter Shumlin on April 11.

Cua’s simmering idea of opening a new restaurant in Montpelier came together after a syzygy of events of finding friends who would help her in the food and fi-nancial aspects of starting up. Her res-taurant business consultant was Chinese-food historian and chef extraordinaire Steve Bogart, well known as the founder of A Single Pebble, which first opened in Plain-field in 1995, then migrated to nearby Berlin and later became the successful restaurant on Bank Street in downtown Burlington.

It was Bogart who introduced Cua to Jon Beresford, who became chef at Clean Slate Café. As a boy growing up in Oklahoma, Beresford’s culinary style was influenced early in life by his grandmother’s southern cooking. He attended culinary school in San Francisco, developing a passion for ethnic street food and regional specialties in such places as the California mission area, New Orleans, Colorado, Idaho and truck stops across the country. His embrace of such food traditions as Mexican, Asian, Carib-bean, American-Indian, Latin and good-old southern cooking is reflected in the variety of offerings on the Clean Slate menu

Beresford has his own smoker box outside the rear of the restaurant and bathes all his meat and tomatoes for sauces in a smokey aroma before grilling. Besides lunch and

dinner, Clean Slate Café offers a sumptuous breakfast menu.

When asked why they thought their res-taurant would succeed in a town that is so passionate about its food and has so many competing dining places, Beresford said, “We were up for a challenge; we walked around town looking at all the restaurant menus before deciding on ours. We wanted to be unique to the area and not to duplicate anything that was already here. We knew we had a great location [at the Thrush] with its past history of being a gathering place, so we felt sure we would succeed.” Judging from the crowds at lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch, they have!

Clean Slate Café is located at 107 State Street, Montpelier, and is open seven daysa week. Contact the café at 225-6166 or [email protected]. The outdoor patio at the café is now open; hours are 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays. The café is considering the development of a patio menu, and may feature live music and later patio closing hours in the summer.

Reporting contributed by Nat Frothingham.

A Fresh, Delicious StartClean Slate Café Draws Diners to Renovated Thrush Tavern Space

Clean Slate CaféMenu SamplesFor a complete menu, see cleanslatecafe.com.

Breakfast (7:30 to 11 a.m.)Country Breakfast $5.99

Bacon and eggs with hash browns and biscuits

Cinnamon Apple Waffles with Whipped Cream $5.99Apples sautéed with cinnamon, brown sugar and butter served over Belgian waffles

Potato Pancakes with Smoked Salmon $8.99Served with cream cheese, capers and red onions

Lunch (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.)Smokey Burger $10.99

Half a pound of fresh local beef, cold smoked and grilled to order, on a fresh-baked roll with lettuce, tomato and onion

Veggie Burger $7.99Served on a fresh-baked roll with lettuce, tomato and onion

Green Portobello Mushrooms $6.99With onions, fennel, sun-dried toma-toes, mixed greens and pesto in a pita or grinder roll

Seasonal Vegetable Sauté $8.99Served with jasmine rice and green coco-nut curry sauce

Dinner (5 to 9 p.m.): Large PlatesThree Cheese Ravoli $14.99

In marinara sauce served with garlic bread

Nut-Crusted Cod with Vegetable Crepes $17.99

Seasonable Vegetable Sauté $14.99

Small PlatesBaked Polenta $9.99

Topped with roasted red peppers, goat cheese, portabello mushrooms and fresh pesto

Pan-Fried Artisan Cheese $10.99Almond-Crusted Tofu $5.99

Served with steamed Jasmine rice and a chipotle orange sauce

Clean Slate Café chef Jon Beresford at work in his kitchen. Photo by Judy Greenwald.

Review


by Bob Nuner

Principles of autonomy were ingrained in Loïc Dewavrin, who had heard his father’s stories of taking the family

to a small farm in unoccupied, free France during World War II, where his father before him had lived during World War I. At times, the farm supported up to 60 friends and rela-tives while the general food supply system failed and some people starved. He said of his forebearers, “They knew how to do with very little” and notes that those hard times were “not that long ago.”

Dewavrin, from Quebec, was keynote speaker at the March 15 Northern Grain Grower’s Association meeting at the Inn at Essex. Dewavrin’s theme was Our Own Seeds, the First Step to Sustainability. He and other speakers throughout the day ex-plored the implications and methods of seed saving. He grows 4,000 acres of wheat, corn, soybeans and sunflowers not far from the Vermont border and has selected, saved and planted his own seed for 18 years, the last 15 organically. It saves money. By his own as-sessment, “We make a very good living at it, so we are really blessed.”

It doesn’t happen without hard thinking about costs, however. He asked, “Do you re-alize that within less than 10 years, between 2001 and 2010, soybean seed prices have risen by 108 percent. Corn seed rose more, by 135 percent. During that same period of time, the consumer price index rose only by 20 percent.” If he had to purchase his corn and wheat seed each year, he’d spend $52,000 more. Growing organically, he also saves the cost of pesticides and their application.

It’s not all a glowing picture. Detailing the activities and multiple years needed to successfully clean, select, save and grow one’s own high-quality seed, he joked, “When you grow your own seeds, it’s time consuming, right? But everybody knows a farmer doesn’t count his time.”

There’s another cost to Dewavrin’s opera-tion: He must save more seed in the event of crop failure, and he’s found that to purchase crop insurance, providers require that he plant certified (which generally means pur-chased) seed. The majority of seed producers produce certified seed, tested for germination and presence of weed seeds, among other tests. Part of the cost of that seed is royalties. With 85 percent of corn and soybean acreage in the U.S. now planted to genetically modi-fied organism (GMO) seeds, the non-GMO

seed base is, he noted, an asset that’s dimin-ishing in a disturbing manner, and the cost of purchased seed includes a royalty that can amount to 60 percent of farmers’ seed costs. Farmers who save seed from seed companies, he said, “are viewed as robbers.”

A growing group of Quebec’s organic farmers pursue alternative survival strategies. Dewavrin has, with like-minded organic farmers, formed a seed co-op to test their saved seeds. Testing is expensive, but essen-tial if they are to have good, weed-free, high-quality seed, and to protect themselves from any liability of using GMO-contaminated seeds. Banding together, they can more eas-ily afford the tests that assure seed safety. When asked about hurdles and successes in forming seed cooperatives, Dewavrin smiled, acknowledging that getting farmers to work together was a challenge, but a workable one if they shared “good objectives.”

The Future of Seed GeneticsAnother presenter, Cornell geneticist Mar-

garet Smith, went into the mechanics of seed selection for corn growers. About breeding, she cautioned, “All of it comes at a cost. If you breed for one thing, you get this much progress; when you breed for a second thing, you make a little less progress for each of those two things, and so on.” Other unfore-seen variables may accompany progress in one trait. For higher protein in corn, breed-ers breed for less starch but may lose other things along the way, like yield.

Smith spoke passionately of her interest in humanitarian aspects of seed genetics, human nutrition and variety development. Around the world, she said, there are huge numbers of people with iron deficiency ane-mia, “affecting half of the world’s population, most of whom are women and children.” Regarding vitamin A deficiency, she offered, “150 million of the world’s children are vita-min A deficient. Five hundred thousand go blind every year from this problem, so it’s not a trivial problem. This is why “golden rice” was such a headline grabber, and a lot of rice consumers have this issue. It’s the single most important cause of blindness in the develop-ing world and, along with all that, damages the immune system.” She asked listeners to imagine how important that fact would be “where HIV is going great guns. These things are really synergistic problems.”

She went into the mechanics of breed-ing for micronutrient availability, especially using seeds that perform well in nutrient-

poor soils where fertilizer and conventional agricultural “inputs” (e.g., nitrogen fertilizer) are expensive. Micronutrient availability re-fers to seeds’ ability to make available the mi-cronutrients it carries. Iron, for example, may be in the seed but bound up and unavailable for digestion. Just increasing a grain’s iron content may strip iron from the soil but not make it more available to those eating it.

At the end of her presentation, she ex-pressed her frustration as a public domain, open-source genetic researcher. It’s illegal for this land-grant college researcher to use patented corn varieties for testing. She can use varieties that are coming off patent, but in some ways they are obsolete. They’re not just 17 years old. Varieties aren’t patented until after the seed company is convinced they have something to sell. So varieties may be 25 years old.

She said, “I’m looking at [off-patent, 20- to 25-year-old hybrid seed sources] because frankly, the sources of materials for a public- sector breeder or a farmer breeder have be-come very limited. Now, it used to be you

could just plant a bunch of commercial hybrids, and . . . let them mix together and start doing some breeding work with [the resulting genetic varieties]. All that’s . . . legally prohibited, setting aside the whole issue of genetically engineered traits in them, you know? But you can forget that problem; you’re not allowed to do it anymore. And we, as public breeders, aren’t allowed to do it anymore, so that’s really narrowed down the germplasm that’s available to us to use. So that’s part of why I’m looking at [variet-ies coming off patent], even though they’re quite old. I hope that we’ll be able to come up with some combinations that will be more productive. . . . They’re available, and there may be things in [off-patent variety genetics] that . . . you could plant next year . . . and harvest the ears off the inbred, which probably you have cross pollinated . . . and come up with a new compilation that might have some real potential.”

Reporting contributed by Cassandra Hem-enway Brush.

Saving Seeds for Self-Sufficiency

Matt Landry and Sofia Miller, students at Montpelier High School, talk seed saving at the April 7 winter farmers’ market in Montpelier. MHS is contributing to Vermont’s seed self-sufficiency through a seed-saving group. Teens at the school “check out” heirloom seed varieties from the seed “ library,” then return more of the offspring of those seeds, enhancing and enlarging the school’s collection. This method helps to gradually develop climate-adapted varieties appropriate for Vermont. Photo by Cassandra Hemenway Brush.


Free workshops and events for all ages—just in time for school vacation!Please visit us online for the full schedule and presenter bios.

Sat 21Time RememberedHayes Room, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street | 1 PMUse several jazz and/or jazz- related instrumentals as vehicles for creative exploration. Led by poet Reuben Jack-son. For all ages. Cosponsored by the Young Writers Project.

Sun 22Louder Th an a BombThe Savoy Theater, 26 Main Street | 10:30 AMFounded in 2001, Louder Th an a Bomb is the only event of its kind in the coun-try—a youth poetry slam built from the beginning around teams. One day only screening of this fi lm.

Mon 23Poetry Prompt ToolkitCollege Hall, VCFA, 36 College Street | 7 PMLearn prompts and exercises with Samantha Kolber that will help you overcome writer’s block and create new poems. For all ages; no prior experience necessary.

Sat 27Poetry Slam with Geof HewittHayes Room, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street | 7 PMJoin Vermont’s slam master in an all-ages poetry slam. Come prepared to perform three poems of up to 3 minutes in length. Th is fun, engaging event of-fers prizes for top slammers.

Mon 28Blues for the Hard WalkersHayes Room, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street | 2 PMToussaint St. Negritude off ers blues and jazz renditions of his poetic works, self-accompanied by bass clarinet, ban-jos and other instruments.

A celebration of National Poetry MonthDowntown Montpelier, April 2012

Exhibits include:New England Broadsides at the Kellogg-Hubbard LibraryBudding Poets Garden at 17 State StreetYoung Writers Project and VCFA at 17 State StreetStoryWalk® at Kellogg-Hubbard LibraryPoemCity 2012 throughout downtown Montpelier

www.kellogghubbard.org/poemcitywww.MontpelierAlive.org/poemcity

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central vermont food hub CSA community-supported agriculture made EASYLocal, fresh food, plus extras. We know you’re busy. That’s why we pack your share boxes with a healthy supply of fresh, local vegetables plus extras like eggs, Red Hen bread, local meat, and artisanal cheeses with no add-on charges or extra fees. To make it easier to turn your box of food into healthy delicious meals, Joe Buley, our chef-farmer, writes up simple but flavorful meal ideas and cooking instructions for every share.

Pick-up sites that work for you. Convenient pick-up sites in Montpelier and at Dog River Farm. And we’ll create new sites when 10 or more members request the same location. Talk to your neighbors or coworkers and let us know where you want to pick up.

Online sign-up and lots of payment choices. We've tried to make our CSA accessible and affordable—just $560 for 16 weeks of food. Plus, our new sign-up system offers payment by check, credit card, or bank debit in one, three, or five installments.

Support local food producers. We’re a CSA operation that supports emerg-ing food producers right here in Central Vermont. Your membership can have a direct impact on the success of start-up businesses in our local community.

SIGN UP NOW to secure your place in the Summer 2012 CSA! Click "Join Our Summer CSA" at centralvermontfoodhub.com. Questions? Just call. Joe Buley, 461-5371; George Gross, 249-0383.


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Hands-On Gardenerby Miriam Hansen

The weather is wacky. March was as hot as summer, and early April felt like fall. Still, April is usually the

time to do everything, and this year is no exception. Till the garden, plant the peas, onions and potatoes in the garden, plant squash and cucumbers and transplant broc-coli, tomatoes and peppers.

The bulbs and perennials have been hav-ing a confusing time. The February Daphne bloomed in March’s heat and kept its flowers for three weeks when April turned so cold. The species crocus and all the super-early bulbs got done that one week in March. Hard to plan a show when all the dates keep changing!

I’m going to put myself on the line and bet that our last hard frost will be May 6. The last full moon in May is May 6, not May 24 as I suggested in last month’s column. Even though it’s possible we’ll get an early June frost, I’m skeptical. With early spring in mind, we planted our peas the first week of April! There’s no sign of them yet, but we did have a long cold spell. I’ll let you know whether we have to replant.

I transplanted lettuce seedlings into the cold frame this week, and they’ve just about tripled in size. The onions are big and stocky and ready to go in the ground. I watered them with some worm-casting slurry for an extra treat. Potatoes are sitting in the root cellar waiting to be cut up into sections and planted at the end of the month. The garlic has come up through its bed of leaves, and the blueberry and currant bushes are bud-ded up. I’ve already transplanted greenhouse tomatoes, peppers, celery, parsley, snapdrag-ons, salvia, cauliflower and broccoli into larger pots and am holding most of those seedlings in the cold frames. I’ve interplanted the Sun Gold and Chelsea cherry tomatoes with lettuce seedlings in the small green-house and I’m hardening off the cucumbers so they can go in the large greenhouse by the middle of the week.

Hardening off is the term for slowly ac-climating indoor seedlings to the outdoors. I put mine on our sunny east porch where they get morning light but are protected from the hot afternoon sun. The first couple of nights we’ll bring them indoors. When nighttime temperatures moderate (40s and 50s), I’ll leave them outside at night as well. Even though they’ll be fairly protected in the greenhouse, I want to get them used to a wider temperature swing than they’ve been getting in the house.

I’ll try to take even more care when I’m ready to plant seedlings in the garden. You always want to transition seedlings gently. Soak the plants before you put them in the ground and then water them in well. Trans-plant seedlings on an overcast day rather than a day that is hot and sunny.

Even under lights, seedlings will get leggy. With the exception of plants such as celery and parsley that grow from the crown, you should bury seedlings up to the top four leaves. They will develop anchoring roots along their buried stems.

I’ve been having fun playing with different germination techniques. I broke down and bought a heating mat—something I’ve been wanting for decades. Seeds that prefer 75 to 80 degrees for germination benefit from that bottom heat. Be sure and read the germina-tion instructions on the seed packets. Sweet peas and lettuce will germinate more readily at slightly cooler temperatures. My favorite technique is still the wet paper towel in a plastic bag. I started four kinds of basil that way, and, within two days, every seed had swelled and turned transparent. I carefully transferred the little blobs into flats, and they sprang up like jackrabbits two days later.

Waiting for the celeriac has been the oppo-site experience. Despite bottom heat, it took six whole weeks for the first seeds to germi-nate. And they’re still coming up. Amazing to think of those hard little seeds sitting in the warm moist earth for over 40 days before the seed coat cracks open and the first little shoot emerges.

It’s always interesting to watch differences in germination rate with the same variet-ies under the same conditions. Across the board, from tomatoes and peppers to lettuce and broccoli, some seeds will come up in a few days and others will still be germinating weeks later. I love to watch a sparsely germi-nated flat of peppers slowly fill in. It feels like a miracle every time.

I just started sunflowers, zinnias, an-nual phlox, cosmos, sweet peas, cleome and morning glories in paper towels. I’ll start checking them in two days. It feels strange to start seeds this way, but I’ve been awfully impressed with the results. Some of these flowers could have been started two or three weeks ago, but honestly, I’ve been so preoc-cupied with vegetable and herb seedlings, I just forgot. If some annuals aren’t ready to set out until the end of June, that’s okay, too. I’ve learned not to let little things like that worry me.

I’m still waiting to see something germi-nate in the soda bottles I wrote about in February’s column. If nothing comes up by the end of the month, I’m going to open the bottles and water them thoroughly. Celeriac and experience have taught me. Be patient. Don’t give up. Some seeds are late bloomers.

Meanwhile, happy gardening!

Miriam and her husband, David, live in East Montpelier, where they grow most of their own vegetables, berries and meat on less than 1/4 of an acre. Your questions and com-ments are welcome. You can reach Miriam at [email protected].

What Month is This?



Thank you community, Hunger Mountainand Plainfi eld Co-ops for your support,

and to the seven local farms we have bought fresh foods from for our recipes.

Soups for all Seasons.

twoguysinvermont.com

Tiny BitesThe newly-formed East Montpelier Food Producers Network will host a

farmers’ market on Green Up Day, May 5, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Four Corners School House. The network is an offshoot of the East Montpelier Energy Committee; a main goal of the network is to expand the production and consumption of locally grown food. “The commercial production of food is hugely dependent on energy, especially fossil-fuel energy, to provide fertilizers, pesticides, energy for farm machinery and transporta-tion,” committee member Dave Grundy says. “We believe that as fossil fuel becomes more expensive, we will have to rely more on locally produced food, and this is a good time to have people start making the mental shift.” For more details about the farmers’ market or the network, contact Grundy at [email protected] or 476-4300.

The sixth annual Vermont Foodbank Hunger Conference, Impact Through Innovation, will be held on Tuesday, May 8, in Burlington. The annual conference is

one of New England’s best resources for information on the charitable food system and the issue of hunger. It is a valuable opportunity for charitable food providers and other nonprof-its, community and business leaders, volunteers, advocates, elected officials, and concerned citizens to share their expertise and experience. This year’s keynote speaker will be Steven Robbins, who brings an insightful perspective on issues of leadership, inclusion and innova-tion, and the power of caring. Registration fee is $40 to 65; details and online registration at vtfoodbank.org.

UVM Extension is offering youth farm safety spring and summer minicamps for youth age 12 to 15. The camps will combine fun, engaging workshops on tractor, ma-

chinery and all-terrain-vehicle safety; safe animal handling; fire safety; and farm first aid; plus traditional camp activities like group games. The cost is $25 per person, and generous scholarships are available. The minicamps will be held May 12 and 13 in Derby; June 27 to 29 at UVM in Burlington; and August 3 and 4 at Vermont Technical College in Randolph. For details and registration, contact [email protected] or 656-2034.

Vermont Technical College is pleased to announce its 2012 business plan compe-tition for new and existing food- and farm-related businesses. The competition is open

to individuals and businesses engaged in food production, processing, distribution, packag-ing, or retailing, including restaurants; also eligible are those in the agricultural enterprises of wood products, equine-related businesses and fiber production. The competition is open to residents and students in Washington, Orange and Windsor Counties and offers prizes total-ing $22,250 for winners and runners-up. The Vermont Small Business Development Center will offer application workshops during April to inform prospective participants about how to create a high-quality application; applications are due May 21. For details, contact Steve Paddock at [email protected] or 728-9101, or visit vtc.edu/businessplan.

The sixth National Farm to Cafeteria Conference, Digging In! will be held in Burlington this year from August 2 to 5. Representatives from all sectors of Farm to

Cafeteria will convene for four days of education, conversations and fun. There are numer-ous scholarships reserved for Vermonters. Applications will be available online mid-April and are due May 31. For scholarship details, contact Vera at [email protected] or 434-8411, or visit farmtocafeteriaconference.org/6.

Congratulations to NECI on Main for being named in the Best Brunch Top 10 by OpenTable Diners’ Choice, an online service. NECI on Main is the only Vermont res-

taurant to make the most recent Best Brunch list. . . .. . . And congratulations to Bryana Owens, Paige Whittemore and Rhiannon Mattison

of Barre City Middle School, who won the Lively Local award at this year’s Junior Iron Chef competition in March at the Champlain Valley Expo. Their team, the “Barre City Bulldogs,” made a kale pesto root-vegetable pizza. Keep cooking!

—compiled by Sylvia Fagin; send food news to [email protected]

Central Vermont Food News

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Drinking the Tear: An Exploration of Grief and Despair as part of Inner TransitionA workshop with Carolyn BakerMay 4, 2012, at the Old Meeting House, East Montpelier

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by Caroline Abels

For a small American town, Montpelier is pretty unusual in that more than a third of its restaurants serve a signifi-

cant amount of local food. For us diners, this means it’s possible to eat well in Montpelier without consuming factory-farmed meat or vegetables shipped from thousands of miles away. We can eat food that’s grown by people who live in this state, and our money stays in Vermont.

To get local food onto plates, chefs and and managers at these Montpelier restau-rants make deals directly with farmers or order local products from a wholesale deliv-erer. Some say they’d like to use more local ingredients but would have to charge more or pay their employees less. Others say there often isn’t enough of a certain product avail-able in central Vermont in the quantities they need. Nearly all of them say they don’t do enough to let diners know how much of the food on their plate came from here.

Below is a tour of Montpelier restaurants that make local food a priority, arranged in a rough walking tour.

Positive Pie 222 State Street, 229-0453 Gourmet pizzas, pasta, American entrees

Vinny Petrarca, kitchen manager at Posi-tive Pie 2, adores Janet Steward of Greenfield Highland Beef. After all, they talk quite often, whenever Petrarca orders Greenfield Highland beef for the restaurant. Petrarca estimates that 80 percent of the beef served at Positive Pie 2 is from the farm owned and run by Janet and her husband, Ray Shatney. Then there’s the pork from Vermont Fam-

ily Farms, strip steak from Boyden Farm and cheeses from all over Vermont. The restaurant uses chicken from Pennsylvania, because Misty Knoll is out of their price range, and there’s no local source (yet) for the 1,600 pounds of pizza cheese they use each week. Petrarca and Positive Pie owner Carlo Rovetto say that using local food is not a marketing strategy but a question of quality and taste. And Petrarca trusts local farmers. “They’re not trying to sell you a product, they’re selling you their work,” he

says. The Positive Pie website prominently states that it’s a member of the Vermont Fresh Network, which matches chefs and farmers throughout the state and promotes restaurants that use local food. But, as Pe-trarca says, “We shouldn’t have to toot our own horn. We’re a restaurant—we should be doing things this way.”

Kismet52 State Street, 223-8646Seasonal entrees, brunch, burgers

After Tropical Storm Irene hit Vermont last year, a number of local farms that Kis-met owner Crystal Maderia had been buy-ing from were ruined and couldn’t supply her with produce anymore. She could have bought less expensive greens from Califor-nia, but instead chose to buy from other local farmers at the higher retail price they were selling it for. “Ethically, I just couldn’t buy California salad greens in August,” she says. She estimates that even during “the darkest months” for local food, 40 percent of her ingredients are locally sourced.

In May Maderia will be breaking ground on a kitchen garden in Berlin—a cooperative endeavor between her and her employees. They will tend culinary herbs, carrots, on-ions, kale, brassicas and other items. “My employees have to spend a lot of time inside when it’s gorgeous out, so now some of their shift can be out in the garden,” Maderia says. A big challenge is pricing dishes so that they’re both affordable and full of local food. As a restaurant owner, she says, you’re con-stantly having to make compromises. “My compromise is that I don’t make any money,” she laughs. “This year I’m really having to look at that, and that’s part of sustainability.

. . . But I’ll never make compromises on the ingredients.”

That’s Life Soup41 Elm Street, 223-5333Hearty soups, salads and sandwiches

People have tried to convince Pam Root to make her delicious tomato-based soups year-round. But the owner/chef of That’s Life Soup buys the tomatoes for those soups from Cate Farm. In the middle of winter, without those fresh, local tomatoes, “the soup doesn’t taste that good,” she says. Root tries to base her menu as much as possible on seasonal products available in Vermont. And she only uses local meats, believing in the benefits of grass feeding extolled by nutrition pioneer Weston A. Price. Having local meat becomes especially important when making her signature stocks, which she plans to sell in various Vermont co-ops and natural food stores. Root estimates that 60 percent of her dishes’ ingredients are from Vermont, and to get them, she is creative. She’ll barter with friends for greens, buy freshly picked ramps from a customer and grow her own herbs in the summertime. In season, she even picks the flowers for the tables, which are graced with April Cornell napkins from Burling-ton. “If you’re selling food, you have to have a conscience,” Root says, “and you have to know what you’re giving people. I cook for people as if I was cooking for my family.”

Three Penny Taproom108 Main Street, 223-8277Specialty beers, appetizers

The beers at Three Penny Taproom are global—from Belgium, the Czech Republic and California. But the food is not—it’s de-

FRESH FOOD FEATURED A Localvore Tour of Montpelier Restaurants

Vinny Petrarca of Positive Pie 2 with a brined local pork chop.


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cidedly local. And because right now the bar only serves small plates (sandwiches, cheese plates, soups), it can boast that 90 percent of its food menu is made with locally grown in-gredients. Chef Matthew Bilodeau is partic-ularly fond of using local meats and cheeses. In fact, the bar has a reputation for using “weird” meats, but co-owner Scott Kerner says, “We like to use the whole animal. . . . When people think of chicken, they think of chicken fingers and things like that, but there’s a lot of other pieces on those birds.” Bilodeau also pickles and cures local vegeta-bles from summer harvests to carry the bar through the winter. The kitchen is small and limited, but in mid-April the Three Penny began renovating the space next door, where Miller Sports used to be. It will become a restaurant that will be just as committed to local food because, as Kerner says, “When you serve local food, it’s the freshest kind, and you keep money in the economy.” He doesn’t want to pigeonhole the type of cui-sine that will be served there, though. “It’ll be Three Penny cuisine,” he says.

The Skinny Pancake89 Main Street, 262-2253Sweet and savory crepes

On the wall of the Montpelier Skinny Pancake is a map of Vermont showing the

location of 35 local farms and vendors the restaurant buys from. “When people are here for the first time, they’re drawn to that,” says General Manager Jeremy Silansky. In 2010, 65 percent of the food served at the Skinny Pancake was from within 100 miles. To achieve that, Silansky will often sit down with a farmer early in the growing season and try to make a match. “I’ll say, ‘We need 1,200 pounds of mesclun between this date

and this date—how much can you provide at this price?” If the farmer has what’s needed, a handshake agreement will seal the deal. And if Silansky, who is also the local-food-systems coordinator for the Skinny’s Burlington lo-cations, is unable to find local products on his own, he’ll call Black River Produce, a wholesale distributor that’s committed to local food procurement. Black River will, for example, deliver potatoes from Massachu-setts or Quebec if it’s unable to find enough in Vermont. That’s a huge help for Silansky. “The key to our system is that it takes a lot of planning to do it affordably,” he says.

New England Culinary Institute (NECI) restaurantsNECI on Main, 118 Main StreetLa Brioche, 75 Main StreetNational Life cafeteriaDewey Cafeteria, Vermont College of Fine Arts

When the NECI administration calcu-lated the percentage of local and sustainably raised food it served in its four eateries in 2011, they came up with 46 percent. NECI students—who work and cook in NECI’s eateries—are taught every day about the benefits of using local and regional food. “The Vermont brand is a very important part of our education,” says Kevin O’Donnell,

NECI’s vice president of food and beverage operations. “My job is to make sure that what we teach in our classroom is what we do in our restaurants.” NECI on Main has what is known as a farm-to-table menu: dishes rotate seasonally, according to what food is avail-able in and around Vermont. At NECI’s two cafeterias, both open to the public, chefs also strive to prepare local food. When a product is not available close by, NECI turns to the next closest, most sustainable options.

The regional meat that ends up on din-ers’ plates is often broken down in NECI’s “meat fabrication lab,” where students learn how to butcher. La Brioche, NECI’s bakery, uses butter from Vermont Butter and Cheese and flour from a new source in Quebec. “Yes, local food does cost a little more,” O’Donnell says, “but 10 years down the road it will turn out to be healthier for our com-munities, healthier for us as individuals and better for Vermont.”

Coffee Corner83 Main Street, 229-9060Diner fare

It’s unusual to see a sign in the window of a diner that announces a partnership with a local farm. But the front window at the Cof-

Local advertising works. Call Carl or Carolyn to advertise in The Bridge: 223-5112 or 223-2958.

see RESTAURANTS, page 18

Foodshed map at the Skinny Pancake.


fee Corner prominently says, “Now Serving: Local Grass-fed Organic Beef Courtesy of Back Beyond Farms.” Indeed, Coffee Corner buys about 75 pounds of ground beef a week from the Chelsea farm, using it for hamburg-ers, meatloaf and meatballs. “If you go to the grocery store, the beef is bright red, and who knows how long it’s been there or where it came from,” says Ryan Raymond, co-owner of the diner and its kitchen manager and head chef. In addition, Coffee Corner buys Vermont Maple Links for its breakfast sau-sage, Nutty Steph’s granola and other local value-added items. For Manghis’ bread, it charges customers a bit extra, but Raymond says customers love it. Manghis’ bakes honey sunflower bread just for the diner. Raymond also heads down to the Montpelier farmers’ market in summer to purchase local pro-duce. No surprise that the diner was a found-ing member of the Vermont Fresh Network. “This was all started by the previous owner, Bryan Mitofsky, and we’ve carried it on,” Raymond says.

The Mad Taco72 Main Street, 225-6038Authentic Mexican fare

The pork isn’t just local at the Mad Taco—some of it comes from whole pigs that are brought to the restaurant (already slaugh-tered, of course) and broken down into cuts by owner/chef Joey Nagy. Nagy renders his own lard, too, using fatback from Gaylord Farm, and he smokes his own meats. Then there’s the beef and eggs from Neal Farm, cilantro and other greens from Screamin’ Ridge Farm, produce from Kingsbury Com-munity Farm, pork from Quebec, chicken and dry beans from upstate New York, and fish from regional waters. He serves only local and regional meat, from animals “that aren’t stacked on top of each other and can go outside and see the light of day.” He’d love to serve 100 percent local food, but then he couldn’t pay a living wage to his workers. Do customers notice all the local food that is available? “They only notice when they ask,” Nagy says. But he personally believes in the difference. “Local food tastes better, it’s fresher, it supports communities, there’s a lower carbon footprint—the list could go

on and on,” he says. He is keenly looking forward to summer. “I can’t wait—can’t wait—to have a fresh tomato.”

Bagitos28 Main Street, 229-9212 Bagel and burrito shop

When Bagitos decided to use ground beef from Tangletown Farm in its burritos and tacos instead of house-made carne asada with beef “from away,” the change was noticed by customers—and still is. “We have peo-ple coming in asking specifically for it and thanking us for carrying it,” says co-owner Soren Pfeffer. The beef, from just down the road in Middlesex, is more expensive than conventional beef, but Bagitos has chosen not to pass the extra cost on to consumers. “We’re not making any money on it; we’re doing it because we think it’s important,” Pfeffer says. He estimates that two-thirds of the total poundage of food at Bagitos is local, including Green Mountain Farms cream cheese, eggs from Colchester, and bacon and sausage from Vermont Smoke and Cure. In season, Bagitos also buys pro-duce from Dog River Farm and Food Works at Two Rivers. “We are not as good as we should be in promoting the fact that we do all this,” Pfeffer says.

Salt207 Barre Street, 229-6678Various culinary traditions

At Salt, the huge chalkboard on which owner/chef Suzanne Podhaizer writes down the evening’s entrées and appetizers is guar-anteed to mention a local farm, or simply list the word “local.” And when Podhaizer comes to your table to further explain each dish, her details will often include the loca-tion of the farms she worked with to create that evening’s treasures. Podhaizer believes that the local ingredients are a large part of why people return to her restaurant, where the menu rotates every three weeks. “I like to say that because of our location off the beaten path, nearly all of our customers are intentional customers,” she adds. “They know and like our community connections, and we really appreciate that in our custom-ers.” All the meat at Salt is local—common sources are Tangletown Farm and Back Be-yond Farm—and nearly all the cheeses are

from Vermont. In summer, almost all the produce is from local harvests, and Podhaizer is working closely with the new farm at Ver-mont Compost Company to have them grow items she needs. This summer, Podhaizer will be growing 200 varieties of herbs, toma-toes, greens and edible flowers at the Onion River Campground in Marshfield.

Hunger Mountain Coop623 Stone Cutters Way, 223-8000Natural foods café and deli

Walk over to the café and deli while you’re shopping at Hunger Mountain Coop and you’ll see hot soups, entrées and deli items made with a number of Vermont products: chicken from Misty Knoll Farms, sausage from Vermont Salumi and Vermont Meat Company, greens from Cate Farm, and more. The sources of these local foods are promi-nently displayed in red on the signage, so shoppers know that the café and deli are as devoted to selling local products as the rest of the store. In 2011, 32 percent of sales at Hunger Mountain were of local food, with local being defined as within 100 miles of the store, or within Vermont. (The store hasn’t figured out the percentage of local ingredients in its prepared foods.) Cam Keitel, the co-op’s food-services manager, says that sometimes the café and deli have a choice between buy-ing a local product or an organic product from away. “For us, especially if we know the farmers, local will often trump organic,” he says. Keitel acknowledges that local ingre-dients raise the prices of the prepared food, but he notes that co-op shoppers are often at the store to seek out local foods, and they are willing to pay a bit more for them.

Local Foods Crop Up All Over

Plenty of other restaurants in Montpelier incorporate local food into their menus.

The Black Door uses local beef and pork, and the chicken is usually from Misty Knoll Farms. The restaurant orders local and re-gional produce from Black River Produce. And it serves bread from La Panciatta and Red Hen, as well as local spirits.

The Tulsi Tea Room plans its vegetarian menu primarily around what’s available at Owl Hill Farm in Plainfield. The farm is the tea room’s main supplier of onions, toma-toes, potatoes, spinach, kale, carrots, beets,

greens and other produce, in season.Sarducci’s buys produce in season from

Wellspring Farm and Dog River Farm—to-matoes, lettuce, root vegetables and herbs. They also serve bread year-round from Red Hen and Manghis’.

Angeleno’s Pizza has used ground beef from Highland Beef for five years, and their chicken is produced in South Burlington. Angeleno’s uses local organic produce in season, when it’s affordable, and Black River and Upper Valley Produce bring produce from Sam Mazza’s in Chittenden County.

The Wayside Restaurant bakes on prem-ises and serves local perch in winter, fiddle-heads in spring, corn and apples from Ellie’s in Northfield in the fall, and winter squash from Williston.

Capitol Grounds buys Green Mountain cream cheese and yogurt, La Panciata bread, KC’s bagels from Waterbury and Wilcox ice cream. There’s also regionally sourced bacon and hamburger through Black River Pro-duce, local eggs, maple syrup from Waits-field, apples from Ellie’s in Northfield and salmon from Maine. And, of course, owner Bob Watson roasts his coffee beans locally.

Al Portico makes its own gelatos, and Daniela Caserta says the restaurant also pro-duces its own sausage from local, organic pork. Her father picks the strawberries for their strawberry gelato.

The newly opened Clean Slate Café pres-ently buys meat from Vermont Smoke and Cure, Boyden Farms and Vermont Family Farms, tofu from Vermont Tofu, and bread from Red Hen.

Pinky’s uses bread from Manghis’, Klinger’s and Red Hen.

The Uncommon Market also uses Mang-his’ bread in their deli.

Uncle Mike’s Deli uses produce in season in their soups, and tomatoes from the Mont-pelier farmers’ market.

Village Pizza makes its own meatballs, and, “when in season and cost effective,” obtains tomatoes, peppers and onions from local suppliers.

McGillicuddy’s uses bread from Manghis’, and reports that “ground beef from High-land Beef is real popular with customers.”

Reporting contributed by Bob Nuner.

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RESTAURANTS, from page 17


Summer Camps!

(802) 446-6100

MONTPELIER RECREATION DEPARTMENT

Summer Day CampLicensed Child Care Program

Licensed childcare programs state subsidy is available upon request.

Kindergarten to 12 years oldWeekly Monday–Friday June 18 through August 177:30 dropoff, 4:45 pickup Half days or full days Montpelier Recreation Field Special trips weekly & swimming daily

Resident Fees:$120.00 per Week-5 Full Days $70.00 – 5 half days mornings or afternoons

Additional Family Members$105.00 per Week- 5 Full Days$60.00 – 5 half days mornings or afternoons

Non-Resident Fees: $160.00 per Week – 5 Full Days $100.00 – 5 half days morning or afternoons

Additional Family Members $140.00 per Week – 5 Full Days $90.00 – 5 half days mornings or afternoons

Lunch Program TBA

For more information, please call our office: 225-8691 www.montpelierrec.org

Other Summer OpportuniesTennis Lessons (sessions running all summer) Red Cross Swimming Lessons (June through August)Youth Soccer Camp • Youth Multi-Sport Camp Basketball Camp • Fishing Camp Teen Adventure Camp


When Lost Nation Theater’s Kath-leen Keenan read Katherine Pat-terson’s young adult novel Lyddie

two years ago, she said “We’ve got to do this!” according to her co–artistic director Kim Bent.

“That’s not an untypical response, as it turned out,” Bent said.

LNT’s version of the story of a young Vermont farm girl turned Massachusetts mill worker in the mid-1800s opens next week with music and dance and a sound endorse-ment from the author. Indeed, Lost Nation will be honoring Paterson at an opening celebration on Friday, April 27, at 6:45 p.m., hosted by Tom and Charlotte MacLeary, catered by Bons Temps Gourmet, and feted by musicians John Mowad and Sarah Hotch-kiss, followed up by drinks from the Three Penny Taproom. The event is open to the public for a fee, Bent said.

U32 High School junior Liz Gilbert (also known as Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird, and Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker) will be starring as Lyddie. Keenan, as well as being the co–producing artistic director, co-composed the musical score with sound designer Nicolle Carroll.

Bent adapted the book to be as close to the original text as possible, he said, allowing that he had to emphasize some parts and take out others in order to make it fit the stage. He added a narrator, “Lydia”—or grown-up Lyddie—in order to keep some of Patterson’s gorgeous prose, as in the line describing the scene as Lyddie’s family had to leave their farm in late May: “The cheek of the hillside wore a growth of three day green.”

“There’s really poetic prose in there,” Bent said. “I wanted to get [it] in.”

Bent said he was inspired by Lost Nation’s production of To Kill a Mockingbird last fall, in which there was no writing in the play that was not found in the book.

“My process was to emulate that as much as possible,” he said, adding, “We did have to fill out some characters, make them richer or give them a little more weight, and we had to leave out certain things . . . in order to streamline it.”

The story begins in 1843 in a Vermont farm, when 13-year-old Lyddie finds that she is forced to work in a textile mill in order to pay off her father’s debts.

“The story is really about what it means to be free,” Bent said. “There’s all kinds of ways to be a slave.”

Katherine Patterson’s Lyddie Opens at LNT on April 26

Diana, played by Avalon Kann, helps an overwhelmed Lyddie, played by Liz Gilbert, on her first day at the mill. Photo courtesy Francis Moran Photography.




Upcoming EventsFRIDAY, APRIL 20Annual Bicycle Ride to Celebrate Earth DayRide from the State House to Red Hen Bakery in Middlesex to rendezvous with legislators, then, after a break and a photo op, return to Montpelier. Meet at 7:30 a.m. at the State House, Montpelier. Nancy, 225-8904 or [email protected]. Organized by the Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition. Spring Book SaleThousands of gently used books and audiovisual materials for all ages at rock-bottom prices. Milne Room, Aldrich Public Library, 6 Washington Street, Barre. 476-7550. Sponsored by the Friends of the Aldrich Public Library. Sale continues Saturday, April 21.Friday Night Fix: Flat Fix and TroubleshootingOnion River Sports mechanics show you how to fix a front or rear flat tire, help you identify what flat-fix gear you’ll need and help you self-diagnose other basic bike maladies. Bike not required, but you are welcome to bring yours.6–7 p.m. Onion River Sports, Montpelier. Free. onionriver.com.Scrag Mountain Music: Modern BaroqueWorks by J.S. Bach, Jon Deak, Heinrich Bieber, Bohuslav Martinu and a world premiere by Vermont composer Erik Nielsen.7 p.m.; farm supper 5–6:30 p.m. Green Mountain Girls’ Farm, 923 Loop Road, Northfield. $15 supper, concert by donation. 734-904-7656. Event repeats Saturday, April 21, and Sunday, April 22.Woodcock WatchListen and watch for the dramatic courtship flight of the American woodcock, a sandpiper that nests along the North Branch. Listen for Wilson’s snipe and spring peepers, too.7:30 p.m. North Branch Nature Center, 713 Elm Street, Montpelier. $5 nature center members, $8 nonmembers, free for children. 229-6206.Stand-Up Comedy by the Vermont Comedy ClubHosted by Nathan Hartswick, and featuring Vermont comedians Vanessa Ament, Aaron Black, Will Betts, Chad Cosby, Pat Lynch and Ryan Kriger. 8 p.m. Big Picture Theater, 48 Carroll Road (just off Route 100), Waitsfield. $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Reservations recom-mended at 496-8994. Some material may be unsuitable for children.

SATURDAY, APRIL 21Spring Book SaleSee Friday, April 20, for description and information.Walk with the Green Mountain Club, Montpelier SectionEasy 5-mile road walk around Berlin Pond. Call leaders Reidun and Andrew Nuquist, 223-3550, for meeting time and place.Bethany Church Spring AuctionAntiques, uniques, originals, and many items in good condition. Jenkins Auction Service, auctioneers. Proceeds benefit the church’s operating budget. Preview at 9 a.m.; bidding starts at 10 a.m. 115 Main Street, Mont-pelier. Lunch available. Horses, Herd and Leadership Demonstration With Lucinda Newman, certified equine guided educator. Learn how the horse’s nature, herd dynamics and energetic cues can teach us how to lead change and have leadership presence. Dress appropriately to be outside working with a horse. 10 a.m.–noon. Horses & Pathfinders, Moretown. $10 Hunger Moun-tain Coop member/owners, $12 nonmembers. Register and get carpool information at 223-8004, ext. 202, or [email protected] Winter Farmers’ MarketThe final winter market moves outside to the college green! Live music by Carol Hausner.

10 a.m.–2 p.m. Green, Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier. Carolyn, 223-2958 or [email protected]. Weekly summer market begins May 5 at 60 State Street, Montpelier.Eco-Bear Fair Workshops, exhibits, activities and a local food café. Learn about solar energy, pellet stoves, geothermal, rain gardens, low main-tenance gardening, energy education for schools, ecodriving, transportation options, composting, beekeeping and more.10 a.m.–6 p.m. Old Labor Hall, 26 Granite street, Barre. $5 adults, free for kids age 12 and under. [email protected]. Sponsored by the Barre Energy Awareness Resource (BEAR). Event continues Sunday, April 22.Play Piano Now!: Free Introductory SessionSimply Music is a revolutionary, Australian-developed piano learning method that has students playing great-sounding pieces immediately, from their very first lessons. For ages 4 to 104.10:30–11:30 a.m. Westwood Drive, Montpelier. Register with Nicholas at 595-1220 or loveplayingpiano.org. Event repeats Satur-day, April 28.Earth Day Birds and Books BashJoin Larry Clarfeld, coordinator of the youth birding program at the North Branch Nature Center, for a story, slideshow and game in honor of Earth Day and the birds. For ages 6–10.11 a.m. Kellogg-Hubbard children’s library, Montpelier. Free, but preregistration required at 223-4665. Poets’ and Writers’ ReadingFeaturing Hardwick poet Victor Densmore. Light refreshments; open reading follows.11 a.m. Cutler Library, Route 2, Plainfield. Free. 454-8504 or cutlerlibrary.org. Event happens every third Saturday.Rug Hooking: Open Class for All LevelsBring any questions you have on a project you’re working on, or get help starting a new one. Shop open for supplies.1–5 p.m. Green Mountain Hooked Rugs, 2838 County Road, Mont-pelier. $25. Register at 223-1333 or vtpansy@greenmountainhooked rugs.com. greenmountainhookedrugs.com.Scrag Mountain Music: Modern BaroqueSee Friday, April 21, for description; note change in time and location.4 p.m. Savoy Theater, 26 Main Street, Montpelier. By donation. Popcorn and drinks available. 734-904-7656. Event repeats Sunday, April 22.Shape-Note Singing School Ian Smiley leads tunes from The Sacred Harp. All welcome; no experience necessary. 6–8 p.m. Tulsi Tea Room, 34 Elm Street, Montpelier. By donation. Ian, 229-4008 or [email protected]. Event happens every first and third Saturday.Open Arms: An Evening of Professional DanceFive established Vermont choreographers and dance companies—Bryce Dance, Clare Byrne, Isadora Snapp, Lucille Dyer and Paul Besaw—highlight their work.7 p.m. Haybarn Theater, Goddard College, 123 Pitkin Road, Plainfield. $10. Tickets at 322-5040 or [email protected]. brycedancecompany.com. Contra DanceAll dances taught; no partner necessary. All ages welcome. Bring soft-soled shoes.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.

SUNDAY, APRIL 22Eco-Bear FairSee Saturday, April 21, for description and information; Sunday time is 10:30 a.m.–5 p.m.Earth Day Event Entertainment, information, demonstrations, special guests and food. Family-friendly event.11 a.m.–2 p.m. State House lawn, Montpelier. By donation of non-perishable food items for the food shelf. [email protected].

Jewish Music and Folk DancingRobert Resnik and Gigi Weisman present a short multimedia talk on Jewish musical traditions, followed by a chance to learn some dances with Resnik on accordion and Weisman on fiddle. 2–4 p.m. Beth Jacob Synagogue, Harrison Avenue, Montpelier. Advance registration: $5 synagogue members, $10 nonmem-bers; $8 members, $12 nonmembers at the door. 279-7518 or [email protected]. [Listing date corrected from previous issue.]Ninth Annual Master Fiddlers ConcertFeaturing the April Verch Band, Scott Campbell and Roland Clark.2 p.m. Barre Opera House. $12–$30; benefits the Orleans/Essex County Visiting Nurses Association and Hospice. Tickets at 476-8188 or barreoperahouse.org.Diane Huling Recital: A Pianist’s GalleryThe Vermont pianist plays music that suggests pictorial images, including Moussorgsky’s Pictures At An Exhibition and a world premiere of Vermont composer Erik Nielsen’s Sketches.3 p.m. Bethany Church, 115 Main Street, Montpelier. [email protected] Mountain Music: Modern BaroqueSee Friday, April 21, for description; note change in time and location. 4 p.m.; reception follows. Warren United Church. By donation. 734-904-7656.Fireless CookersWith Steve and Courtney Byers. Cook stock, rice, beans and more with less energy. Learn about the benefits of fireless cookers and how to build one using simple materials.5–6 p.m. Hunger Mountain Coop community room, Montpelier. $5 member/owners, $6 nonmembers. Register at 223-8004, ext. 202, or [email protected].

MONDAY, APRIL 23April Vacation Nature Camp: Earth Day in ActionOne to three days of spring nature adventures and activities for children in grades 1–4 (grades 2–4 Tuesday and Wednesday).8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. North Branch Nature Center, 713 Elm Street, Montpelier. $35 members, $38 nonmembers ($100/$110 for all three days). Registration rquired at 229-6206. Event repeats with different themes Tuesday, April 24, and Wednesday, April 25.World Book Night at the Ainsworth Public Library The library gives away 100 copies of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by critically acclaimed author Maya Angelou; book discus-sion follows on May 16.2–6 p.m. Ainsworth Public Library, Route 14, Williamstown.Better Birding with Bryan Pfeiffer: Solving SparrowsFear them no more. Once you learn Bryan’s system, sparrows will neither haunt you nor daunt you. No more will you pass them off as LBBs (little brown birds). 6:30–8 p.m. First Baptist Church, School Street, Montpelier. $10. 454-4640 or vermontbirdtours.com.Adult Book GroupCopies of the book available at the library. New members wel-come.7–8 p.m. Jaquith Public Library, Old Schoolhouse Common, Marsh-field. 426-3581, [email protected] or marshfield.lib.vt.us. Event happens every fourth Monday.

TUESDAY, APRIL 24April Vacation Nature Camp: A ‘Jump’ Start on SpringSee Monday, April 23, for description and information.Toddler Art TuesdaysArt play followed by snacks and outdoor free play. Dress for mess! Snacks and materials included.9:30–11 a.m. Center School Learning Community, Plainfield. $10. 454-1947 or centerschoolvt.org.

see UPCOMING EVENTS, page 22

PoemCity 2012All events free unless otherwise noted. For more information, visit montpelieralive.org/poemcity or kellogghubbard.org/poemcity.

BROWN BAG LUNCH: SHARE YOUR FAVORITEShare your favorite poems over lunch in a small-group setting with other local poets.Friday, April 20, noon. Hayes Room, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street, Montpelier.

TIME REMEMBEREDUse several jazz or jazz-related instrumentals as vehicles for creative exploration. Led by poet Reuben Jackson. For all ages. Saturday, April 21, 1 p.m. Hayes Room, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street, Montpelier.Cosponsored by the Young Writers Project.

LOUDER THAN A BOMBA film about Louder Than a Bomb, the only event of its kind in the country—a youth poetry slam built around teams. Sunday, April 22, 10:30 a.m. The Savoy Theater, 26 Main Street, Montpelier.

POETRY PROMPT TOOLKITLearn prompts and exercises with Samantha Kolber that will help you overcome writer’s block and create new poems. For all ages; no prior experience necessary.Monday, April 23, 7 p.m. College Hall, Vermont College of Fine Arts, 36 College Street, Montpelier.

POETRY RECITATION Call it elocution, speaking pieces, or recita-tion—by any name it’s a chance to share your favorite poem from the podium, or simply lis-ten. Led by actor and poetry performer Morgan Irons. Recitations should be 5 minutes or less. Tuesday, April 24, 2 p.m. Westview Meadows, 171 Westview Meadows Road, Montpelier.Please share work of other poets, not your

own. Preregister with Kris Cecchini at [email protected] or 223-1068 x 3.

POETRY TO BEATPeter Money leads a workshop riffing off poetry’s rhythmic possibilities, with nods to Whitman, the Beats and others while exploring energy and sense of community. Wednesday, April 25, 6 p.m. The Black Door, 44 Main Street, Montpelier.

READING: KERRIN MCCADDEN AND EDIE RHOADSFriends and accomplished poets McCadden and Rhoads read from their respective works.Thursday, April 26, 7 p.m. Hayes Room, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street, Montpelier.

POETRY SLAM WITH GEOF HEWITTJoin Vermont’s slam master in an all-ages poetry slam. Come prepared to perform three poems of up to 3 minutes in length. This fun, engaging event offers prizes for top slammers.Friday, April 27, 7 p.m. Hayes Room, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street, Montpelier.

BLUES FOR THE HARD-WALKERSToussaint St. Negritude offers blues and jazz renditions of his poetic works, self-accompanied by bass clarinet, banjo and other instruments.Saturday, April 28, 2 p.m. Hayes Room, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street, Montpelier.

JAPANESE-ENGLISH TRANSLATIONLearn and experience the process of translating Japanese poetry into American English from Michiko Oishi and Judith Chalmer, poets and cotranslators. Sunday, April 29, 1 p.m. City Hall, 39 Main Street, Montpelier.

POEMCITY 2012 READERS FORUMRead every poem in the PoemCity 2012 dis-play? Even if you haven’t, come by for a reader’s wrap-up, discussing some of your favorite poems from the set and sharing your favorite moments from the month’s offerings.Monday, April 30, 6:30 p.m. Hayes Room, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street, Montpelier.


Free Clinic for Feet and CalvesRebecca Riley and Irvin Eisenberg, certified structural integrators and massage therapists, offer 20- to 30-minute treatments for sore feet and calves.Morning. Portals Center for Healing, 28 School Street, (behind the library), Montpelier. Free, but appointment required at 223-7678, ext. 2, or [email protected]. fascialbodies.com. Clinic repeats Wednesday, April 25.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.Empowering Your Intentions: Going Beyond Hopes and Wants With Fred Cheyette. Learn how to set intentions in a way that empowers them for both big issues in your life and everyday stuff.6–7:30 p.m. Hunger Mountain Coop community room, Montpelier. Free. Register at 223-8004, ext. 202, or [email protected].

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25April Vacation Nature Camp: Wandering WildlifeSee Monday, April 23, for description and information.

From Bel Canto Opera to Verismo Musicologist Tim Tavcar talks about Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and Puccini’s La Bohème. Part of the weekly Osher Lifelong Learning Institute spring series.1:30 p.m.; doors open at 12:30 for brown-bag lunch. Aldrich Public Library, Barre. $5 suggested donation. 223-1763 or [email protected] Vacation Fun at the Vermont History MuseumFor kids age 6–12. Check out the exhibit Freedom and Unity: One Ideal, Many Stories, and participate in games, crafts and snacks inspired by a Vermont story book.12:30–4 p.m. 109 State Street, Montpelier. $8/child, $6/child for three or more children, or for Vermont Historical Society members. Preregistration required at 828-2180 or [email protected]. vermonthistory.org/vacation. Event repeats Thursday, April 26.Enjoy the Wonders of FungiWith Eric Swanson of Vermush. See new projects Eric has been working on, and learn how to culture and grow mycelium into fungi. Everyone will bring home oyster mushroom spawn.5–7 p.m. Hunger Mountain Coop community room, Montpelier. $10 member/owners, $12 nonmembers. Register at 223-8004, ext. 202, or [email protected] Clinic for Feet and CalvesSee Tuesday, April 24, for description and information. Clinic hap-pens in evening.Travel Talk About China with Dan and Betsy ChodorkoffJust back from China, the duo shares their photos and experiences of the country. 7 p.m. Jaquith Public Library, 122 School Street, Marshfield. 426-3581 or [email protected] DanceFreestyle boogie with DJ using Gabrielle Roth’s mediative dance form, 5Rhythms.7–9 p.m. Plainfield Community Center. $5–$10 donation. Fearn, 505-8011 or [email protected]. Event happens every fourth Wednesday, and first and third Wednesdays at the Worcester Town Hall.

THURSDAY, APRIL 26School Vacation Fun at the Vermont History MuseumSee Wednesday, April 25, for description and information.Got Used Clothes? Worcester Clothing Swap Drop-OffDrop off gently used, clean clothing, then come back on Saturday to shop. 1–5 p.m. Worcester Town Hall. Drop-off continues Friday, April 27.Introduction to Square Foot GardeningWith Peter Burke. Learn about planning, raised beds, permanent paths, perfect soil, grid planting, watering, trellis, succession plant-ings, maintenance and how not to have a jungle of weeds.

6–7 p.m. Hunger Mountain Coop community room, Montpelier. $10 member/owners, $12 nonmembers. Register at 223-8004, ext. 202, or [email protected].

Ukulele Group All ages and abilities welcome.6–8 p.m. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 46 Barre Street, Mont-pelier. 223-2518. Event happens every second and fourth Thursday.Benefit Reading by Ann B. Day The poet, columnist and nature writer from Fayston reads from her work and sells books to benefit Blinking Light Gallery, a commu-nity artists’ cooperative.6 p.m. Blinking Light Gallery, 16 Main Street, Plainfield. Free. [email protected] and Kindergarten Open House at Central Vermont AcademyFour- and 5-year-olds and their parents check out the local Chris-tian school.6–7 p.m. 317 Vine Street, Berlin. 479-0868 or [email protected]. K–12 open house Tuesday, May 1.Ecumenical GroupSongs of praise, Bible teaching, fellowship.7–9 p.m. Jabbok Center for Christian Living, 8 Daniel Drive, Barre. Free. 476-3873. Event happens every second and fourth Thursday.

FRIDAY, APRIL 27Spring Migration Bird WalkExplore the North Branch Nature Center for early spring migrants, such as warblers, vireos, thrushes and waterfowl.7–8:30 a.m. North Branch Nature Center, 713 Elm Street, Montpe-lier. Free for nature center members, $10 nonmembers. 229-6206.Salomon XR Demo Tour EventTry on some running shoes, get tips and go for a trail run in Hubbard Park, then come back to the shop for burgers, beer and company.Noon–5 p.m., shoe demos; 5:30 p.m., trail run. Free. Onion River Sports parking lot, Montpelier. onionriver.com.Got Used Clothes? Worcester Clothing Swap Drop-OffSee Thursday, April 26, for description and information.The Alexander TechniqueWith Katie Back. Improve your sense of well-being, feel more pres-ent and alive, and regain the natural grace and poise of a child. For all ages and bodies; first-time attendees only, please.5:30–7:30 p.m. Hunger Mountain Coop community room, Montpe-lier. $3 member/owners, $5 nonmembers. Register at 223-8004, ext. 202, or [email protected] (Big Arty SPA Happening) Art, live music, food and silent auction. Performances by the Steve Bredice Trio, cellist Michael Close and guitarist David Kraus. Benefits the gallery’s art education and exhibition programs.7–9 p.m. Studio Place Arts, 201 North Main Street, Barre. $15 advance, $25 day of event. Tickets at 479-7069.

UPCOMING EVENTS, from page 21

TheaterLYDDIEWorld premiere of this stage adapatation of Katherine Paterson’s novel of a Vermont farm girl in the 1840s who goes to work in the Massachusetts woolen mills to regain the farm and reunite her family.April 26–May 20. Lost Nation Theater, 39 Main Street, Montpelier. Thursdays and Sundays, 7 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m.; 2 p.m. Sunday matinees April 28 and May 20. $25 Thursday, $30 Friday–Sunday, $10 age 6–11, $5 discount for students and seniors. Tickets at 229-0492 or lostnationtheater.org.

RENTGreen Mountain Theater Group presents the Broadway musical that follows a year in the life of a diverse group of impoverished young artists in the East Village of New York.Friday, April 27, and Saturday, April 28, 8 p.m., Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center. Friday, May 4, and Saturday, May 5, 8 p.m., Haybarn Theater, Goddard College, Plain-field. Tickets at greenmountaintheater.org and at the door if available. Linda, 249-0414.

Support Groups★ HURRICANE IRENE SUPPORT GROUPSShare your story, listen to others, learn coping skills, build community, and support your neighbors. Refreshments provided.In Waterbury on fourth Thursdays, 6 p.m., St. Leo’s Hall, 279-4670. In Randolph on Mondays, 11 a.m.–noon, Ayers Brook Center, 35 Ayers Brook Road, 279-7697. In Rochester on Mondays, 5:30–6:30 p.m., Rochester High School library, 222 Main Street, 279-7697.

TURNING POINT CENTERSafe, supportive place for individuals and their families in or seeking recovery.• Alchoholics Anonymous, Sundays,

8:30 a.m.• Making Recovery Easier workshops, Tuesdays,

6–7:30 p.m.• Wit’s End Parent Support Group, Wednes-

days, 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.

KINDRED CONNECTIONSFor anyone affected by cancer. Get help from Kindred Connections members whohave been in your shoes. A program of the Vermont Cancer Survivor Network.Call Sherry, 479-3223, for more information. vcsn.net.

BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT GROUPFor anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one.Every other Monday, 6–8 p.m., April 30–August 20. Every other Wednesday, 10–11:30 a.m., April

25–August 15. Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice, 600 Granger Road, Barre. Ginny, 223-1878.

BRAIN INJURY SUPPORT GROUPSOpen to all survivors, caregivers and adult family members. Evening group facilitated by Marsha Bancroft; 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, 800-834-7890, ext. 106. Day group meets first and third Thursdays, 1:30–2:30 p.m., Unitarian Church, 130 Main Street, Montpelier, 244-6850.

GRANDPARENTS RAISING THEIR CHILDREN’S CHILDRENFirst Wednesdays, 10 a.m.–noon, Barre Presby-terian Church, Summer Street. Second Tuesdays, 6–8 p.m., Wesley Methodist Church, Main Street, Waterbury. Third Thursdays, 6–8 p.m., Trinity United Methodist Church, 137 Main Street. Child care provided in Montpelier and Waterbury. Evelyn, 476-1480.

★ HURRICANE IRENE SUPPORT GROUP FOR RECOVERY WORKERSGet peer support and help processing emotions, strengthen relationships and learn coping skills.Every other Monday, 3:30 p.m. (next meetings April 30 and May 14). Unitarian Church, 130 Main Street, Montpelier. 279-4670.

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 LIFEFor anyone affected by cancer. Third Tuesdays, noon to 1 p.m. Cancer Center

resource room, Central Vermont Medical Center. 225-5449.

BEREAVED PARENTS SUPPORT GROUPFacilitated by Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice (CVHHH).Second Wednesdays, 6–8 p.m. CVHHH, 600 Granger Road, Berlin. Jeneane Lunn, 793-2376.

CELIAC AND FOOD ALLERGY SUPPORT GROUPWith Lisa Masé of Harmonized Cookery.Second Wednesdays, 4:30–6 p.m. Central Vermont Medical Center, conference room 3. [email protected].

CANCER SUPPORT GROUPThird Wednesdays, 6 p.m. Potluck. For location, call Carole MacIntyre, 229-5931.

MAN-TO-MAN PROSTATE CANCER SUP-PORT GROUPThird Wednesdays, 6–8 p.m. Conference room 2, Central Vermont Medical Center. 872-6308 or 866-466-0626 (press 3).

MAMA’S CIRCLE GROUP Support for parenting in a group setting. For ba-bies, toddlers and preschoolers; books, toys and light refreshment available. Hosted by Good Beginnings of Central Vermont.Thursdays, 10 a.m.–noon. 172 River Street, Montpelier. Through May 1.

NAMI: CONNECTIONA peer-led, recovery-oriented group for indi-viduals living with mental illness.First and third Thursdays, 6–7:30 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Montpelier. 800-639-6480 or [email protected].

★ SURVIVORS OF SUICIDEFacilitated by Cory Gould.Third Thursdays, 5–6:30 p.m. Board room, Cen-

tral Vermont Medical Center, Fisher Road, Berlin. Karen, 229-0591.

DIABETES DISCUSSION GROUPFocus on self-management. Open to anyone with diabetes and their families.Third Thursdays, 6:30 p.m. The Health Cen-ter, Plainfield. Free. Don, 322-6600 or [email protected].

MEN’S GROUPMen discuss challenges of and insights about being male.Thursdays, 6:15–8:15 p.m. 174 Elm Street, Mont-pelier. Interview required: contact Neil Davis, psychologist-master, 223-3753.

DIABETES SUPPORT GROUPFirst Thursdays, 7–8 p.m. Conference room 3, Central Vermont Medical Center. 371-4152.

OVEREATERS ANONYMOUSTwelve-step program for physically, emotionally and spiritually overcoming overeating.Fridays, noon–1 p.m. Bethany Church, 115 Main Street, Montpelier. 223-3079.

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND, MONTPELIER CHAPTERFirst Saturdays. Lane Shops community room, 1 Mechanic Street, Montpelier. 229-0093.

FAMILIES OF COLOROpen to all families. Play, eat and discuss issues of adoption, race and multiculturalism. Bring snacks and games to share, and dress for the weather.Third Sundays, 3–5 p.m. Unitarian Church, 130 Main Street, Montpelier. Alyson, 439-6096 or [email protected].

★ indicates new or revised listing


Attic Series: Katie Trautz and Tom Mackenzie Traditional and original folk music woven with old-time fiddle melodies and songs.7:30 p.m.; potluck at 6 p.m. Montpelier. $15 suggested dona-tion. For reservations and directions, contact Susan, 229-1403 or [email protected] Recital by Matthew Odell Program includes Mozart’s Fantasy in C minor, K. 475, Brahms’s Sonata No. 3 in F minor, op. 5, and works by Olivier Messiaen and Michael Annicchiarico.8 p.m. Bethany Church, 115 Main Street, Montpelier. $20 suggested donation. Arthur, 223-2424 or [email protected].

SATURDAY, APRIL 28Walk with the Green Mountain Club, Montpelier SectionModerate 5.6-mile walk from the nature center at Groton State Pond to Peacham Bog. Contact leader Phyllis Rubenstein, 223-0020 or phyllis@phyllisruben steinlaw.comcastbiz.net, for meeting time and place.Youth Birding Program: Peregrine Falcon ForayThough recently removed from the endangered species list, per-egrine falcons face numerous challenges. Help monitor the pair at Marshfield Mountain.8:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. North Branch Nature Center, 713 Elm Street, Montpelier. Free for teens and preteens. 229-6206.Stand Against Racism Youth ConferenceFor youth age 13 and older. Conversation and education about racial equality and cultural pluralism through improv acting, art, dialogue about race and racism, poetry, film and more. Montpelier High School. Free. Rebecca, 862-7520 or [email protected]. ywca.org/vermont.Got Used Clothes? Worcester Clothing Swap Pick up gently used, clean, new-to-you clothing for a donation to the Worcester food shelf.9 a.m.–3 p.m. Worcester Town Hall. $1/bag suggested donation.Discover Goddard DayLearn more about Goddard’s low-residency BA, BFA, MA and MFA degree programs.9 a.m.–3 p.m. Goddard College, 123 Pitkin Road, Plainfield. Free; lunch included. Register at 800-906-8312 or goddard.edu/discover_goddard.

Waitsfield Spring Indoor Farmers Market Meat, cheese, bread and baked goods, early microgreens and seed-lings, lamb, fiber and herbal products, tea, chocolates, hot sauces, soaps, clothing and jewelry.10 a.m.–2 p.m. Big Picture Theater, 48 Carroll Road (just off Route 100), Waitsfield. waitsfieldfarmersmarket.com.Prescription Drug Take-Back DayThe Drug Enforcement Administration anonymously collects potentially dangerous, expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs for destruction. Pills and capsules only.10 a.m.–2 p.m. Washington County Sheriff’s Department,10 Elm Street, Montpelier. For locations of additional collection sites in Northfield, Middlesex, Barre and Waitsfield, vist dea.gov. Play Piano Now!: Free Introductory SessionSee Saturday, April 21, for description and information.Transition Town Montpelier Potluck and GatheringGood food, good discussion and community support for these changing times. Bring a potluck dish and your own dishes and utensils. All welcome.Noon–2 p.m. Trinity Methodist Church, 137 Main Street, Montpe-lier. Free. Event happens every fourth Saturday.An Evening Of Scottish Poetry and Music at Marshfield’s NutshellMarshfield-based poet Len Irving, a native of Scotland, joins the Borealis Guitar Duo of North Calais in a mixed-media evening of poetry and music.7 p.m. The Nutshell, Ennis Hill Road, Marshfield. $10 suggested donation. For reservation and directions, call 426-3955.

SUNDAY, APRIL 29Feldenkrais: Oiling the Hip JointsLearn a series of Awareness Through Movement lessons to help you discover your hip joints and explore their potential for movement.1:30–3:30 p.m. Yoga Mountain Center, 7 Main Street, Montpelier. $30. Register at 735-3770 or [email protected] Resiliently in Turbulent TimesWith Carolyn Baker. In this increasingly unstable economic and social era, learn strategies to be resourceful in an uncertain future and connect with people who share your concerns and passions. 3–5 p.m.; potluck follows. Turkey Hill Farm, Randolph Center. $10. 728-7064 or carolynbaker.net.

TUESDAY, MAY 1Put People First March and Rally: One Movement for People and the Planet. As part of a national day of action, thousands of Vermonters converge on the State House, connecting struggles for universal healthcare, education, safe and affordable housing, childcare, migrant justice and a healthy environment and livable planet into one huge march and rally. Meet at noon at City Hall, 39 Main Street, Montpelier. 861-4892 or workerscenter.org/may1. Ballroom Dance ClassCheck out the Latin Sampler (rumba and cha-cha) or the Smooth Sampler (waltz and foxtrot).5:30–6:30 p.m., Latin; 6:30–7:30 p.m., smooth. Union Elementary School, Montpelier. $14. 225-8699. Class continues May 6, 15 and 22.Central Vermont Academy Open House for Grades K–126–7 p.m. 317 Vine Street, Berlin. 479-0868 or [email protected]. May Day Plant WalkWith naturalist George Lisi and Annie McCleary of Wisdom of the Herbs School. Greet and identify the diverse plant life of the Winooski River valley thriving in Montpelier’s streetscape. 6–7:15 p.m. Meet at the picnic tables outside Hunger Mountain Coop, Montpelier. $2 member/owners, $3 nonmembers. Register at 223-8004, ext. 202, or [email protected] Primo Maggio Celebration in BarreGuided tour of Hope Cemetery with sculptor Giuliano Cecchi-nelli, traditional four-course Italian dinner, and presentation on American garden cemeteries by Dennis Montagna, director of the National Park Service’s monument research and preservation program.4 p.m., cemetery tour (meet at entrance on Route 14); 5:30 p.m., din-ner (at Mutuo Soccorso Hall, Beckley Street, Barre); 7 p.m., talk, (at Old Labor Hall, 46 Granite Street, Barre). $25 dinner; other events by donation. Tickets at oldlaborhall.com. Sponsored by the Barre Historical Society.

Art & ExhibitsALDRICH PUBLIC LIBRARYThe Paletteers artists’ club spring show.6 Washington Street, Barre. Through May 11. Annette, 262-6400.

BIGTOWN GALLERYNew oil paintings and collage by Warren artist Nancy H. Taplin.99 North Main Street, Rochester. Through April 29. 767-9670 or bigtowngallery.com.

CENTRAL VERMONT MEDICAL CENTERStories, works by Ed Epstein.130 Fisher Road, Berlin. Through April. cvmc.org.

GODDARD COLLEGEThe History of Goddard College, 1969–1979, photographs, films and archival documents, curated by Goddard staff member and alum-nus Dustin Byerly.Pratt Center Library, Goddard College, 123 Pit-kin Road, Plainfield. Through June. 454-8311 or goddard.edu.

GOVERNOR’S GALLERYWork by sculptor John Brickels and painter/photographer Wendy James.Pavilion building, 109 State Street, Montpelier. Through May. Photo ID required for admittance. 828-0749.

GREEN BEAN ART GALLERYHeads: Drawings and Pastels, works by Glen Coburn Hutcheson.Capitol Grounds, 27 State Street, Montpelier. Through April 29. [email protected].

KELLOGG-HUBBARD LIBRARYNew England Broadsides, letterpress-printed poetry broadsides from New England studios (Hayes Room); Black, White, and Color, acrylics on board by Barb Leber (first floor); Birmingham and Beyond, pastels and oils by Cheryl Dick (second floor); and Art of Creative Aging, juried exhibit of current work by local

visual artists age 70 and older (starts May 3).135 Main Street, Montpelier. Broadsides exhibit through April 30; Creative Aging May 3–29, reception Thursday, May 3, 5–7 p.m.; all others through April 23. 223-3338.

SHOE HORNDogs, Penguins, a Pig and a Frog, paintings by Jody Stahlman.8 Langdon Street, Montpelier. Through April. [email protected].

SPOTLIGHT GALLERYDrawings by Montpelier artist Gowri Savoor.136 State Street, Montpelier. Through April. vermontartscouncil.org.

STUDIO PLACE ARTSSweet!, artistic sweets and other delights; The Teeny Tiny, 4-inch-square works to support Studio Place Arts’ educational and exhibition programs; and My Sketchbook Made Me Do It, works by Hal Mayforth.201 North Main Street, Barre. Through May 26. 479-7069 or studioplacearts.com.

SULLIVAN MUSEUMTol’ ko Po Russky, Pozhaluista (“Russian Only, Please”), chronicling the history of the Russian school at Norwich University, 1968–2000. Norwich University, Northfield. Through Janu-ary 2013. 485-2183.

VERMONT COLLEGE OF FINE ARTSPost Gig: the Art of the Contemporary MusicPoster, a traveling exhibition of over 100 original music posters collected and curated by Clifford Stoltze. Part of the graphic-design residency.Gym, corner of College and East State Streets, Montpelier. Through April 21: Friday, 2–6 p.m.; Saturday, 2–5 p.m. Reception Friday, April 20, 6–8 p.m. 828-8896

VERMONT HISTORY MUSEUMVermont agricultural murals by Grace Brigham, depicting maple sugaring with draft horses, apple picking, farmstead views, chick-ens, and dairy and beef cows.109 State Street, Montpelier. Through spring 2012. 828-2291 or vermonthistory.org.

see UPCOMING EVENTS, page 24

Live MusicBAGITOS28 Main Street, Montpelier. All shows 6–8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 229-9212 or bagitos.com.Every SaturdayIrish/Celtic session with Sarah Blair, Hillary Farrington Koehler and Benedict Koehler, 2–5 p.m.Every TuesdayJazz with Karl MillerEvery WednesdayAcoustic blues jam with the Usual Suspects and guests Friday, April 20Bad Mr. Frosty presents the 4/20 variety show with Kufui and friends, 4:20–8 p.m.Saturday, April 21Matt TownsendSunday, April 22Sunday brunch with Art Herttua (jazz), 11 a.m.–1 p.m.Friday, April 27Theo Exploration and Tiger SwamiSaturday, April 28Blue FoxSunday, April 29Sunday brunch with Ben Carr, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Thursday, May 3 Good to Go with Rebecca Singer

BLACK DOOR44 Main Street, Montpelier. All shows start at 9:30 p.m. with $5 cover unless otherwise noted. 225-6479 or blackdoorvermont.com.Friday, April 20The Kristen Ford Band (rock/pop) and Spider Cider (funk/hip-hop)Saturday, April 21The Party Crashers (funk/rock)Friday, April 27Swift Technique (hip-hop/funk)Saturday, April 28Seashell Radio with bass player from Calexico (chamber pop/indie folk)Thursday, May 3Johnny Rawls with the Dave Keller Band (blues), 8 p.m., $10

CHARLIE O’S70 Main Street, Montpelier. 223-6820.Every TuesdayKaraoke

Friday, April 20Funkwagon (funk)Saturday, April 21Concrete Rivals with Zen Dudes and the Universe (surf)Friday, April 27Amadis (metal)Saturday, April 28Saint Anyway (bluegrass)

CIDER HOUSE RESTAURANTRoute 2, Waterbury. 244-8400Saturdays, April 21 and 28Dan Boomhower (piano), 6–close

NUTTY STEPH’S CHOCOLATERIERoute 2, Middlesex. All shows 7–10 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 229-2090 or nuttystephs.com.Every ThursdayBacon Thursdays, hot music and live conversa-tion, 6 p.m.–midnight. April is color month—show up wearing the color du jour: April 19, white; April 26, gold and silverSaturday, April 21Black Mesa Free Clinic benefit with Snake Oil Medicine Show, 6 p.m.–midnight, $10 sug-gested donationSaturday, April 28Bacon-Thursday-on-a-Saturday, 6 p.m.–mid-night, benefit for production of new movie, I’m In Here, with guest celebrity bacon waitress Emily AndersonThursday, May 3Bacon Thursday’s second birthday with Z-Jazz, free bacon all night

POSITIVE PIE 222 State Street, Montpelier. 229-0453 or positivepie.com.Friday, April 20Miriam Bernardo Band with Sara Grace, 10 p.m., 21+, $5Saturday, April 21Groundfood, 10:30 p.m., 21+, $5

SKINNY PANCAKE89 Main Street, Montpelier. 262-2253 or skinnypancake.com.Every SundayOld-time sessions with Katie Trautz and friends, 4–6 p.m. (intermediate to advanced players welcome to sit in)Sunday, April 22Liv Carrow (folk)Sunday, April 29Saint Anyway (bluegrass)

ØSUBMIT YOUR EVENT!Send listings to calendar@montpelierbridge .com. Deadline for the May 3 issue is Friday, April 27. High-resolution photos are also welcome.


Weekly EventsBICYCLINGOpen Shop NightsHave questions or a bike to donate, or need help with a bike repair? Come visit the volunteer-run community bike shop.Mondays and Wednesdays, 5–7 p.m. Tuesdays, 6–8 p.m. Freeride Montpelier, 89 Barre Street, Montpe-lier. By donation. 552-3521 or freeridemontpelier.org.★ Weekly Rides at Onion River SportsCome in proper physical condition depending on ride, bring water and a snack and dress appropri-ately for weather. Helmets required. Anyone under 15 must be accompanied by an adult; anyone under 18 must have a signed parental permission form. MondaysCyclocross Cruise, 6 p.m., 1- to 2-hour, moder-ate, casual cyclocross ride, climbing and descend-ing beautiful dirt roadsTuesdaysCycling 101 with Linda Freeman, 5:30 p.m., all levels welcomeWednesdaysMountain Bike Ride, 5 p.m. or 6 p.m., interme-diate to advanced rides on different area trails each week; for carpooling and more information, e-mail [email protected] Onion River Racing Wednesday Night World Championships, 5:30 p.m., fast ride with town line sprints and competitions for bragging rights, route announced at ride time; onionriverracing.comThursdaysOnion River Racing Thursday Night Nationals, 5:30 p.m., pace is zone 1 and 2, no-drop ride, route announced at ride time; onionriverracing.com.

SPIRITUALITYChristian ScienceGod’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.

CRAFTSBeaders GroupAll 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, Plain-field. 454-1615.

FITNESSFitness Hula-Hooping For fun and exercise. Great cardio workout; im-proves coordination, stamina and core strength. Led by Carol Becker.Thursdays, 7–8 p.m. Union Elementary School, Montpelier. Through May 17; no class April 26. $10. 225-8699.

GAMES Apollo Duplicate Bridge ClubAll welcome. Partners sometimes available.Fridays, 6:45 p.m. Bethany Church, Montpelier. 485-8990 or 223-3922.

HEALTHFree HIV TestingVermont CARES offers fast oral testing.Thursdays, 1–4 p.m. 73 Main Street, Suite 40, Montpelier. vtcares.org.

KIDS & TEENSThe Basement Teen CenterCable 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.★ Story Time at the Waterbury Public LibraryNo story time April 23–27; resumes Monday, April 30.Mondays, age 18–36 months. Wednesdays, age 0–18 months. Fridays, age 3–6 years. 10 a.m. Waterbury Public Library. Free. 244-7036.Library Activities for Kids• Story time, Tuesdays, Wednedays and Fridays,

10:30–11:30 a.m.• Crafts, first Tuesdays, 3:30 p.m.• Games, second Tuesdays, 3:30 p.m.• Lego club, third Tuesdays, 3:30 p.m.• Teen Advisory Group meeting, fourth Tues-

days, 3:30 p.m.• Chess club, Wednesdays, 5:30 p.m. (call Rob-

ert, 229-1207, for info) • Young Adult Nights (games, movies, food,

crafting and more for youth age 10–17), third Fridays, 6–9 p.m.

Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Montpelier. Free. 223-4665.Youth GroupGames, movies, snacks and music.Mondays, 7–9 p.m. Church of the Crucified One, Route 100, Moretown. 496-4516.Story Time and PlaygroupStory time: for children age 0–6. Playgroup: story, art, song, nature activities and cooperative games. Dress for the weather.Story time: Mondays, 10 a.m. Playgroup: Wednes-

days, 10–11:30 a.m. Jaquith Public Library, 122 School Street, Marshfield. 426-3581 or [email protected] Storytime for ToddlersStory, craft and snack.Wednesdays, 10 a.m. Ainsworth Public Library, Main Street, Williamstown. Through May 16. 433-5887.Cub Capers Storytime and SongsFor children age 3–5 and their families.Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m. Children’s room, Bear Pond Books, 77 Main Street, Montpelier. 229-0774.Morning PlaygroupStorytelling inspired by seasonal plants, fruits and herbs with in-house astrologer Mary Anna Abuzahra, plus crafts, games and activities. Walk follows. All ages welcome.Tuesdays, 10 a.m. Tulsi Tea Room, 34 Main Street, Montpelier. Free. [email protected].★ Second-Language Story TimeTales in American Sign Language, plus monthly special events with native speakers. On April 24, Spanish with Maria McKnight.Tuesdays, 3 p.m. Cutler Memorial Library, Route 2, Plainfield. Free. 454-8504 or cutlerlibrary.org.Story Time at Onion River KidsOutdoor adventure tales and childhood classics.Sundays, 10:30 a.m. 7 Langdon Street, Montpelier. 223-6025.

LANGUAGELunch in a Foreign LanguageBring lunch and practice your language skills with neighbors.Noon–1 p.m. Mondays, Hebrew. Tuesdays, Italian. Wednesdays, Spanish. Thursdays, French. Fridays, German. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Mont-pelier. 223-3338.

MUSICSing With the Barre TonesWomen’s a cappella chorus.Mondays, 6:30 p.m. Alumni Hall (second floor), near Barre Auditorium. 223-2039 or [email protected].

SPIRITUALITYDeepening Our Jewish RootsFun, engaging text study and discussion on Jew-ish spirituality.Sundays, 4:45–6:15 p.m. Yearning for Learning Center, Montpelier. Rabbi Tobie Weisman, 223-0583 or [email protected] Meditation GroupPeople of all faiths welcome.Mondays, noon–1 p.m. Christ Church, Montpelier. Regis, 223-6043.Shambhala Buddhist MeditationInstruction 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 MeditationWednesdays, 6:30–7:30 p.m. 174 River Street, Montpelier. Call Tom for orientation, 229-0164. With Zen Affiliate of Vermont.

SPORTSRoller 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 Equipment provided.Sundays, 3–5 p.m. Montpelier Recreation Center, Barre Street. $5. 363-1531, [email protected] or vermontfloorhockey.com.

THRIFT STORESTrinity Community Thrift StoreTuesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; Sat-urdays, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Trinity United Method-ist Church, 137 Main Street (use rear entrance), Montpelier. 229-9155 or [email protected].

YOGA★ Sliding-Scale Yoga ClassesWith Lydia Russell-McDade.Weaving in seasonal poetry and myth, these intermediate-level classes help you build strength and flexibility while learning safe postural alignment. Mondays, 5:30–6:45 p.m., River House Yoga, Plainfield. $5–$20 suggested donation. saprema-yoga.com.Midday Yoga BreakWith Amy LePage-Hansen. Unwind, regroup and move your body. All levels welcome. Mondays, 12:15–1:15 p.m. Shambala Center, Montpelier. $10–$15 suggested donation; first class $5. [email protected] or emergeyoga.net.Rhythmic Flow Vinyasa With Lori Mortimer.Tuesdays, 6–7:15 p.m., Through May 29. All Together Now, East Montpelier. $5–$15 suggested donation. 324-1737 or sattvayoga.wordpress.com.

★ indicates new or revised listing

WEDNESDAY, MAY 2The Indian Films of Merchant and Ivory: The Householder Rick Winston, film impresario, talks about this 1963 film featur-ing Shashi Kapoor, Leela Naidu and Durga Khote.Part of the weekly Osher Lifelong Learning Institute spring series.10 a.m. Savoy Theater, 26 Main St., Montpelier $5 suggested dona-tion. 223-1763 or [email protected] ReflexologyWith Frances McManus, certified reflexologist. Learn about progressive reflexology and its effectiveness on the body, mind and spirit.6–7 p.m. Hunger Mountain Coop community room, Montpelier. $5 member/owners, $7 nonmembers. Register at 223-8004, ext. 202, or [email protected] Your Own Summer Herbal First Aid KitFrom bee stings to sunburn, all you need is just a few herbal es-sentials. Handouts and hands-on! 6–7:30 p.m. Ainsworth Public Library, Route 14, Williamstown. $5; registration required. Marie, 249-7551 or [email protected] Stephen King Still MattersTony Magistrale, chair of the UVM English department, exam-ines Stephen King within the tradition of the American Gothic and considers King’s faith in individualism. 7 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street, Montpelier. Rachel, 223-3338. Part of the Vermont Humanities Council’s First Wednesdays lecture series. Classic Film Night Directed by Joshua Logan, this 1955 film relates the story of a drifter (William Holden) who shakes up the life of a rural Kansas

town. Also starring Kim Novak and Rosalind Russell.7 p.m. Jaquith Public Library, Marshfield. 426-3581 or [email protected] DanceSee Wednesday, April 25, for description.7–9 p.m. Worcester Town Hall, corner of Elmore Road and Calais Road. $5–$10 donation. Fearn, 505-8011 or [email protected]. Event happens every first and third Wednesday, and fourth Wednesdays at the Plainfield Community Center.Judy Collins in ConcertA folk icon for the past half-century, Collins has produced many memorable hits, including “Send in the Clowns,” “Both Sides Now” and “Chelsea Morning.” 7:30 p.m. Barre Opera House. $33–$37. Tickets at 476-8188 or barreoperahouse.org.extempo: Live Original StorytellingTell a 5- to 71 ⁄2-minute, first-person, true story from your own life! Sign up in advance, and come with your story already prac-ticed to deliver it smoothly without the use of notes. No theme.8 p.m. The CineClub (downstairs at the Savoy Theater), Montpelier. Free to participants; $5 otherwise. 229-0598 or extempovt.com.

THURSDAY, MAY 3Empowering Your Intentions: Going Beyond Hopes and Wants See Tuesday, April 24, for description and information.Science of Mind PrinciplesStudy group for inquiring minds of all faiths.6–8 p.m. Universal Rivers of Life, 28 East State Street, Suite 4 (second floor), Montpelier. 223-3427 or [email protected]. Event happens every first and third Thursday.

Anthroposophy Today and TomorrowWith Torin M. Finser, PhD., chair of the education department of Antioch University New England, founding member of the Center for Anthroposophy and author of several books7 p.m Grades building, Orchard Valley Waldorf School, Route 14, East Montpelier. 456-7400.Attic Series: The Turning Stile Fiddler Joanne Garton and multi-instrumentalist Aaron Marcus play a mix of traditional dance tunes from England, Scotland, Ireland, New England and Appalachia, as well as originals.7:30 p.m.; potluck at 6 p.m. Montpelier. $10 suggested dona-tion. For reservations and directions, contact Susan, 229-1403 or [email protected].

UPCOMING EVENTS, from page 23

SUBMIT YOUR EVENT!Send listings to Dana Dwinell-Yardley, calen-dar editor, at calendar@montpelierbridge .com. Deadline for the May 3 issue is Friday, April 27. Listings may be edited for length, clarity and style, and Montpelier events have priority. High-resolution photos are also welcome.


ClassesCOACHINGSTOP. LISTEN. WHAT IN YOUR LIFE IS CALLING YOU?Stillpoint Life Coaching groups and individual coaching will support you in creating the satis-faction, success and joy you want in your life. Fran Weinbaum, [email protected] or 802-249-7377.

GREEN LIVINGECO-ORGANIZATIONWant to learn more about how to live a sus-tainable lifestyle? Grab some friends, cowork-ers, family members and host a Go Green Workshop! Learn more about local topics like recycling in your home, toxic-free living, green kids, etc. Contact Emilye Pelow Corbett at [email protected] or visit epcandassociates.com to set up a workshop!

YOGAINTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED HEATED VIN-YASSA YOGA SPRING SERIESWith Hanna Satterlee at Geezum Crow Yoga, 37 Elm Street, Montpelier. Saturday after-noons, April 7, 14, 21, 4–5:15 p.m. Cleanse the mind and root the body. Must have previous experience in vinyasa yoga. Drop in for one class or preregister for the three-week series. [email protected].

ClassifiedsEMPLOYMENTWRITER WANTED Th e Bridge is seeking a writer to cover the twice-monthly Montpelier City Council meetings.A successful candidate must be a Montpelier

resident who can off er a sustained commitment to reporting on council meetings. Th is is a paid posi-tion. Contact Nat at Th e Bridge, 223-5112, ext. 10.

REAL ESTATEARTIST, MUSICIAN SPACEStudios available this spring in assorted sizes at 46 Barre Street (site of Monteverdi and Sum-mit School). Reserve your space and become a part of the Montpelier area’s center for the arts, learning and music. For details call Paul Irons at 223-2120 or 461-6222.

SERVICESHOUSE PAINTERSince 1986. Small interior jobs ideal. Neat,

prompt, friendly. Local references. Pitz Quat-trone, 229-4952.

VOLUNTEERINGRESTORATIVE JUSTICEVolunteers needed fi ve hours a month to practice restorative justice and help improve community safety by serving on Montpelier Reparative Boards or Circles of Support and Accountability (COSAs). Ideal candidates are broad-minded and empathetic. Training provided. See job descriptions at montpelier-vt.org/page/524. Call Montpelier Community Justice Center at 223-9606 for information/application.

Herbs From the Ground UpVermont Center for Integrative Herbalism's annual herbal apprenticeship!

With Larken Bunce. Starts soon! Register now to reserve your place in this exciting and hands-on learning opportunity: [email protected] or 802.224.7100.

Classes take place on Mondays from April 30th to October 16th in Middlesex, Vermont. Cost is $850.

Learn:• home herb gardening from scratch for the purpose of

growing and maintaining your apothecary• garden design, soil amendment, seed starting, and

planting• best practices for harvesting, drying and medicine-

making, composting, and seed-saving, and plant uses• how to grow and use Asian medicinal species

250 Main Street, Suite 302, Montpelier

Herbalist Julia Graves is coming to VCIH in

June! Visit www.vtherbcenter.org for class

descriptions and details.

Monday, April 23Speaker: Stephan Syz, Board Member, Vermont River Conservancy

Monday, April 30Speaker: Beth Krueger-Hershel, Marketing Coordinator, Good News Garage

Monday, May 14Speaker: President Ed Flanagan, Montpelier Rotary Club

Monday, May 21Speaker: Commissioner Rob Ide, Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles

For more information, call Rotary President Ed Flanagan at 223-2396.

You Are Invited to Join Us for Lunchat the Montpelier Rotary Club

Rotary meets most Mondays (except holidays) at 12:15 p.m. at the Capitol Plaza Hotel, 100 State Street, Montpelier.

Custom Building

Restoration

General Contracting

Dry Laid Stone

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Coleman B. ParkerEast Montpelier, Vermont

802-229-8295

Building Quality Since 1979WWW.LIVEEDGECONSTRUCTION.COM

EPR BiofeedbackStress & Pain Relief • Improves EnergyAids in Weight Loss & Sports Performance

Nan Kenney, CBT, CPT

Riverside Chiropractic136 Main Street,

[email protected]

802-274-0634

Love Playing Pianoages 4 to 104

Nicholas Mortimer loveplayingpiano.org | 595-1220


by William Fraser, city manager

On March 31, the Montpelier Boosters Club held their annual dinner in celebration of excellence within our community. The evening was filled

with excellent performances from high-school-student sing-ers and instrumentalists. Outgoing MHS principal Peter Evans offered insightful remarks about the many ways, large and small, that excellence presents itself in our schools. Auctions were conducted, a meal was shared and some good- natured ribbing was delivered. Most of all, this year’s honor-ees were recognized.

Normally I don’t write about the Boosters Club honorees. This year is different for a couple of reasons. The first is that the club chose to honor two MHS graduates: Police Chief Anthony Facos and Fire Chief Robert Gowans. The second is that I was asked to be the main speaker for their recognition.

I wanted my comments to appropriately reflect the deep respect I have for both of these chiefs and the work they, and their departments, perform. I wanted the audience to think about the role our public-safety professionals play in our community and in our lives. I appreciated the honor of being asked to speak and wish to use this opportunity to share my statements with the entire community, not just those gath-ered for the Boosters dinner.

The following is my speech:

“When we sit down with our high-schoolers and talk to them about their future, we tend to say things like ‘Go out in the world, make a difference, be an active member of your community, work hard in school to prepare yourself for a rewarding career.’ And we mean well. We can see the stars in their eyes, the places they want to go, the glory they want to achieve.

“But let’s face it, do we want to think of them running into a burning building or approaching a darkened house from which gunshots have been heard? Well, sure, they should serve the public, but safely, please.

“Bob and Tony WERE our high-schoolers—MHS classes of ’75 and ’84. Bob’s favorite teacher was Bert Morrison, who also coached football. He liked sciences. But foreign language? Not so much. Tony liked his frequently stalling Triumph TR-7, power mechanics class and bio with Carolyn Silsby. These young men had no idea that their glory would lie in leading and protecting their hometown.

“We think we know what police officers and firefighters do. Therefore, we think we know what a police chief and fire chief do. We cast judgments. But we have no idea. We are sheltered by the security they offer us. They buffer us from the harsh realities we don’t really want to face, humbly protecting us from things that we may not want to know. Most of us want to believe that drugs and alcohol are not significant problems in our community and that domestic

conflicts are few and far between. That gun threats are virtually nonexistent. We don’t like to think about unsafe buildings or the fire hazards in our own homes. Bob and Tony have the thankless task of reminding us to think about how vulnerable our community is.

“Working as a public leader in a small town is both an honor and a burden. But working in your hometown mag-nifies both. Like any job in public service, being a police officer and a firefighter is hard, hard work that only doles out small moments of glory.

“These men have delivered babies—Bob has five to his credit—and rescued children and adults from fires, rivers, abusive situations, cardiac arrest and much more. Tony has even found himself face to face with a huge python that was hiding heroin. That is where his delegating skills came in handy.

“The glory? They get to see those babies grow up, and, walking around town, the person to whom they gave a second chance in life gives them a wave on the street; the adolescent they reprimanded turns into a fine adult. Bob and Tony have prevented many tragedies because of their intimacy with the community and their own initiative.

“The burden lies in seeing friends suffer and their chil-dren pass away too young. Bob and Tony have jobs that often involve seeing what none of us could bear to see. Yet, when tragedy strikes, they respond with compassion and grace as if the loss is their own. Because it is.

“How fortunate are we to have men who know our fami-lies, know our friends and know our histories be there to guide us, comfort us and protect us—sometimes from our-selves. And then chat with us in the Shaw’s dairy aisle.

“Firefighters and police officers have different relation-ships with our community. Kurt Vonnegut said, ‘I can think of no more stirring symbol of man’s humanity to man than a fire engine.’ How true. Our relationship with the firefighter is pure. Their fire trucks and ambulances race to our doors to rescue us. They don’t pester us about speeding, or being too loud, or underage drinking.

The police also rescue us, but it’s a more complicated re-lationship. Perhaps that’s why Tony’s first choice was to be a firefighter. Luckily for us, he missed those last two points on the exam. It is indeed true that when one door closes, another opens.

“In moments of crisis one’s true integrity is revealed. The back-to-back flooding in May and August of last year is still hard to believe. Working side by side with Tony and Bob all night long during those stressful events, I saw the profes-sionalism that makes up this pair. There were no egos at stake, no turf battles between police and fire departments. Community care was first and foremost. It was evident to me that their devotion to their hometown was driving them. This was Solon spirit at work, friends.

“Each of these leaders deserves his own speech. But each would probably shy away from that. There are not enough words to adequately reflect gratitude for the example they have set for our current high-schoolers. Bob and Tony both worked diligently to obtain the education and train-ing needed to ascend the ranks in their departments, Tony through the FBI academy and Bob through the National Fire Academy. Both men had to earn their leadership roles and were selected as chiefs over top-tier competitors. They have both declined opportunities for bigger jobs and bigger paychecks in favor of giving back to Montpelier what the community gave to them.

“Abraham Lincoln stated, ‘I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.’ We are all proud of you Chief Gowans and Chief Facos.” End of speech.

As I said, it was a great pleasure for me to honor our two excellent home-grown public-safety chiefs. The public safety system has many components. The first responder immedi-ately comes to mind—the firefighter or EMT rushing to an accident scene, the police officer in pursuit or response to a call for help. There are many other less visible but equally important people who get that responder to our door.

Last week was Public Safety Communications Profession-als Week. Our call for help begins with the person answering the 9-1-1 call, dispatching the appropriate personnel to the correct location, assuring that sufficient backup is in place and maintaining communications among all parties. Often these individuals are handling multiple calls simultaneously. After midnight, on most days here in Montpelier, there is

only one dispatcher on duty handling whatever comes their way. It is essential that the dispatchers manage these calls calmly, with a clear speaking voice and clear instructions, regardless of the intensity of the incident. They are a lifeline between the person calling for help and the emergency re-sponders sent to provide that help.

Montpelier’s dispatching team is certainly another ex-ample of excellence in our public-safety network. They are responsible for our own police, fire and ambulance services and also call out Public Works for weather events, broken mains or other safety hazards. They also dispatch fire and ambulance for 16 other nearby communities. In addition to these duties, our dispatchers take nonemergency calls for the police department and greet people at the police station window to answer questions and provide information. They work indoors in tight quarters surrounded by phones, com-puters and other electronic equipment. I offer them a thank you for an important job well done and often overlooked.

Our public-safety system includes firefighters, EMTs, call firefighters, police officers, dispatchers, detectives and school resource officers. It also includes the building inspector, health officer, emergency-management coordinator, ambu-lance billing person, police administrative staff, community-service officers, the Community Justice Center, department supervisors and, of course, the chiefs. All of these people in all of these roles work to keep the community safe through response, prevention and resolution.

I also note that Greenland, New Hamshire, police chief Michael Maloney, age 48, was shot and killed in the line of duty last week (less than two weeks before his scheduled retirement date) during a drug raid on a house. Four other New Hampshire officers were wounded in the incident. Greenland is a small, mostly rural and quiet town adjacent to Portsmouth. This is a sad reminder of the potential risk and danger that all first responders face, even in relatively safe communities. We offer our sincerest condolences to the town of Greenland and Chief Maloney’s family.

Other IssuesThe Carr lot project, which consists of a transit center,

bike path, bike/pedestrian bridge and some open space, con-tinues to move forward. The bike path and bridge are being designed now, and architectural work on the transit center building is about to begin. The next step in the process is for the city to negotiate site acquisition, long-term lease and/or right-of-way easements with all involved property own-ers. Federal requirements mandate that a formal property- appraisal process be completed. The city has performed those appraisals and is waiting for their review and approval from VTrans, acting on behalf of Federal Highway. The appraisals were completed in early March; the review is expected to be completed in early May.

The current project schedule is that site and building de-sign will occur this year (some is already underway as noted) at the same time that property acquisition/leasing is under-way. The goal is that the project will be ready for bidding this winter, with construction to begin by next summer or fall. That time line is very contingent on the site acquisition process.

Most of the major renovation work is completed at the 58 Barre Street senior center and senior housing complex. This work should be fully completed by June.

Bids are being awarded this week for repairs to the existing bike-path bridge. The goal is to get the path fully reopened and paved as soon as possible.

Downtown crosswalk painting has begun and will con-tinue as weather permits. Spring is notoriously unpredictable for painting work, but the unusual weather this year has provided an opportunity to get an early start on this work.

I remind citizens that my weekly updates to the city council (which include department updates as well) are available online at montpelier-vt.org, as are all city council meeting materials. Information is also available through Facebook at City of Montpelier, VT and through Twitter via @vtmontpelier.

Thank you for reading this article and for your interest in Montpelier city government. I’ d like to acknowledge significant contributions from my wife, Anne, and son, Patrick, to my remarks about Chief Facos and Chief Gowans. Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] or 223-9502 with questions or comments.

Recognizing Excellence in Public Safety

A Message from City HallThis page was paid for by the City of Montpelier.


by Jeremy Lesniak

I’m sure I follow tech news more closely than most of you, but I bet everyone has noticed

the steady increase in hacking reports. What strikes me isn’t just the frequency but the size of the targets. It’s incredible that credit-card processors and even the Utah Department of Health have been compromised and had sensitive information stolen.

In previous columns I’ve written about ways you can protect yourself online. The problem with these sorts of compromises is that there’s nothing you or I can do about them. We all have Social Security numbers and, if we have an account at a bank, have financial resources on computers. What, then, are we to do? There are two things that can help.

First, make sure you avoid the obvious scams that might come from someone having your bank information or Social Security number. If someone calls you claiming to be from your bank or credit-card company, feel free to ask them questions. If you’re suspicious of their claim, hang up and call the bank yourself. If the reason you were called is legitimate, you’ll be routed to someone who can handle it.

Secondly, watch your statements. In these days of autoreconciling checkbook software and electronic payments, it has become far too easy to avoid balancing your checkbook. I’ve had my credit-card number stolen be-fore. Several times, in fact. Most of the time, they’re not trying to purchase large-ticket items. They’re using it for smaller purchases that I could have easily overlooked. The last time it was for iTunes gift cards, something I have purchased in the past.

Though there’s nothing you and I can

do to prevent these thefts, we can certainly mitigate the damage.

Find more information on preventing iden-tity theft and protecting your Social Security number at ssa.gov/pubs/10064.html.

The Personal Computer Has Grown Up

You’ve likely read about the upcoming release of Windows 8. To the average user, there will be little difference between Win-dows 7 and Windows 8. The change from the Start Menu to the Start Screen will be trivial to most users. I won’t delve into the differences between the old and new, because that’s not my point.

We’re at a very exciting time in history. For many years, the personal computer was the source of most technological innova-tions. Until recently, computing technology changed dramatically every three to five years. This is no longer the case. A computer you bought five or even 10 years ago is still useful (in most cases). We have finally seen the personal computer mature and progress slow. If this sounds boring, it is.

Boring in the sense that we’ve reached a point where computers are (close) to ev-erything they will be, at least for a while. Nearly everyone has at least one computer, and costs have decreased enough to make them almost universal. This is exactly what we should want.

The new realm of rapid advancement is the portable device. But it’s unclear if that portable device will be a tablet, smartphone or laptop. Or maybe more than one? If you’ve ever looked at the unsubsidized cost of a smartphone, you’ve noticed that they often cost more than a computer. Some phones allow you to do almost anything you would with a computer and more. The pace of smartphone advancement is often frustrating, especially for those of us that like to have the best. Someday, though, we’ll look back on this time of rapid progress with fondness. We might write about it on our very-boring personal computer. More likely, though, we’ll use voice control to dictate our thoughts into some portable device.

Jeremy Lesniak started Vermont Computing (vermontcomputing.com) in 2001 after gradu-ating from Clark University and opened a store in Randolph in May of 2003. He also serves as managing editor for anewdomain.net. He lives in Plainfield.

More Hacking Than a Machete

Tech Check

Andy Plante(802) 223-5409

1991 Ward Brook RdMontpelier, VT

05602

Transplanting • Pruning • HedgesTrees • Shrubs • PerennialsVegetable Gardens • Lawns

Design • Installation • MaintenanceStone Walls • Walks • Patios • Veneer Sheds/Barns • Fencing • Lattice

IRONWOOD LANDSCAPE


Support Driver’s Licenses for Migrant Workers

To the Editor:It’s relatively easy to drive down the Route

7 corridor between Charlotte and Rutland and forget that Vermont’s dairy industry is in cri-sis. It’s a beautiful drive with open fields and working farms. Unfortunately, this kind of bucolic agricultural image is underpinned by a very grim existence for some 1,500 people.

Many dairy farmers are finding it near to impossible to fill their positions for dairy workers using local labor. Add to this the ab-sence of any federal foreign-worker program to support these year-round positions, and you have the current situation in Vermont’s dairy industry. It is estimated by the State Department of Agriculture that approxi-mately half of the milk produced in Vermont comes from the labor of these 1,500 un-documented migrant workers. These work-ers, from whose work we all benefit, end up living lives of fear and isolation.

I have the opportunity to be in regular con-tact with some of these workers. Last month I learned there was a worker in need of work clothes, steel-toed rubber boots and minutes for his cellphone. The farmer he works for does not have the capacity to take him, or the other four migrant farm workers at his farm, shopping for items such as these.

In the winter months dairy farm laborers need warm clothing to do their dirty, labor- intensive, 70-hour-a-week jobs. They need boots to protect their feet from the hooves of cows. And they need a lifeline to their family, because their wife or child or mother may be the only person they speak with during the week who speaks their language or knows them as an individual who loves to draw, cook or walk in the woods.

We now have a chance to address this issue. Access to a Vermont ID and driver’s license without a Social Security number would allow our state’s migrant farm work-ers to access basic necessities, including food and health care. They would be able to con-tact emergency personnel without fear and engage in social and religious activities with regular frequency. With passage of S.238 in the Vermont Senate and House of Represen-tatives, a study committee has been formed to craft legislation which could make such access to state identification a reality.

It is important that we express our support for this legislation. Vermonters cannot, in good conscience, benefit from the work of migrant farm workers and at the same time support a system which results in these work-ers, these fellow human beings, living in fear and isolation.

—Laura O’Brien, Charlotte

Will the Wealthy Ever Tax Themselves?

To the Editor:How can you tell when your elected poli-

ticians think you are really, really, really stupid? President Obama, in this election year, is promoting his so-called “Buffett” tax. This law would make those making over $1 million pay 30 percent in taxes. Now would that be 30 percent on all their income: pay-checks, interest, investment income? Who knows! Obama accuses the Republicans of not passing the proposed tax. Isn’t it conve-nient that the media and the president forget that presidents just sign (illegally) executive orders? If Obama truly wanted to tax himself and the wealthy, he could just sign an execu-tive order! Does anyone believe millionaire congressmen want to tax themselves?

I don’t want millionaires to pay more than their share. The media tells us that the top 1% pay something like 40 percent of all the taxes. Perhaps they should be paying 80

percent. The only fair legal tax is a Con-stitutional tax. The Constitution provides that everyone pay proportionally according to their wealth for the protection of our rights. All other taxes—sales/use, real estate taxes, rooms/meals, gas/oil taxes etc.—tax the poorer of us

disproportionally. Just look at the gas tax—the wealthy own most of the stock and we know they’re getting record-breaking div-idends, while Congress gives the gas and oil companies tax breaks, forgave the royalties owed to us, and actually gives the companies grants but then fails to protect the environ-ment from these very same companies. The wealthiest own the media, so they control the information, and most Americans have begun to believe the Constitution was writ-ten to be toilet paper.

We love our high taxes. That’s why we keep reelecting the same old, same old, same old politicians who are getting wealthier at our expense.

—Laura Brueckner, Waterbury Center

Vermont Yankee Jobs Important to Returning Vets

To the Editor:The positive impact of a socially conscious

business cannot be understated. It is an unfor-tunate and recurring pattern in American life that our returning troops struggle to find good jobs at a time in their lives when they are most in need of the provision, stability, socialization and dignity that employment confers.

Government can and should do all it can to help, but it has its limits, and one of them is the ability to actually provide jobs. So it is heartening to this veteran that one of Ver-mont’s largest employers, Vermont Yankee, and its owner, Entergy, are stepping up to fill the gap and engage in the proactive hiring of America’s fighting men and women.

Certainly Vermont Yankee has its critics in Vermont, but to those who would put poli-tics over the needs of our returning veterans of the good jobs they so need and deserve, I would say, as President Roosevelt once said, “tell it to the Marines”—and to the Air Force, Army and Navy, too.

—Tom Salmon, St. Johnsbury

National Volunteer Week April 15 to 21

To the Editor:“Here’s to all volunteers, those dedicated

people who believe in all work and no pay,” penned speechwriter Robert Orben. April 15 to 21 is National Volunteer Week, and the American Red Cross of Vermont and the New Hampshire Valley is celebrating our own dedicated volunteers and partners. Over just the past year, Red Cross volun-teers across our region brought food, shelter, comfort and hope to thousands of people devastated by fire, flood and other disasters. Volunteers also provide services to members of the military, veterans and their families, including communications linking mili-tary members to their loved ones during an emergency. Red Cross volunteers teach first aid, CPR, babysitting, and other health and safety courses.

Right now, the Red Cross especially needs people who are interested in disaster services. To volunteer, contact Angela Russell at 800-660-9130, ext. 107, or by e-mail at [email protected].

To quote Ralph Waldo Emerson, “It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can help another without helping himself.” Thanks to all our volunteers.

—Larry Crist, regional executive, American Red Cross of Vermont and the New Hampshire Valley

Local Food: Getting Past 5 Percent

In an increasingly complex, crowded and often violent world, with thousands of people dis-placed and on the move and other thousands poor, malnourished and dispossessed, with the

ever-present threat of war, revolution, terrorist attack, unforeseen natural event, even climate change—it’s only prudent to think seriously about the security of our local food supply.

Although most of us know this, and though this fact has been stated over and over again, still it bears repeating: “About 95 percent of the food we eat in Vermont is trucked in from out of state.”

May I shift to a personal reflection? It was more than 40 years ago that I moved to Vermont to teach English at Randolph Union High School. I have a sharp memory from that time of a conference held at the high school on a theme of Vermont food self-sufficiency. I don’t re-member exactly what was said at that conference, but I remember the passion and the shared conviction that we in Vermont could do more and had to do more about feeding ourselves.

Even then, the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973 was either upon us or about to summon us to a new awareness of our dependence and, therefore, vulnerability. We asked ourselves, “What would happen to this country if our supplies of foreign oil suddenly were interrupted?”

Ellen Kahler is executive director of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, an organization created and partly funded by the Vermont legislature that, among other activities, promotes Vermont sustainable farming.

About the uphill task of Vermonters feeding themselves, Kahler says, “We feel confident in saying we are about 5 percent. Our goal over the next 10 years is to get to 10 percent.”

What Kahler is saying is that the shift from industrial food to local food is beginning to happen. But it’s only beginning to happen, and it’s not happening quickly. “You can’t just snap a finger and get to it overnight,” Kahler insisted.

I told Kahler about the food self-suffiency conference in Randolph in the early 1970s. “Why are we dead-centered in the same place now as we were 40 years ago?” I asked.

Kahler, I suspect, is one of those highly effective people who is less interested in blaming people for past mistakes and more concerned with taking action in the present to change the near and more distant future.

About the past 40 years or so—Kahler talked about the disconnection. Although she didn’t use these words, you can imagine. The dairy farmers in one corner, the politicians in another corner, the freight haulers in their corner, the local food manufacturers somewhere else, the chain supermarkets, the farmers’ markets, the slaughter houses—the list goes on and on.

“For too long,” Kahler said, “organizations—both nonprofits and government—have functioned in their own silos. They’ve been disconnected from each other.

Happily, she said, this disconnection is changing. People from different parts of the food system are talking to each other, collaborating.

“I’m looking forward,” Kahler said. “We are very much at the beginning of building a new regional [food] system.”

Can we get to 50 percent? “I don’t know at the moment,” Kahler said. “From 5 to 10 per-cent is a big thing.”

Needed Green-Up Solidarity on May 5

The real story of Tropical Storm Irene—apart from its destructive impacts—was the soli-darity of Vermonters helping Vermonters. We need that solidarity again on Green Up

Day, Saturday, May 5.Here’s how Irene Recovery Coordinator Dave Rapaport describes the present moment:

Although for most Vermonters, Irene is firmly in the rearview mirror, for those in the hard-hit areas, they still have a long road. What we are seeing now is a renewed level of fatigue and stress because there’s really no end in sight for many of these people. I think the word “ fatigue” really describes what’s happening. . . . Some Vermonters are facing shortfalls of $100,000 or more, and they can’t figure out how they will deal with the costs, the debt. There’s really a lot of help that’s still needed. That show of support will offer encouragement for those who are struggling to keep going.Please offer green-up help across Washington County but with special attention to More-

town, Waterbury, Northfield and Weston’s Mobile Home Park in Berlin.Moretown (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) Volunteers in Moretown will work on four cleanup projects:

the Buska House property, the Strauss property, the riverbank and a Route 100B sweeping. Volunteers are asked to assemble at Moretown Elementary at 9 a.m. Bring rubber boots or protective footwear, work gloves, drinking water, safety glasses or goggles and work clothing.

Waterbury (9 a.m. to 4 p.m) Rebuild Waterbury is organizing projects in greater Wa-terbury, including river, brook, lawn and garden cleanup, and extra attention in downtown parks, trails, neighborhoods and riverside roadways. Volunteers may go online to register in advance at rebuildwaterbury.com. Volunteers need to be prepared (consult the Moretown advisory above).

Volunteers can consult greenupvermont.org for more Green Up Day information.

LettersEditorial

A Retraction

In our April 5 issue, we ran two reviews of the Oscar-nominated short documentary film Poster Girl. The review “Collateral Damage” included this sentence: “Just out of

high school, though, she [Robynn] found herself in Iraq as a combat sergeant whose job it was to kill innocent men, women and children.”

After publication, we heard from another U.S. military veteran. While he agrees that unintended civilian deaths are an ugly fact of war, he strongly questioned any sugges-tion that the U.S. military orders American soldiers “to kill innocent men, women and children.”

The Bridge regrets and retracts these poorly chosen words. Yes, as this veteran observes, war visits death and injury on innocent men, women and children. But surely it is not official military policy to order American service men and women to kill the innocent—even though in war, we have high military decisions such as Hiroshima and Nagasaki.


by Andrea Stander

If over 300 people from all over the state and of all ages and backgrounds come to the Vermont State House for a public

hearing on the same weeknight, and all 112 of them who testify are in favor of a piece of legislation but none of the “mainstream” media report on it—did it really happen?

If our governor gets a question from a reporter at an unrelated press conference the day before the pub-lic hearing about the legislation mentioned above and chooses to answer that question by saying he wants the legislature to let the bill die because the biotech industry has threatened to sue the state, does that make a mockery of the public hearing and all the people who in-vested their time and energy to participate in our democracy?

This is just the most recent chapter in the story of the VT Right To Know GMO food labeling bill (H.722). The bill is a simple, straightforward, consumer-right-to-know law that would give Vermonters the ability to

know whether their food has been geneti-cally engineered and with that knowledge make informed choices about what they eat and feed their families. The bill would require that all food sold in Vermont (with some reasonable exceptions) be labeled if it is genetically engineered. In a January poll by the UVM Center for Rural Studies, 97 percent of the respondents said they want genetically engineered food to be labeled.

For the past month, the House Com-mittee on Agricul-ture, chaired by Rep. Carolyn Partridge of Windham, has heard extensive testimony on both sides of the bill. The committee has heard about the

science (and lack thereof) of genetically en-gineered (GE) products, the economics of food production with and without GE ingre-dients and the politics that have infused the decades-long debate on whether genetically engineered food should be labeled.

Having observed the majority of the tes-timony delivered to the committee, I find it painfully obvious that the financial and po-litical power of the corporations, who manu-

facture genetically engineered substances, has effectively strangled our representative democracy. Everyone appears to be cowed by the threat of a lawsuit in spite of significant testimony indicating that the state has sub-stantial interest in providing the benefits and protection for consumers that this simple labeling law would offer.

There has been qualified testimony that raises serious doubts about whether GE foods are safe, as the FDA claims they are (this in spite of the fact that they admitted they conduct no independent tests of GE food.) There has been passionate testimony by Ver-mont food producers that a GMO labeling law would benefit them by further distin-guishing their Vermont brands and helping them grow their businesses. There has even been testimony that strongly indicates that this bill would be on firm legal footing in the face of the threatened lawsuit.

At the public hearing, which filled the House chambers to bursting, the Commit-tee heard testimony from every corner of the state. There were people with gray hair who described their decades of work to get GE food labeled, and there were children who testified about their desire to know how the food they are eating is produced. There

were farmers and health-care professionals, scientists and business people, students and grandparents. Without exception (unless you count those who urged the committee to make the bill stronger) every single witness asked for the bill to be passed now.

Unfortunately, for all those people and the thousands of others who have also expressed their support for H.722, that is not likely to happen—this year. But it will happen.

If you support having the right to know what is in your food, you can help win that right by letting Governor Peter Shumlin know what you think about his position and urging your elected representatives to demand the opportunity to vote on this bill this year.

For more information on the VT Right To Know GMOs campaign, visit vtrightoknow gmos.org or find the campaign on Facebook at facebook.com/vtrighttoknow.

Andrea Stander is the director of Rural Ver-mont, a statewide nonprofit founded in 1985 whose mission is to create economic justice for Vermont farmers through education, grassroots and advocacy. For more information, call 223-7222 or visit ruralvermont.org.

What’s Wrong with This Picture?

Opinions

by Jake Brown

Thousands of Vermonters (including you, possibly) now have a new way to pay for insulating their homes,

putting solar panels on their rooftops or in-stalling wood-pellet heating systems.

Here is the scoop: nearly two dozen towns approved the new Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program at town meetings on March 6, bringing the total number of towns that have voted to create PACE dis-tricts to 35.

This is very good news for anyone who does not have lots of cash sitting around and who would like to boost the value of their homes and save money over the long run (anybody?). This new financing mecha-nism—the passage of which the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) and others supported in the legislature for several

years—will help Vermonters save money and more easily move toward cleaner, smarter, more sustainable energy sources, if they so choose.

Under PACE, if you are a property owner, live in a town that has a program and want to get up-front cash for energy improvements, you can identify specific improvements you want to make to your home and then apply to get financing from your town. Assuming your application is approved, you would then work with a contractor to get the project done. Once the contractor completes the improvements to your home, the municipal-ity would pay the contractor. The town then places an “assessment lien” on your property to secure repayment.

Then, depending on your agreement with the town, you would repay the amount fi-nanced over a 10-, 15- or 20-year time pe-riod at an interest rate expected to be 1 to 2

percent higher than the rate for 30-year fixed mortgages. As long as you owned the house, you would pay that extra charge until the financing was paid off. If you sold the house in the meantime, the new owner would start paying the charge. And, at any time, the entire lien could be paid off. The maximum amount a homeowner could finance through PACE would be 15 percent of the assessed value of the property, capped at $30,000. Meanwhile, you and any subsequent owner of the house would be enjoying energy sav-ings every year.

If they want to, towns can choose to use a third party like Efficiency Vermont to help administer the program, at no charge to the town. Efficiency Vermont will be able to manage the lion’s share of the logistics for the program, helping to create and process the applications, approve contractor pay-ments, manage customer billing and more.

Efficiency Vermont is following up with towns and working with VNRC, the Ver-mont League of Cities and Towns and others to help with the implementation of PACE.

Vermonters are very fortunate to have this new opportunity to save money, save energy, make their homes more comfortable and even improve the value of their homes. If your town has passed PACE, you should be hearing details in the coming months on how you can apply for financing. If your town has not passed PACE, consider getting it on next year’s ballot in your town.

For more information about PACE, in-cluding a full list of participating towns, go to pacevermont.wikispaces.com.

Jake Brown is the director of communica-tions and government affairs at the Vermont Natural Resources Council.

Saving Energy Dollars, One House at a Time

by George Plumb

Sunday, April 22 is the 42nd anniversary of the origi-nal Earth Day in 1970. During that Earth Day, air pollution was a major issue and global warming was

presented as a possibility, although others had been warning of it since 1958. What they didn’t know about at that time was the acidification of our oceans. Researchers at Columbia University have found that carbon-dioxide emissions have lowered the pH at a rate unparalleled in at least the last 300 million years of our planet’s history. This literally means the death of life as we know it on 71 percent of the earth’s surface.

Although strong government action would be of consider-able help in reducing carbon emissions, it is we the people who are causing the problem. We are fortunate in Vermont that we have a governor who understands the importance of dealing with this problem, and his administration has developed a comprehensive energy plan that calls for 90 percent reduction in Vermont carbon emissions by 2050. However, 350vt.org and its Fossil Fuels Freedom Campaign say that is not nearly fast enough to avert the worst of global warming. Their goal is a net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2025 and in support of this carbon goal, we should achieve 90 percent of our energy needs from clean, just, renewable sources by 2025!

David Stember, who works full time as the staff organizer, states, “According to a host of our foremost climatologists, we have already altered earth’s climate from patterns we have called normal for over 10,000 years. We have precious few

years to stop the buildup of greenhouse-gas emissions from burning fossil fuels. If we miss this short window, things will very quickly get so far beyond our control that runaway cli-

mate change is unalterably programmed into the destiny of this planet. The magnitude of this epic disaster is such that every living species on earth today—including humans—is now at grave risk of eventual extinction. The only good news about the impacts of climate change is that people are now able to see some of the impacts that are already happening.”

We are already seeing what devastation global warming can bring to Vermont. However, to the best of my recollec-tion, no Vermont leader has ever acknowledged that each one of us helped cause Irene by our carbon emissions over the years or that we have an individual moral responsibility for the sake of future generations to reduce our personal carbon emissions.

Every leader, at the state and national level, if they haven’t already done so, should be installing solar photovoltaic and/or solar hot water, driving a fuel-efficient car and maybe even an electrical vehicle, limiting their plane travel and doing everything else within their means to reduce their carbon emissions.

This Earth Day I encourage our leaders and, indeed, all Vermonters, to take a strong, 10-point pledge to live more sustainably and publicly demonstrate that you are going to do something about it before it is too late. To see who has al-ready taken the pledge and take it yourself, go to vspop.org.

George Plumb is the executive director of Vermonters for Sus-tainable Population and the author of the 2011 report, Vermont Environmental Trends: The Population Connection. He lives in Washington and may be reached at [email protected].

Pledge to Reduce Carbon Emissions for Earth Day


by Angela M. Timpone

April is National Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Awareness Month. Over the last several years, the focus

on ASD has increased due to increased rates and a national campaign to identify young children. Knowing the early signs of ASD and an early diagnosis can lead to a better outcomes and prognosis.

ASD includes a broad spectrum of people. At one end there are individuals who have difficulty forming verbal communication and on the other end people who would be considered highly functioning geniuses. An ASD diagnosis is based on impairments in social interaction and communication, along with restrictive and repetitive behavior.

A baby showing early signs of ASD would most likely lack sustained eye contact. A typi-cally developing baby would look at a desired object then at the primary caregiver and per-haps back at the object like a communication dance. A child who shows early signs of ASD would stare at a ceiling fan for an extended period instead of at the primary caregiver. Conversations with the child would be one-sided, with the child saying less.

According to April news from the Center of Disease Control (CDC), ASD prevalence

rates have climbed even further: 1 in 88 children have been diagnosed (1 in 54 boys and 1 in 252 girls).

In the 1990s, the ASD rates were reported at 1 in 10,000 children. When my son, Tristan, was diagnosed in 2005, the ASD prevalence rate was 1 in 250.

There is no known cause or cure for ASD. After the release of the CDC results, Autism Speaks President Mark Roithmayr explained that, “At 1 in 88, we now have over 1 mil-lion children directly affected by autism . . . nearly a doubling of the prevalence since the CDC began tracking these numbers—au-tism can now officially be declared an epi-demic in the United States.”

Roithmayr added, “We are dealing with a national emergency that is in need of a national strategy.”

When a child has been diagnosed with ASD, parents often feel hopeless and con-fused. As we left Tristan’s ASD diagnostic appointmenr seven years ago, we were given three parting recommendations. One, we should call our local school system to get a treatment plan developed. Two, I should read every ASD study and book to better understand our options. Finally, I was given a sticky note with a phone number of a par-ent in Woodstock who might talk to me

about Tristan’s diagnosis. We were given no plan or referral to a specialist. Like many other parents, we were left alone to figure out treatments and how to navigate the system of care.

Over the last seven years, as more and more children have been diagnosed with ASD, Vermont has improved how we identify children, how we help families get the services, and how we support people with ASD to be happy, productive members of our communities. The work has been slow and sometimes hampered by the lack of funding due to the recession-era belt- tightening.

Right now, at the State House, advocates are fighting for improved services through legislation that would mandate insurance companies to pay for medically necessary services like speech therapy, occupational therapy and behavioral therapy. Currently, only children with ASD from 18 months to 7 years old can receive services paid for by in-surance. Otherwise, parents are left to either pay out of pocket for medical expense or, the more likely option, defer the services for

their child because they can’t pay the bill.Untreated ASD can put enormous emo-

tional and financial strain on a family. Au-tism Speaks states that ASD “costs the na-

tion $126 billion per year.” According to the Autism Society, “[the] cost of life-long care can be re-duced by two-thirds with early diagnosis and intervention.”

Why should chil-dren with ASD get the appropriate medical care to develop and grow? I think Dr. Temple Grandin said it well in her 2010 TED talk: “The thing about the autistic mind is that it tends to detail.” Grandin goes on to say that she believes individuals with ASD will be the ones who solve today’s toughest issues because of their ability to be focused, absorb information and solve difficult problems.

Angela M. Timpone lives in Montpelier and serves on the Montpelier City Council. She writes about autism, parenting, women’s issues and politics. Visit her website at angelatimpone .com.

Opinion

April is Autism Awareness Month

by Margaret Blanchard

We’re writing to ask for your help in expanding and deepening a public conversation which began

at the State House last summer with the Council of All Beings’ two legislative ses-sions and has continued this winter with the Occupy Movement’s general assemblies and people’s mic.

The people’s mic in the Occupy pro-cess hopes to give voice to almost all (99 percent) who are a part of our eco-nomic and political system(s). The Council of All Beings pro-cess gives voice, through humans, to other species, other elements, other beings who share this planet with us humans. Imagine giving voice to an other than yourself—an-other person who is poorer or discriminated against, of a different race or gender, some being from another culture, another animal, a creature from an entirely different species,

a natural element—or a part of you that has been neglected.

Several years ago, the poet Galway Kinnell told Bill Moyers regarding an early poem about frogs, “It might have been better if I had gone down to the frog pond and really listened to the frogs. If the theory of evolution means anything, it means that the poems of other creatures, even though in languages

we don’t know, may sometimes also speak for us.” Here Kinnell raises the possibil-ity that not only can we identify with the other, we can also benefit from what

they have to say.I noticed recently on Vermont Public

Radio, during a program about repairs done to rivers after Hurricane Irene, a scientist saying, “We need to think like a river,” while an engineer described the river’s natural movement as being “like a snake.” In terms of both empathy and metaphor, these men were evoking the tools of the poet for very

practical reasons. At this time of economic distress and political chaos, climate change and environmental fragilities, it seems par-ticularly important for us to listen to and articulate the voices of the marginalized, whether natural elements, other species, other cultures or other people.

What does your other have to say? Can you write this message down in the imag-ined voice of that other? What might be the benefit to all of us of that communication? We invite you to share both that voice and its significance.

From these individual explorations we hope to cultivate a shared, multivoiced per-spective on how we approach the process

of identifying with, empathizing with or personifying other beings—whether other species, other elements, other human beings very different from ourselves or our own hidden selves. How do we avoid the obvious pitfalls of projection? How do we learn from the other without appropriating their culture or perspective?

If you’ d like to share this process, feel free to send a perspective of one other to Margaret Blanchard at [email protected]. We will post some of these on the Council of All Beings website (councilofallbeings.org) or include them in the gatherings of the Council of All Beings at the State House on June 14 and 15.

To People and Other Beings

Charlie Wiley Honored

The Montpelier Rotary Club honored Charlie Wiley as its 2012 Citizen of the Year on April 16.

Wiley’s achievements include his Army service, his leadership role in the Hoff ad-ministration to create the Vermont Pavilion at the 1967 World’s Fair in Montreal, his 15 years with the Burroughs Corporation and some 30 years with Heney Realtors.

Of special note is Wiley’s steadfast service to the local Kiwanis Club and Bethany Church and his service since 1965 on the board of trustees that is responsible for Montpelier’s Gary Home and Westview Meadows.

Wiley has deep roots in Rutland County, where his parents ran the Tip Top Inn in Shrewsbury. He is a graduate of Rutland High School. Montpelier Rotarian Fred Cook, a high-school classmate of Wiley’s, spoke at the April 16 ceremony.

In a sentimental moment at the end of the program, Charlie’s daughter, Dana (Wiley) McCarthy shared a memory of her father from childhood. As an 8-year-old girl, she remembers a family outing with her father to the Tip Top Inn property to get a Christmas tree. But it wasn’t just one tree. There were four: one for them, one for the grandparents and one for each of two aunts.

“That was the kind of man my dad was,” Dana said. She also said that she hadn’t realized how much her dad had done for others. “I’m really proud of you, Dad,” she said in closing. “Thank you.”

—Nat Frothingham

Thanking Our Readers and Friends

Thanks to the generosity of our readers and friends, The Bridge has crossed the finish line and met its annual campaign goal of $12,000. On behalf of all of us here, please

accept our sincere and deep thanks.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?Send letters and opinions to [email protected].

Letters must be 300 words or fewer; opinions, 600 words or fewer. Deadline for the May 3 issue is Monday, April 30, at 5 p.m.

Opinion


Open Letter to Henry Marckres, Vermont Consumer Protection Section Chief

by Steve Joslin

I was totally shocked to learn in the Ver-mont Press Bureau article in the April 1 Times Argus that Vermont sugarmakers

have been unable to sell their product and that millions of gallons of syrup lay molder-ing and rotting in barns, abandoned sugar houses and storage units with unpaid rental fees. Vermont has a surplus of unsold syrup? I would never have guessed; in fact, it is my understanding that demand exceeds produc-tion.

“Golden Delicate, Amber Rich, Dark Ro-bust and Very Dark Strong.” Are you seri-ous? You think we should call our native nectar by these names? Are you unaware of

the Eat More Kale controversy? I can almost guarantee that you will be sued by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters for name in-fringement. Those are not names for syrup; they are fancy terms for designer coffees, for cripes sakes. Does this mean that in the foreseeable future, we may see cachet names for composting compote? “Mildly aromatic with overtones of canned fruit cocktail and just hint of decomposition at the end.” “Male bovine fecal material” instead of the univer-sally known term for oral effluent?

You are quoted as saying that the new “fla-vor descriptors” will make it easier for con-sumers to know exactly what they are buy-ing. For god’s sake, man, if you don’t know you are buying Vermont syrup, what are you doing in a store without a guardian? For de-cades the alphabetical designation of syrup grades worked like well-boiled sap: no con-fusion for informed consumers, who should

be the only ones purchasing Vermont syrup. Then someone—in marketing, I assume, not production—came up with the new grades of multiple shades of amber. I believe this is used to describe millions of acres of wheat—“For amber waves of grain.”

“Marckres, how-ever, says that while ‘fancy’ may have meaning to Vermont-ers, it’s arcane culi-nary terminology in the major metropolitan areas where the state ought to be marketing its market.” Since when do we need CCT (correct culinary terminology) to sell syrup? After all, it comes out of a tree that birds poop in, dogs pee on and bureaucrats can’t tell from a spruce. If “city folk” can’t tell what they are buying, then maybe we should adopt the fossil-fuel

industry nomenclature; they might get the hang of that. Sell our stuff by 10W40T (10 weight, 40 taste) grading system. That might also mean that it could be recycled or left-overs disposed of at your local solid (liquid)

waste collection site.As a multigenera-

tion Vermont native, it really is intimidat-ing to think I am going to have to read a brochure, attend a marketing seminar

and possibly be forced to rely on the advice of out-of-staters to buy my damned syrup, made by a relative as it has been for cen-turies. Oh yes, all this flailing about won’t make a mite of difference in the taste or specific gravity of the stuff.

Steve Joslin lives in Graniteville.

Opinion

Vermont Syrup Doesn’t Need ‘Flavor Descriptors’

by Collette Kelly

Usually at this time of year, maple sugar shacks across Vermont are filled with clouds of billowing steam

from the syrup boiling inside. From the be-ginning of March through mid-April, sug-armakers tend evaporators filled with 200-plus-degree liquid, boiling sap down into maple syrup for days at a time. This year, however, the sugar huts of most pro-ducers went cold a month too soon.

Sugarmakers in Vermont suffered this winter when a series of 80-degree days cut the sugaring season in half. Maple season in Vermont normally lasts four to six weeks; this year, it lasted a mere two. Accord-ing to Associated Press science writer Seth Borenstein, record temperatures in March hit as high as 35 degrees above normal and averaged 18 degrees higher than usual. This warm weather brought out buds on sugar maples and slowed down sap flow, bringing maple sugaring to a halt.

“The warm weather had a drastic effect on sugaring,” says Burr Morse, owner and operator of Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks

in East Montpelier. Morse stopped sugar-ing when he spotted buds on his trees, and by April 3 he had already finished cleaning out his evaporator. According to Morse, sap from budding maples has a foul, bitter fla-vor, which only concentrates as you boil it down.

Sugarmakers will produce less syrup than usual this year because of the shortened season. Despite the lower syrup production,

Morse believes that the price of maple syrup will not in-crease much. The price of syrup in-creased 30 percent in 2007 due to a Ca-nadian shortage, and

sellers do not want to raise the price any more for fear of turning away consumers. In addition, many sugarmakers hold over un-sold maple syrup from previous years, which helps stabilize prices.

Even without a price increase, for many people maple syrup is an expensive com-modity. The United States price per gal-lon averaged $37.50, according to a 2011 New England Agricultural Statistics report. That’s about 60 cents for every helping on a pile of pancakes.

Morse says that maple syrup is so expen-

sive because of the high overhead costs and pricey equipment. Sugarmakers must fix taps and tubing in the woods to collect sap, and purchase an evaporator or reverse osmosis technology to boil it down. Then there are tractors, facilities and, of course, the labor put in setting up equipment, harvesting sap and reducing it to syrup.

Vermont is the top producer of maple syrup in the United States, according to Vermont Maple’s official website. The state has the best soil and weather conditions for maple sugaring. Vermont also has a higher concentration of sugar maples than other regions, which may rely on other species like soft maples. This makes keeping up with Vermont difficult: it takes only 40 gallons of sugar-maple sap versus 100 gallons of soft maple sap to make one gallon of syrup. But with a warming planet, Vermont may lose its ideal sugaring climate.

If emissions are greatly reduced, Vermont’s climate in 2080 will resemble that of south-eastern Ohio, according to a 2011 Vermont Agency of Natural Resources report. But, if we continue to emit greenhouse gases at the same rate, Vermont’s summer climate 70 years from now will resemble the current climate of southwest Georgia, That certainly does not bode well for maple sugaring: al-though Ohio produces some maple syrup,

there are no sugar maples in southern Geor-gia.

According to the same report, Vermont’s winter climate has already seen a major shift. USDA hardiness zones are determined by average minimum winter temperatures and are used to predict which plants can survive a typical winter. As the winter climate has warmed across the Northeast, Vermont has gone from mostly zone 4 (colder) to mostly zone 5 (warmer) in only two decades.

In the conclusion, the Agency of Natural Resources report predicts reduced produc-tivity of sugar maples and an earlier end to sugaring season in the coming decades. Apparently, however, most maple syrup pro-ducers are still in denial about the warmth to come.

“Sugarmakers, as a group, think global warming does not exist, but there are a cou-ple misfits like me who think they’re wrong,” Morse said. He thinks that global warming, and the increasing occurrence of winters like this one, will be bad for sugaring.

“I don’t worry about this year or next year,” says Morse. “. . . I worry about 20 years from now.”

Collette Kelly is a student in Amy Thorton-Kelly’s homeschool class Journalism: Conven-tional to Contemporary.

Record March Temperatures Silence April Sugar Huts

by Charles W. Johnson

Huge wind turbines vs. the moun-tains. Environmentalists vs. envi-ronmentalists. An unfamiliar, un-

comfortable fight is on. I have been involved in conservation in

Vermont for over 10 years, and this is the first time in my memory that two great environmental issues have collided head-on: growing concern about nonrenewable re-sources and climate change against growing concern about losing what we’ve worked so hard to save in Vermont’s landscape.

Why is this happening? I think because we have run into a serious ethical issue that we have not taken time to consider adequately: How far should our little state’s finite and irreplaceable environment go—indeed, how far can it go—to deal with so huge an issue as worldwide climate change? What are we willing to sacrifice?

This fight is not just about what can

be weighed and solved by science, capacity studies and permitting processes. It is also about how we relate to the land physically, emotionally and spiritually. At its heart, it is about something we don’t talk about, especially in a politi-cal arena: love of the land.

Land is often treated as a collec-tion of commodities, “natural resources,” for our use. Owner-ship of land is as a bundle of rights (e.g., development rights, rights-of-way, water rights, etc.) that can be bought or sold, sin-gly or all together. Even Act 250 and other land-use laws work on this principle, with criteria to be considered before certain large developments can occur. So now with our ridgelines.

Love of the land is real, even if it can’t be quantified. It is one of the most basic, uni-

versal human feelings, whether for a place we knew as children, our community, or our country. We wage wars over it. People give up their lives for it. Most people grieve deeply over the loss of a beloved place—too

many times in my life have I heard, “I don’t want to go back there; I couldn’t stand to see what’s happened to it.”

More than 10 years ago, we were told not

to worry, that very few mountains would be suitable for big wind. When we asked how many, where, we were shown maps and stud-ies of generalities, but no one could tell us for sure. Ten years later we still don’t know, but we already have more than a “very few,” and more are on the way.

So what to do? I don’t pretend to have all the answers,

but there are things to do even before we go

after answers. We should keep in mind the Vermont we cherish: self-reliant, indepen-dent, protective of our special environment, small of size but big of heart. Along with eating locally and buying locally, we should try harder to get energy locally through conservation and efficiency, solar, wood and cogeneration, small hydro, and small-scale wind. We should stop and reevaluate, com-munity by community, based on what we’ve seen and felt so far.

Global climate change won’t go away in the next few years or decades, if it ever does. But our ridgelines certainly might, if we con-tinue as we have. The Green Mountains have been here for more than 350 million years. Surely we owe it to them to slow down, take time to collect ourselves, and think about what they really mean to us.

Charles W. Johnson is the retired Vermont State Naturalist. He is author of The Nature of Vermont and other books on natural history.

Wind Turbines On Our Mountains: Too High a Price To Pay

Opinion

Opinion


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Documents

The Bridge, April 19, 2012