The Bridge, January 9, 2014-January 22, 2014

In thIs IssuE

A Bird’s EyE ViEw of thE 2014

LEgisLAtiVE sEssion

4

gwEn hALLsmith

11

VErmont’s working LAndscApE

14

The

Brid

geP.O

. Box

114

3M

ontp

elie

r, V

T 0

5601

Connecting Montpelier and nearby communities since 1993 | January 9–January 22, 2014

PRSR

T S

TD

CA

R-RT

SO

RTU

.S. P

osta

gePA

IDM

ontp

elie

r, V

TPe

rmit

NO

. 123

LEgIsLatIvE sEason 2014

As the nation recovers from the economic recession and grapples with health care, the Vermont Legislature continues to face an ongoing bud-get deficit and its own difficulties with the rollout of the Affordable

Care Act. With a supermajority in the House, Democrats will control the dis-cussion on such issues as increasing net metering, mental health, opiate abuse, mandatory paid sick leave and GMO labeling. But these same issues will face Republican scrutiny in the Vermont Senate, where Democrats hold less sway.

Who better to give us some insight than the politicians who formerly and currently represent us? The Bridge took to the phones and went to diners, cafés and country stores to interview politicians and central Vermont citizens, tak-ing the pulse under the gold dome and on the street.

See pages 4-9 for more.

What’s on our MInds In CEntraL vErMont? rEsIdEnts voICE ConCErns for thE 2014 LEgIsLatIvE sEason

rEportEd by aMy brooks thornton

Illustration by Julian Kelly

page 2 • January 9 – January 22 , 2014 The Br idge

Vermont Computing offers your busy business remote IT maintenance and support when it’s convenient for you-even if that means after business hours.

Call Vermont Computing! Call: 223-6445 or visit vermontcomputing.com

See how we can provide nighttime peace of mind.

Gremlins Getting Your Business Down?

Call in the night riders...

MAY ALL WHO WORK TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF INJURED ANDDISABLED VERMONTERS ENJOY A SUCCESSFUL 2014.

1-800-WORKERS www.bfslaw.com453 Stone Cutters Way, Montpelier

Biggam, Fox & Skinner supports the Vermont Foodbank

Workers’ Compensation | Social Security Disability | Personal Injury

For Reservations:www.thevermontmountaineers.com

or call 802-223-5224

Capitol Plaza, MontpelierSpecial Admission PriceAdults $45 Children $25

Doors Open at 5:30

We’ll be honoring volunteers:Stephen & Linn Syz and Kathy Leach

Key Note Speakers:Hollywood and Television ActorGiancarlo Esposito(From Revolution & Breaking Bad)Special Guest Matt Murillo Former MLB Player

The Br idge January 9 – January 22 , 2014 • page 3

Subscribe to The Bridge! For a one-year subscription, send this form and a check to The Bridge, p.O. Box 1143, Montpelier, VT 05601.

name______________________________________________________

address_____________________________________________________

City____________________________________ State_____ Zip____________

I have enclosed a check, payable to The Bridge, for:

❑ $50 for a one-year subscription ❑ an extra $____ to support The Bridge.(Contributions are not tax-deductible.)

Heard On THe

STREET

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

published every first and third Thursday

editor & publisher: nat Frothingham

general Manager: Jerry Carter

production & Calendar editor: Kate Mueller

Sales representatives: Carolyn grodinsky, rick McMahan, erin McIntyre

graphic Design & Layout: Jen Sciarrotta

Bookkeeper: Kathryn Leith

Distribution: Kevin Fair, Diana Koliander-Hart, Daniel renfro, anna Sarquiz

Website Manager: Jen Sciarrotta

advertising: For information about advertising deadlines and rates, contact: 223-5112, ext. 11, [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected]

editorial: Contact Bob, 223-5112, ext. 14, or [email protected].

Location: The Bridge office is located at the Vermont College of Fine arts, on the lower level of Schulmaier Hall.

Subscriptions: you can receive The Bridge by mail for $50 a year. Make out your check to The Bridge, and mail to The Bridge, pO Box 1143, Montpelier VT 05601.

Copyright 2013 by The Montpelier Bridge

Ice rules the world now. Every low pressure system seems to coincide with a temporary rise in temperature to 32 degrees or above. And rain and ice mean mice and even voles

again entering our warm predictable houses for food and shelter. Without a stable outside environment for voles to successfully reproduce in warm nests under snow cover, this animal, the meatloaf of the natural world, can become scarce. Even this winter, which started out rodent plentiful, could change rapidly. We’ll see more predator tracks, as they will have to cover more ground to stay alive. The lean times are upon us. At least if you are an owl or hawk or fox or fisher.

—Nona Estrin

nature WatchHallsmith Proposes Possible Bid for Hollar’s Spot

Gwen Hallsmith, who until recently worked as Montpelier’s planning and development director, has announced that if nobody else steps up to champion her platform she may

run against Mayor John Hollar in the upcoming election. She describes her platform as “maintaining the citizens’ voice in City government—making it more transparent and more accountable—and sticking to the Master Plan.” Alerted to having a possible opponent in the race, current mayor John Hollar issued this statement: “I am running for re-election, and I look forward to talking to residents about the significant progress we’ve made over the last two years on the issues that are important to Montpelier.” Turn to page 22 to read a Q&A with Hallsmith regarding her possible bid for mayor.

Multi-Modal Transit Center Project Takes a Giant Step Forward

On January 2, Mayor John Hollar and City Manager William Fraser announced the purchase of the Carr lot. The property was purchased from Alan Carr for $1.4 million

with an initial deposit and down payment of $1 million. The remaining $400,000 will be paid back at an interest rate of 4.5 percent over 15 years. This is just one of two purchases made recently by the city of Montpelier. In a January 2 press release, the city announced that “[i]n late December, the City also took ownership of 16 Main Street, the parking lot between the Drawing Board and M&M Beverage, and 10 Main Street.” With these two purchases, the city moves one step closer to realizing the completion of the Revitalization Project, which includes a new welcome and transit center, a bicycle and pedestrian path and bridge, and expanded access to the Winooski River.

People Rally at State House to Support Paid Sick Leave

One hundred people rallied in front of the State House on January 7, to show their support for the passage of the paid sick leave bill that they hope will go before legislators this

coming session. The new bill, S. 255 will be tracked closely this coming session by organiz-ers of the rally which included Vermont Workers’ Center, AFSCME Homecare United, and other concerned citizen groups.

Recycling an Old Space

The Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District is celebrating the opening of the Additional Recyclables Collection Center (ARCC) in its new location in the old Times-

Argus building at 540 North Main Street, Barre. The celebration begins January 18, at 9 a.m., with tours and light refreshments going through 1 p.m. For new extended operation hours and a list of what is accepted for recycling, visit cvswmd.org or call 229-9383.

Walmart Stretches Its Legs

The Berlin Walmart has begun construction on an 18,700-square-foot expansion project. In addition to the new space, Walmart will also take over 7,500 square feet of existing

store space, which will be reconfigured to meet its needs. Through this expansion, Walmart hopes to offer more grocery items, as well as an expanded selection of general goods.

VCFA Hopes to Net More Parking at Tennis Courts

A major agenda item during the January 6 meeting of Montpelier’s Development Review Board was consideration of a proposed revision to Vermont College of Fine Arts master

plan, which would include permission to convert their existing tennis courts into more park-ing. The board did not make a decision but has entered into a deliberative session and will likely announce its verdict at its next regular meeting on January 20.

Weiss Retires, Leaves Vacant Seat on City Council

Candidates for Alan Weiss’s City Council District 3 seat are strongly encouraged to peti-tion to place their names onto the March 4 ballot. Petitions are available at the City

Clerk’s office in City Hall; only 25 signatures are needed (all of which must be registered voters from District 3). Petitions must be returned to the City Clerk no earlier than January 23 and no later than Monday, February 3, at 5 p.m.

Hunger Mountain Coop Donates Groceries to Families in Need

The Montpelier Hunger Mountain Coop donated $45,000 in groceries to local families in need this past holiday season. Donations were given out to over 1,000 individuals

throughout Washington County with the help of member-owner volunteers.

Two Local Youth to Receive National Recognition

Two local students were nominated for this year’s U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. Every year, four exemplary high school seniors are selected to represent their state at the

national conference. Rebecca Rouleau of Spaulding High School and Michael Hoffert of U-32 were both nominated to this year’s program.

adverTise

Our next paper is our

Health and Wellness issuewhich comes out

THurSDay, January 23rD advertising deadline: FrIDay, January 17. Contact our advertising department for advertising specials at 223-5112 (x11) or email: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

CORRECTIONS

In The Bridge’s 20th Anniversary supplement, Colleen Goodridge’s last name was mis-spelled in a photo caption: it’s Goodridge, not Goodrich. In a Heard on the Street men-

tion of the Vermont Community Loan Fund’s activities, the fund did not grant but rather lent $3.75 million. In an article reporting on a Montpelier City Council meeting, a quote attributed to Mayor John Hollar about Montpelier Alive was made by City Manager Wil-liam Fraser in a separate interview.


reported by Amy Brooks Thornton

Former Republican Governor of Vermont, James Douglas

The budget shortfallThe state is facing yet another big short-

fall in our general fund. As has often been the case in recent years, the budget will de-mand a lot of attention. The lawmakers will have to … decide how best to use limited resources that taxpayers can furnish.

Strengthening Vermont’s economy, encouraging business

I’m concerned about our economy. We have a low unemployment rate, [but] people are also leaving the work force. When the numerator and denominator are both shrinking, the rate is not really a good indication of the strength of the state.

We have a very high tax burden com-pared to other states. [Also], energy costs are high here compared to other places. That’s a competitive disadvantage for some employ-ers, especially manufacturers.

Several recent rankings have said Ver-mont is quite unfriendly to small business and as a place to retire. Those are not the type of rankings we need to compete and thrive.

We have to focus on creating more good-paying jobs. That means providing Ver-monters with education and training they need to be successful; it means assuring ad-equacy of infrastructure for growing busi-nesses; it means a tax and regulatory system that is competitive; it means focusing on the cost of living in Vermont so that qualified workers can have a decent place to live and to pay the expenses of their families. That needs to be a priority.

Health careIt’s hard to know exactly where we’ll

be going in the short term because of the shifting sands of the federal reform effort … It’s quite disconcerting for many. The misrepresentations at the federal level and the continually changing landscape make it very stressful for a lot of people as they wonder if they are going to have any insur-ance coverage and if so what it’s going to look like.

I talked with a single mom a couple of weeks ago who went on the exchange and signed up for coverage, and she told me that she’s getting the same policy essen-tially at the same premium, but her copay has sky-rocketed by thousands. I think a lot of folks may be in for some unpleasant surprises.

For four years in a row, we were ranked the healthiest state in America … I hope our focus on insurance reform won’t take our eye off the ball on the bigger issue . . . We need to bring down the cost of health care by keeping people healthier in the first place. If we can instill a sense of good nutrition and exercise among our youngest Vermonters, [make] it a habit, that’s got to be a priority. It’s hard—when kids see all

kind of ads to supersize everything—to instill in them an ethic of eating healthily and exercising, but we have to do as much as we can to encourage that.

[We need to] make the shift away from the fee-for-service mentality that’s been the basis for reimbursement historically. We’re not going to control costs if providers are paid for doing more stuff.

Affordable living crisisWe lost population last year as a state for

the first time. I worry about that because there are certainly cheaper places to live in the country.

We have an affordable living crisis in Ver-mont. It’s a state with high taxes, with high costs of health care and higher education. If we’re going to retain and attract more Ver-monters, especially young Vermonters, to be part of our future, we have to understand the reality of what many Vermonters are facing and to confront those costs of living.

[One solution would be to] make some state land available for low- and moderate-income families to have some housing.

Cost of college education The cost of higher education could be a

real challenge to a lot of families. I think it’s one reason a higher percentage of [Vermont]

high school graduates are leaving their home state to go to college ... Some of it’s because they want to spread their wings, see another part of the country. I understand that. But a lot of that has to do with cost.

Rebalancing our educational priorities

Early childhood education is clearly im-portant. We don’t spend as much there … as most states. We need to rebalance our priorities. We spend almost the least in the

country on early child care and education and on higher ed, and the most in America on K through 12 … We need to shift those priorities so that they are more in tune with what other states are spending if we are going to compete: spend relatively more on the early years and the later years and rela-tively less in the middle.

Public education is the most expensive service we buy as a state. [We have] declin-ing enrollment; it’s dropped by at least 1 percent a year for 15 years now, and yet we have more employees [in the educational system] than we did 15 years ago. And we have some schools that are so small there is no economy of scale.

I often cite our inability to control the cost of public education. That’s what drives

our property tax bills and stresses a lot of family budgets.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are not a central issue

In the bigger scheme of things, spending time on GMOs, or some other issues that really aren’t central to the lives of the vast majority of Vermonters, I don’t think is the best priority.

Jobs in VermontThere’s an old line, “moonlight in Ver-

mont or starve.” Somebody said that “[t]he state created several thousand new jobs. I have three of them!” It’s hard to make a living in Vermont. Sometimes there are jobs that are not very remunerative. We’re drifting into the minimum wage debate, and I think that has to be handled carefully because … the likely impact of this is fewer jobs with higher wages. That may not be the best outcome.

The better approach to a livable wage is to reduce the cost of living so that the dollar goes farther than it does today.

The natural gas pipelineThere’s no ideal source of energy. They all

have some downside. There’s a lot of contro-versy over in the Champlain Valley about the natural gas pipeline coming through here. But … folks can literally cut their heating bills in half. There’s an opportunity to provide some real relief for a lot of folks who make too much to qualify for [fuel assistance, but] who are struggling to pay their families’ bills.

Support local My in-laws have a dairy farm here. I’m

proud of the fact that, allegedly, food travels the shortest distance from production to consumption in Vermont than any other state …There’s a real sense of community in Vermont that allows us to do that. I think Vermonters are willing to pay a little extra for a product that’s grown or made locally …,we need to help our local entrepreneurs in agriculture and other sectors [of our economy] as well.

Former Democratic Gover-nor of Vermont, Madeleine Kunin

The budgetOne of the big questions will be the bud-

get, making up for the shortfall and trying to balance that with requests for new funds. That’s always center stage in a legislative session. How much do we spend, where do we spend it, and how much do we need to raise taxes? Nobody wants to raise taxes, of course.

[We need] to make sure our pension funds are solvent … We don’t want to end up like some other states suddenly finding that we have a huge bill to pay.

Where food stamps have been cut, that will be a question. Will Vermont need to make up for what happened in the sequester?

Early educationMy own hope is that the early education

bill will pass … I hope it’s a high prior-ity since I think it’s our best investment if we can reach children at an earlier age. It makes all the difference. We know so much more now [about] brain development, the importance of early learning, vocabulary building.

Paid sick daysI feel strongly about … the paid sick days

bill, which is in the House and now has sev-eral sponsors. It’s so important for families at all income levels. Higher income employ-ees have that benefit, but often middle in-come and lower income do not. It’s a health issue and children’s issue, too.

People don’t realize that sometimes, when you call your boss and call in sick, you may lose your job, you may be fired. Every coun-try except for the United States has some form of paid sick days. Vermont can really be a leader in that regard.

[The legislature] may not be ready to do full, paid family leave. But it should be on the agenda, and it should be debated. There must be a way to fund it that does not place a burden on the employer. California has done it, and New Jersey. So we have some models for legislation.

On which issues should the legislature focus?

The one that is most ready … and would have the widest impact on the most families would be early childhood education or pre-K. I’d line up paid sick days right next to it. It’s hard to choose between those two. It’s the greatest return on your investment. With paid sick days, you save on hospital and health care costs, you retain good em-ployees. And with pre-K, you could really

The 30,000-Foot View on Vermont’s 2014 Legislative Season

Interviews with former governors James Douglas and Madeleine Kunin and former chairwoman of the Vermont Progressive Party, Martha Abbott

We need jobs. Good payinG jobs. everybody should Get $10 per hour. you can’t live off of

[minimum WaGe].

WILLIaM WhItnEy, northfIELd

What are the thinGs We need to do for our health so We don’t have to rely on public health care? We

are the ones Who make us healthy. it’s really our responsibility. that should be tauGht; that should

be practiced. We can’t possibly continue to Go on usinG the amount of health care We do.

Lynn WILd, MontpELIEr


make a difference in children’s lives … exposing them to learn skills like focusing, concentration. Those skills are learned very early, and they are lifetime skills.

The majority of the Democrats in the House are women. Out of all the states, Vermont has the highest percentage (41.1 percent) of women in the legislature. Does this mark any significant change in the legislature and policy outcomes?

I was thrilled that this occurred in my lifetime. Something I never dreamed would happen. Women are in the game; they’re at the table. I think women are realizing more and more: if we are going to be heard, if our concerns are going to be on the agenda, we have to be part of the system. We can’t just be outside knocking on the door trying to get in.

Women still often take the lead on … issues [such as] early childhood and paid sick days. [But it’s] not exclusively women. There are a lot of men who support these issues. Women are persistent because they have the experience of having dealt with these questions.

The answerOf course, the answer is … to pass the

bills!

Former Chairwoman of the Vermont Progressive Party, Martha Abbott

The budgetWe’ve been cutting the budget every year,

basically cutting programs for people who can least afford to manage in this economy. That is a self-defeating way of going about budget decisions in the state of Vermont …

When you cut programs when people are in need in difficult economic times, and that need is increasing, then more people will have additional problems. During bad economic times, the state can spend more

money, … when things get better, they can fill those coffers.

A state bank?I am hopeful that the state of Vermont

will get its money out of Wall Street banks and create its own bank … so that we are not spending millions of dollars in fees to Wall Street banks. We can make a large contribution to the capacity of the Vermont Economic Development Authority and … we can pay them to manage the money and invest that money in Vermont industry and projects. Currently [Vermont state funds are] invested all over the world because the Wall Street banks handle the state funds. We need to invest in Vermonters and Ver-mont and not ship everything out of state or overseas.

Divesting from fossil fuel I would like to see the state begin to di-

vest from fossil fuel. If we take just 20 per-cent of the fossil fuels that are in the ground out of the ground, that pushes us past the limit that most climate scientists will say where there is no turning back. The ques-tion is: How do we get industries to stop before taking more than that 20 percent out of the ground?

The first step is to make it not eco-nomically viable for them to continue to make money off of fossil fuels. One way is to stop investing in their companies. Any large investment portfolio contains a lot of fossil fuel: 350.org is asking us—colleges, universities and other institutions—to stop

investing in funds that support fossil fuels, similar to what we did with apartheid in South Africa.

If we did this as a state, that would make a very large statement to the whole nation. Also, those investments are expected to become less profitable because [fossil fuels] will be harder to get at and more expensive

to develop; even just transporting the fuel is becoming more expensive.

[We can] put our money into renewable energy instead. We should be doing every-thing we can to get our energy from renew-able resources. Vermont has done a good job on that in many ways. We outlawed fracking. We need to do more in the way of solar and wind.

Making the tax system fairI always hope that we will make the

tax system fairer. There are many ways in which we could do that. We could stop giv-ing lower tax rates to capital gains than we give to earned income. And we could stop piggybacking on the federal system to the extent that we subsidize people with larger mortgages and larger property tax bills and simply reduce the tax rates, but [instead] tax total income instead of a taxable income.

Attracting business to Vermont?The state is extremely economically viable

for business. People with businesses want to work in beautiful places and places that have a great quality of life. The studies have shown that over and over. People who have a lot of money or who are investing in communities, they don’t want to invest in a place that is poor or the quality of life is poor. They want to live and invest in and work in a community where people are thriving. I think Vermont is a perfect place for people to invest; we’ve got a great workforce, great schools, and we have a good work ethic.

So the question is, how do we stimulate that? One way would be to take the money we are giving to Wall Street and put it into Vermont industry, Vermont business, as much as we could.

A proposal for college tuition payments

One idea is to have the students put off tuition and sign up to pay a percentage of their pay over the next number of years after they’re out of school instead of going into debt. It’s something they’re trying in Oregon; it’s called pay it forward.

The state has been underfunding the state colleges even though the state is sup-posed to be funding them by law. [We need to] make college more affordable …There’s a lot of evidence that people stay and often settle in communities where they go to school in higher education.

The majority of Democrats in the House are women. Is this significant?

Your economic analysis of things is pri-mary in terms of how you are going to vote, what things you’re going to work for. That doesn’t necessarily follow gender lines. If you have had to struggle in your life or work hard to survive, then you have one type of understanding of the way the economy works … and a desire to fix it. Certainly, I think women should run for office, and I think it’s great that they are a majority.

Health care and private insurance companies

I am hoping that we will get through this current, difficult and interesting pe-riod, which was basically caused by trying to keep the private insurance companies involved in health care, and cross into a single-payer system that will be much sim-pler. We will not have to pay insurance companies to profit from health care.

On the federal level, if we had simply lowered the age at which people could be covered by Medicare to zero and put ev-erybody on Medicare, it would have been much simpler than keeping private health insurance companies in the system.

I hope that we will see a fair system for funding health care going forward where we will pay through a tax based on income and not pay insurance premiums.

Businesses have been flocking to Canada because of the health care there … Employ-ers have enough to do without managing insurance plans. At least, now [Vermonters] will have health care, and it will be afford-able. They will get a federal subsidy when they get their tax return. Unfortunately, a lot of [the plan] is not clear to people … exactly what they will be paying in the end.

GMO labelingSimply, we ought to be able to know what

we are eating. We ought to be able to choose not to eat GMOs. The other ingredients [in] our food [are listed], so why are we protect-ing Monsanto and the other agribusinesses that are using GMOs?

the [health care] discussion is [focused] on the it [information technoloGy] problem. the focus should

be GettinG everyone on insurance. the costs Will Go doWn over time.

grEg WaLLaCE, pLaInfIELd

there needs to be a debate on Gun control. i’m for Gun riGhts; i’m pro second amendment. We need an open

debate about Where vermont is and Where We Want to Go, as lonG as they use a democratic process.

Logan potskoWskI, northfIELd

[reGardinG health care], it’s still very confusinG hoW thinGs Will shake out. the premiums are hiGh.

WaGes aren’t hiGh. it’s a biG chunk taken out of [my employees’] paycheck. brutal.

JaCk garvIn, WaItsfIELd


housE of rEprEsEntatIvEs

Janet Ancelrepresents: Washington-6 (Calais, Marshfield, plainfield)resides: Calaisparty: Democrat

A Vermont native, Janet Ancel has served the state of Vermont for most of her career. Ancel demonstrated her ability to lead as part of the Howard Dean administration, serving as both legal and tax advisor during

Dean’s tenure as governor. Following the election of Republican governor Jim Doug-las, Ancel became a state representative in 2005. As chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means, Ancel has a good perspective on the state’s budget. About the budget gap, she said, “I don’t think it’s a crisis, but I don’t think you can ignore it … We always adjourn with a balanced budget, and we will adjourn with a balanced budget [this year].”

During this past summer’s session, Ancel was part of a group of Democrats pushing for major tax reform. The bill that they proposed was revenue neutral and aimed to shift the burden of income tax away from working- and middle-class Vermont-ers and on to the wealthiest earners in Vermont. After failing to gain support from the Shumlin administration, the bill was unable to gain much traction.

Ancel remains optimistic that the state can overcome its fiscal difficulties and said that we are doing much better than many other states. She cited reforms to school spending and how we structure and fund our state- and teacher-pension systems as two ways to alleviate some of our debt. Ultimately, Ancel believes that the budget gap comes down to cuts to federal funding. “Those are forces we really don’t have con-trol over,” she said.

Anne Donahue

represents: Washington-1 (Berlin, northfield)resides: northfieldparty: republican

Born in Burlington, Anne Donahue has served as a state representative since 2003. She brings with her unique insights into poverty, mental health and child wel-fare. For nearly a decade, from 1981 to 1990, Donahue worked with the Covenant House, a national charity that works with homeless and at-risk youth in both New York City and Los Angeles. In 1990, she moved back to Vermont where she taught for a time at Winooski High School, before becoming editor of Counterpoint, which she continues to do today. Counterpoint is a quarterly publication that focuses on issues of mental health and is distributed throughout the state.

Through her work with Counterpoint, Do-nahue found herself on the frontline of the Fletcher Allen Renaissance Project Scandal in 2002. Donahue’s reporting and investigative work into the scandal helped reveal hundreds of millions of dollars in missing monies that had been pegged for hospital renovations. A criminal investigation later led to the removal and imprisonment of the then Fletcher Allen CEO, Bill Boettcher.

Spurred by the scandal and her work with Counterpoint, Donahue decided to accept the appointment to state representative in 2003. Since then, Donahue has devoted much of her time fighting to improve the way the state views and deals with mental health. Donahue is pushing for stronger parity between mental health and physical health care. She sees the two as intricately intertwined and believes that they should be equally covered by insurers. When looking at how Vermont deals with mental health as a whole, Donahue believes that we con-tinue to take “two steps forward and one step backward” as we fail to wholeheartedly commit to supporting mental health. Along with health care, Donahue hopes to address the looming state budget gap and property tax reform and explore ways to make edu-cation spending more affordable without cutting quality.

Rebecca Ellis

represents: Washington-Chittenden (Bolton, Buel’s gore, Huntington, Waterbury)resides: Waterbury Centerparty: Democrat

A former assistant attorney general for Ver-mont, Rebecca Ellis was an obvious pick for

newly elected Governor Peter Shumlin to fill a vacancy left in the House of Representa-tives. While serving at the attorney general’s office from 1997 to 2011, Ellis was in charge of the Public Protection and Environmental Division. In this capacity, she became familiar with the laws and regulations that help keep Vermont a leader in environmental protection and energy efficiency.

In August 2011, Ellis was dragged out of the courtroom and into the streets when Hurricane Irene flooded her hometown of Waterbury. This experience strengthened and confirmed her efforts in protecting the envi-ronment and the need to lessen our footprint in order to quell climate change. In her newly appointed role as state representative, she has been given a chance to do just that, serving on the House Committee on Natural Resources and Energy.

Ellis sees this as a promising session for increasing energy efficiency here in Ver-mont, with bills proposed on both increas-ing net metering and thermo efficiency. There is hope across political lines that the legislature will be able to pass an updated net metering bill that raises the 4 percent cap on the amount of energy that compa-nies get from alternative sources such as solar. This cap has been set in part to ap-pease energy companies and their fear that alternative energy forms are not reliable. This fear stems from the mandate that all energy companies are required to always have enough energy available for all users at all times. As renewable energy becomes more reliable and demand increases, energy companies have been more receptive to in-creases to the cap. It is unclear what type of increase the legislature will pass this year.

Maxine Grad

represents: Washington-7 (Duxbury, Fayston, Moretown, Waitsfield, Warren)resides: Moretownparty: Democrat

A resident of Moretown since 1986, Max-ine Grad brings her background as an attor-ney to her role as the vice chair of the House Committee on Judiciary. In this capacity, she said, “I look forward to continuing my work on issues of public safety and civil rights. Some issues we hope to address are: victims’ rights, the safe storage of guns in domestic violence cases when a court has ordered the defendant to turn over firearms

during the pendency of the order, a ban on handheld cell phones while driving, addressing the increase in stolen precious metals primarily to support drug addiction, and procedures for minor guardianships.” These and other such issues, like ensuring fair and impartial policing and sentencing, will consume most of the committee’s time.

Outside her committee, Grad sees mend-ing the budget gap, overseeing the rollout of Vermont’s new health care system, net metering and opiate addiction as issues that will all dominate the discussion during this upcoming session. Grad is also sponsoring a bill “that would allow a service member to receive credits for licensure and education in another state and extend unemployment to a military spouse who is forced to give up employment due to his or her spouse’s deployment or transfer.”

Adam Greshin

represents: Washington-7 (Duxbury, Fayston, Moretown, Waitsfield, Warren)resides: Warrenparty: Independent

Adam Greshin moved to Warren in 2002 when he became a partner in Summit Ven-tures NE LLC, the company that owns Sugarbush Resort. After becoming a leader in his local community through the school board, Mad River Valley Health Center Board, the Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club, Greshin opted to run for state legislature in 2008.

During his time as a state legislator, Greshin has served on the House Com-mittee on Ways and Means. For this up-coming session, he sees education finance, a revamping of the state’s record keeping, green energy spending and cost of living as critical issues that will require his and other legislators’ close attention.

Greshin believes that “education finance continues to be a vexing issue as property taxes escalate and school boards face mount-ing pressure to reduce growth in education spending while at the same time answering to a growing list of state mandates. . . . Act 68 is in need of a long overdue tune-up, if not a complete engine replacement, but we also must take a hard look at hefty admin-istrative overhead and find ways to focus more education dollars on learning and less on administration.” A member of his local school board, Greshin knows that this will not be an easy fight.

Also within Greshin’s purview is a re-vamping of the way that Vermont maintains records. He worries that we are falling behind and wasting money by investing in brick-and-mortar buildings, while most records can now be kept, filled out and

Speaking Out on the 2014 Legislative SessionWashington County Legislators Outline Their Priorities

i’m concerned about mental health issues. We should [ensure] access to proper care and medica-

tions. animal Welfare. Who’s responsible for stray animals? Who’s responsible for the care of animals?

ELIzabEth kEnnEdy potskoWskI, northfIELd

property taxes. my biGGest expense noW is property taxes. i’d like to pay less. the school

budGets are Way out of control.

Jan, barrE toWn

i Want the state to pay for non-iep [individualized education proGram] kids Who require one-on-one intervention . . . the state noW pays 57 percent of

special ed costs . . . [only] if there’s an academic problem.it’s a huGe burden on the toWn.

CLIfford Long, WashIngton


tracked electronically. Greshin hopes that initiatives such as this will help save money in the long term and in doing so make the state more affordable for all Vermonters.

Mary Hooper

represents: Washington-4 (Montpelier)resides: Montpelierparty: Democrat

As one of two former Montpelier mayors currently serving in the Vermont Legis-lature, Mary Hooper brings her in-depth knowledge of local politics to the state level. Her political activity began in college and included working for the League of Women Voters. Since she moved to Vermont in 1978, Hooper has been involved in a num-ber of different political pursuits. She has served as executive director of the Vermont Association of Conservation Districts and as deputy commissioner and commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry. Her experience in these leadership roles helped grant her insight into the operation of state institutions and the role of regula-tions, which has aided her in her role on the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions.

Through her committee, Hooper has come to be a staunch advocate of criminal justice reform. She fears that throughout the state “people’s access to justice is very spotty.” People being arrested for drug pos-session in Chittenden County often ex-perience much lighter sentencing than in more rural parts of the state, where drug possession charges are less frequent. In a lot of ways, this is out of the hands of legisla-tors; how prosecutors and judges charge and sentence people is up to their discretion. Legislators do set mandatory minimums, however, and could effect change that way.

Occupying a lot of Hooper’s committee’s time has been the issue of opiate abuse. She fears that it is bordering on becoming pan-demic in the state and must be dealt with before it gets out of control. “They’re not the results we want … If it’s not working, why do we keep doing the same thing?” said Hooper, frustrated by the state’s current ap-proach to the problem. To truly address the problem, she believes there will have to be a partnership among corrections, the judi-ciary, health providers and legislators.

Warren Kitzmiller

represents: Washington-4 (Montpelier)resides: Montpelierparty: Democrat

Warren Kitzmiller was drawn to Ver-mont, like so many others, “to ski bigger hills.” The Pennsylvania native eventually settled in Montpelier and quickly set about leaving an economic and political legacy. As the founder of Onion River Sports, his vision and ability to understand his custom-ers, who would later become his constitu-ents, has made him successful both in the business and political spheres.

Kitzmiller has always felt a calling to pub-lic service and has served on various com-

mittees and organizations, including Ver-mont Retail Association, People’s Health & Wellness Clinic and Montpelier City Coun-cil, among many others. Along with Mary Hooper and others, Kitzmiller assisted in starting the Montpelier Downtown Com-munity Association, which is now known as Montpelier Alive. After the death of his wife, State Representative Karen Kitzmiller, in 2001, he accepted the appointment by Governor Howard Dean to her spot.

Kitzmiller currently serves as a ranking member of the House Committee on Com-merce and Economic Development. He said, “I have always believed that one should take part in the community that they live in… and give back in any way that they can.” Kitzmiller and those he serves with do this on a daily basis. While his committee may not deal with the most exciting issues brought before the legislature, he is proud of the work that they do and quick to cite the important, real-life implications that they have. A lot of the things they work on “are not controversial and not partisan,” he said approvingly.

This coming session there will be plenty of things up for debate that are controversial and partisan. Kitzmiller believes that hash-ing out single-payer health care will occupy a lot of the time, and that legislators will receive a lot of pressure from the Shumlin administration to search for solutions to opiate abuse.

Anthony “Tony” Klein

represents: Washington-5 (east Montpe-lier, Middlesex)resides: east Montpelierparty: Democrat

A red diaper baby, born to communist parents, Tony Klein was introduced to the po-litical sphere early on. In the vibrant Commu-nist community of Croton, New York, Klein grew up among family and friends for whom politics was a part of everyday life. So when he moved to Vermont in 1972 as part of the back-to-the-land movement, it was no surprise that Klein got involved with local politics, serving on local school boards and, in 1984, serv-ing as the campaign manager for Lieutenant Governor Peter Smith. In 2002, following the creation of a new seat through redistricting, Klein launched a successful campaign for state representative.

Klein is currently the chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources and En-ergy and over the last decade has helped shaped the state’s progressive energy poli-cies. Though he is happy with how far the state has come, he still thinks that it has a long way to go. “We have a responsibility to lead,” Klein said, in regard to other states that promote alternative energy and improv-ing efficiency. So while Klein supports and foresees increases to net metering passing, he hopes that the state will take further steps to cut its dependence on fossils fuels.

If Vermonters are serious about address-ing climate change, he believes that we must view every decision from the perspec-tive of what is best for the climate. This includes the budget gap, which he said is going to make this “a difficult session.” He ultimately does not see this as a problem, preferring rather to see it as an opportunity. He believes that the budget gap forces legis-lators to look for inefficiencies and improve the programs that already exist. Through this process, Klein hopes that the state will find a way to live within its means.

229-6575

223-3447clarconstruction.com

• New CoNstruCtioN

• reNovatioNs

• woodworkiNg

• geNeral CoNtraCtiNg

Design & Build

Custom Energy-Efficient Homes

Additions • Timber Frames

Weatherization • Remodeling

Kitchens • Bathrooms • Flooring

Tiling • Cabinetry • Fine Woodwork

LIght movIng L andfILL runs and odd jobs. We’ve got the truck.

Give us a call at 224.1360

T&T Truck for Hire

Prevent and clear acne

Fade spots and wrinkles

Permanently remove unwanted hair

Imagine Beautiful SkinElectrolysis & Skin Care Salon

229-4944Kathy Waskow

Licensed Electrologist and Esthetician

www.ElectrolysisInVt.com


Thomas Koch

represents: Washington-2 (Barre Town)resides: Barre Townparty: republican

As the initial drafter of the Barre Town Charter, Thomas Koch has an intimate knowledge of the district he represents. Koch first ran for a seat in the House in 1976 and served two terms, before shifting gears and focusing on more local issues. He has served on numerous committees and boards and has been the town moderator for Barre Town since 1982. In 1996, Koch made another successful run for state rep-resentative.

A member of the minority party, Koch is concerned with the approach the Demo-crats are taking. “State and federal govern-ment are trying to do too much,” he said. Koch feels that the government needs to scale back on its services, including health care. “We need to improve health care, but not the way we are going about it,” he said. This is part of a larger narrative in which Koch sees the state as “spending too much and unwilling to cut anything very much.” He does not think this combination is sus-tainable and believes it will lead to deeper budget gaps.

According to Koch, the problem is not on the revenue side. “I think it is pretty much solely a spending issue,” he said, arguing that the state brings in enough money in revenue. To fix the budget gap, he believes that “we need to take a hard look at every-thing on spending, and it’s going to hurt.”

While Koch does support expansions to net metering and energy conservation in general, he is not convinced that climate change is being caused by human actions. Koch hopes that the legislature will be able to expand its support for energy conserva-tion to other parts of the budget, such as education. “We need to take a look at spe-cial education,” said Koch. “We are prob-ably overdiagnosing too many kids. Our special education budget has just exploded.”

Patti Lewis

represents: Washington-1 (Berlin, northfield)resides: Berlinparty: republican

After moving to Berlin in 1983, Patti Lewis began a successful career as an au-ditor. In 1990, she joined Berg, Carmolli & Kent Insurance as the comptroller. She also served as treasurer and tax collector for the town of Berlin. Lewis brought this knowledge to the House of Representatives in 2010 and hopes to use it to help mend the budget gap.

Lewis fears that the proposed single-payer health care plan is not feasible and would only contribute to expanding the state’s def-icit. “When the legislature was first briefed on the administration’s plan to implement a single-payer system, I was more than skep-tical,” she said. Instead of trying to create a system that Lewis does not see as being practical in this small state, she believes “the state should have identified those who were uninsured and made the steps to get them insured.” She believes that this would have saved money and have been a more realistic way to ensure that everyone receives the coverage that he or she needs.

Also on Lewis’s mind this coming ses-sion is education spending. As a member of the House Committee on Education, Lewis thinks that “education spending is out of control.” To reel in the costs of education, she said that we have “to identify definitively what the cost drivers of educa-tion are.” Whatever these may be, she said, “After serving on the education committee for the past three years … I can tell you there is no agreed-upon remedy.” What is agreed upon is that costs are becoming too high for many Vermonters. Lewis hopes that during this session her committee and the rest of the legislature will be able to address some of the state’s growing expen-ditures.

Francis “Topper” McFaun

represents: Washington-2 (Barre Town)resides: Barre Townparty: republican/Democrat

Francis “Topper” McFaun worked in state government for 38 years before win-ning election to the House of Representa-tives in 2004. For the better part of this time, McFaun served as the director of the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO). In this capacity, he learned about the many obstacles facing Vermonters along the road to economic success, and he mastered the administrative skills to successfully oversee the operation of one of Vermont’s largest departments.

As a member of the House Committee on Human Services, McFaun uses these skills to continue working toward making Ver-mont a more economically viable state for people to live in. McFaun believes that to be successful, he must be able to work with both parties. Finding the common ground is key to getting things done. McFaun has proven that he can do this, winning both the Democrat and Republican caucus nomination three out of five times.

McFaun hopes to continue the work he did at the OEO in this upcoming session. He would like to see himself and his col-leagues address, or begin to address, the issue of minimum wage. He does not be-lieve that its current level is acceptable, but he wants to assess the data before making any recommendations. This approach is in-dicative of McFaun’s data-driven approach to public policy.

He thinks it is time for the legislature to start taking a data-driven approach to

the budget, too. With regard to the grow-ing budget gap, he said, “You have to work within a budget. Everyone works within a budget. The state government should too.” To do this, Mcfaun believes that we have to look at both state spending and revenues.

Peter Peltz

represents: Lamoille-Washington (elmore, Morristown, Woodbury, Worcester)resides: Woodburyparty: Democrat

In 1969 Peter Peltz was drawn to Vermont by the opportunity to purchase 62 acres of land in Woodbury for $6,000 and by Ver-mont’s strong values and culture. While it is impossible to find land as reasonable as the 62 acres that Peltz and his wife continue to live on today, the values and culture that drew Peltz to Vermont are still alive and well. Peltz has served in elected office for over 30 years in Woodbury and got his first taste of education policy when he served on several boards of education. Since becom-ing a state representative in 2006, Peltz has risen through the ranks and is now the vice chair of the House Committee on Educa-tion.

Peltz is determined to make the Vermont education system exemplary. He is excited about all that is going on in education right now, especially the shift by many Vermont schools to individualized learning plans. Despite such successes as boasting one of the highest graduation rates in the country, Peltz thinks we can do better and is worried about the students that we are not reaching.

Today, public schools are expected to do much more than simply fill students’ heads with information. Peltz said that “over 40 percent of our students are on free or re-duced lunch.” Eligibility for this program is determined by family income and enroll-ment in other public assistance programs. So while school enrollment numbers are down throughout the state, demands on schools are up. This, and other costs, has caused education expenses to soar. Peltz believes “we’re getting to a tipping point when it comes to cost,” but that we have to be careful not to cut too much.

Paul Poirier

represents: Washington-3 (Barre City)resides: Barreparty: Independent

Paul Poirer was not available for com-ment.

Thomas Stevens

represents: Washington-Chittenden (Bolton, Buel’s gore, Huntington, Waterbury)resides: Waterburyparty: Democrat

One day Thomas Stevens decided that in-stead of merely criticizing those in office, he should run. “If you are going to complain, you should get involved,” he said. So in 2008, Stevens ran and got elected to the Vermont House of Representatives. Stevens lives in Waterbury with his wife and two children.

Stevens currently serves on the House Committee on General, Housing and Mili-tary Affairs. “Our committee is committed to making sure we can provide the tools to build affordable housing,” he said. They are committed to quality as much as accessibil-ity and put a high value on creating struc-tures that are sustainable. To maximize its efforts, Stevens believes the state must en-sure that there are quality jobs available for Vermonters. Stevens emphasizes this point: “People always talk about how important it is to have jobs, but they need to talk about having good jobs that offer benefits.”

He hopes that the state will be able to provide some of these benefits, such as health care and child care. It is a strong year for labor issues with a bill up for debate that would mandate employers to pay sick leave. Stevens does not see programs such as this contributing to the budget gap, but rather thinks a lack of revenue is to blame. He is in support of tax reform that redistributes the burden onto those who make the most in the state. He believes that this is one way in which the state can address some of the inequities that exist throughout Vermont.

Therese “Tess” Taylor

represents: Washington-3 (Barre City)resides: Barreparty: Democrat

When Tess Taylor visited Barre in 2001, she fell in love with its blue-collar feel and ethnic diversity. Taylor spent most of her early career working in the arts, drawn to Barre originally by an opportunity to take on the role of executive director of Studio Place Arts. Through this position and her role as general manager of the Vermont Granite Museum, Taylor was able to im-merse herself in the community. This paid off later when she ran and got elected to the House of Representatives in 2008.

Taylor currently serves on the House Com-mittee on Agriculture and Forest Products. This committee was instrumental in the pas-

i hope We can fiGure out hoW to pitch in to cover federal shortfall cuts from liheap [loW income

home enerGy assistance proGram] to food stamps. it’s a rainy day for people—or a cold and snoWy one.

susan rEId, MontpELIEr

they redid the Whole doWntoWn [of barre]. that’s pretty cool. We need to keep on GettinG that support. i’d like to see a biGGer chanGe. instead of people GoinG to burlinGton, they could Go to barre or montpelier.

it just needs the support.

JaCob hInton, barrE


sage of the Working Landscape Bill, and Taylor has remained a strong proponent of the bill, even after its passage, pushing for further funding and support for the Working Lands Enterprise Fund.

Now in her second year as the Demo-cratic assistant majority leader, Taylor has real sway in the House. She said that the “best part about it is seeing and recognizing the talent we have in the House.” Working with fellow Democrats and across party lines, Taylor finds the role “exciting and worrisome, but worth it.” She hopes that this coming session they will be able to tackle big issues such as health care, crimi-nal justice reform and opiate abuse and ensure the smooth rollout of the new Berlin Mental Health Facility.

sEnatE

Ann Cummings

represents: Washington Districtresides: Montpelierparty: Democrat

Ann Cummings has “always seen gov-ernment as a force for good.” Guided by this outlook, she has worked hard to effect change on both the local and state level. She began her career in politics with the local school board by knocking on doors, a technique that she continues to use to this day. This process helps her reach out to con-stituents and find ways to “make the system work for them.”

Cummings was elected to the senate in 1996, and while she feels it is not as personal as local government, “it [the senate] is still a very hands-on manageable form of govern-ment here.” Representatives and senators are still approachable here in Vermont and welcome feedback and insights from con-stituents.

“The economy has been and will remain the primary issue,” said Cummings, when asked about the key issues of this coming session. The strapped state budget has lim-ited the number of new bills that the legis-lature has been able to pass but has created a situation in which the state is forced to “assess what works and what doesn’t work,” said Cummings. She believes this is a good and necessary exercise and is hopeful that the economy is rebounding.

She fears Vermont’s small population is a real hindrance to realizing some of its big aspirations, such as single-payer health care. “There is still a question whether Vermont can afford to do this on its own … I think the will is there, but it is going to be diffi-cult,” she said. She hopes that the legislature will be able to figure out how to deal with some of these difficulties this session.

Bill Doyle

represents: Washington Districtresides: Montpelierparty: republican

As the senior member of the Vermont Legislature, Bill Doyle has taken part in the

evolution of state politics. Doyle has served in the senate since 1969. He was first drawn to Vermont by an opportunity to teach gov-ernment and history at Johnson State Col-lege in 1958. He continues to teach there today and often brings classes to witness the legislative sessions. Since Doyle began teaching, 162 of his past students have run for a seat in the state legislature, and 32 have won.

Doyle’s commitment to the state has no bounds, and his work has helped transform the state into what it is today. He worries about excessive spending. “Both sides of the aisle need to live within our means, just

like a family would,” said Doyle. Fixing the budget gap is Doyle’s number-one issue, and he hopes that the state will be able to come up with responsible solutions to ensure that this doesn’t continue to happen year after year.

Doyle is worried about the economy as a whole, too. He fears we are failing to prepare the state’s youth for real jobs and that we need to find better ways to keep our youth in the state. Paying a larger percent-age of students’ tuitions is one way Doyle believes we can do that.

To ensure that the state sponsors pro-grams to improve the economy for all peo-ple, Doyle argues that Vermonters need to participate in the government process. He wants people to hold their representa-tives accountable. This is how he hopes the people can preserve their democracy against decisions such as Citizens United, the 2010 Supreme Court decision that allows unlim-ited campaign spending by corporations.

Anthony Pollina

represents: Washington Districtresides: north Middlesexparty: progressive, Democrat, and Working Families party

One of Bill Doyle’s most successful for-mer students, Anthony Pollina has served in the Vermont Senate since 2010. Before joining the senate, Pollina served as policy and executive director of Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) and as senior advisor to U.S. Representative Bernie Sanders and was founder and director of Rural Vermont and a professor at Johnson State College. Through these pursuits and the many boards that he has served on, Pol-lina has gained a firm understanding of the needs of Vermonters. As a senator, he hopes to meet these needs.

Like his fellow legislators, Pollina sees

the budget gap as one of the biggest issues for this coming session. But Pollina sees the gap differently than many of his colleagues. “We all focus on closing the gap, but it’s not really the problem. It’s the symptom of much larger systemic issues,” he said. His solution: “If you want a strong economy and no gap, you have to invest in the people.” One way Pollina hopes to do this is by creat-ing a state bank.

What Pollina is proposing is nothing like the Bank of North Dakota, the only state-operated bank in the country, which dates back to 1919. Instead, he proposes that the state take 10 percent of the $350 million it has in savings with TD Bank North and put it under the control of the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA). VEDA, which already gives loans, would then work with Vermont banks to loan this money to Vermonters. “If we’re going to buy local, why aren’t we going to invest local?” asked Pollina. He hopes that by keeping Vermont money in Vermont, we will be able to support the safe growth of the local economy.

Pollina also hopes that the legislature will be able to put some parameters on the budget. He hopes that the state can give the budget a purpose, or a context in which moneys allotted are seen. One such purpose that Pollina proposed could be that the bud-get contributes to the dignity and equity of Vermonters. He hopes that a clear purpose would make it easier for legislators and their constituents to question the makeup of the budget.

quality remodeling & building

Conscientious contractingInt./ext. makeovers & paintHealthy whole-home solutionsDeep energy retrofitsKitchens, baths, additionsDoors, windows, roofs

David Diamantisph: 229-8646 fax: 454-8646

Certified Green Professional EMP/RRP • EcoStar Roof Applicator

by Julia Barstow

In the majority caucus of the Vermont House of Representatives, women hold 49 of the 96 seats or 51 percent of Democratic seats. Women became the majority with the appoint-ment by Governor Peter Shumlin of Marjorie Ryerson to the Vermont House in Novem-

ber. Vermont is the third state, after Washington state and New Hampshire, to have women making up the majority of members within the majority party of a state legislative chamber.

Ryerson, representative of Orange-Washington-Addison, says she is very proud that Ver-mont has reached this milestone and that it is one of many. She feels proud and honored to be chosen to serve her state and says she is “serving as a human and a Vermonter”; it is her “mission to work on key issues that help men and women and children.”

Vermont has the highest percentage of women state legislators in the United States at 41.1 percent. Of all the state legislatures in the United States, New Hampshire has the largest number of women state legislators at 142. Overall, 24.3 percent of state legislators in the United States are women.

Anne Donahue, representative of Washington-1, thinks that having women in the legisla-ture is “a trend that has been growing in Vermont and around the country.” She attributes Vermont having the highest percentage of women state legislators to Vermont women feeling more comfortable in taking leadership roles. Donahue says she has a “reputation as a hard worker and [tries] to take leadership roles on issues.”

Representative Janet Ancel, Washington-6, thinks that “the reason we have such a good percentage of women in the legislature is that we represent fairly small communities; gender is not very much of an issue to Vermont voters.” Ancel feels that when she ran she was seen as a candidate. She says that the only opposition in elections she has had was from other women. “We’ve had some very strong leaders in the state for several decades since Madeleine Kunin,” Ancel says. She also feels that Vermont “is close and getting towards” having equal representation of men and women in the state legislature.

Women in the Legislature

there’s Way too much crime in this toWn…the police are askinG for help. people aren’t that poor.

somethinG else is GoinG on.

ErroL hInton, barrE


by Julia Barstow

Larkin Goldsmith Mead sculpted the Lincoln bust in the 1870s in prepara-tion for a bronze statue for Lincoln’s

tomb. Mead’s wife gave the bust to Vermont after his death in 1911.

The Lincoln bust was professionally cleaned for the first time in decades in August 2013 by Fred X. Brownstein. The project cost $7,500 and was completed onsite. First, a basin was constructed around the base of the bust to collect any water from washing it. Loose dust was removed with compressed air and picked up with a vacuum. After the loose material was removed, Brownstein washed the marble sculpture repeatedly with a mild soap over a period of days.

Before the cleaning, one could not see the details and quality of the marble. The conservation of the Lincoln bust revealed the artist’s treatment of the stone. The face was carved from a whiter vein of marble than the rest of the sculpture. Highlighting the face of a sculpture in this way was, and still is, com-mon practice, Brownstein said. Brownstein noted that the bust “cleaned up beautifully” and is “in its original condition.” The sculp-ture, which was made at the height of marble craftsmanship, shows no deterioration or de-fects. On January 13, at 4 p.m., Brownstein will give a talk about details of the Lincoln bust for the Friends of the State House annual meeting in State House room 11.

The second project was conserving Ceres. Mead carved the original statue in 1858, which was damaged by dry rot. In 1938, Dwight Dwinell, along with two assistants, carved the current statue from ponderosa pine.

Last year, State Curator David Schutz no-ticed big, rust-colored streaks on the east side of the statue, which alerted him that it needed work. The lightning protection, which runs down the statue’s back, had caused water to

seep into the wood. List excavated the dete-riorating wood and replaced it with an epoxy-like material. He then cored 12-inch-deep tunnels in the back of the statue and inserted copper vents. These vents will allow the statue to release moisture.

Ceres currently sways slightly, which pos-sibly has caused the two anchors that stabilize the statue to move. In the spring, the bal-ustrades around the statue will be replaced. Eventually, the statue itself will need to be replaced. The restoration project cost $18,000 and will successfully preserve the statue for the next 10 years. Previous conservation oc-curred in 2002 and included painting the statue with elastomeric paint.

Within the next 10 years, the dome will need to be worked on and regilded with 24-karat gold leaf. The State House dome was last gilded in 1976. Much of the copper underneath the gold leaf is original to the 1859 State House, and the roof currently leaks. The specifics of this major project will be established after the structural state of the dome is studied.

caption here

Photo by Julia Barstow.

The State House Restoration

Fred X. Brownstein cleans the Lincoln bust. Photo cour-tesy of Jeb Wallace Brodeur.

vcfa.edu/wcya

VCFA / MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults / Readings and Book Signing

Marie-Louise Gay— Montreal-based visiting Author/Illustrator—

has written and/or illustrated over sixty books for children, including the Stella and Sam picture books and the Travels with My Family novels. Published in over fifteen languages, Gay has won two Governor General’s Awards, the Vicky Metcalfe Body of Work Award, the E.B.White Award and has been nominated twice for the Hans

Christian Andersen Award and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

Reading Tuesday, January 14, 2014, 7:30pm, ChapelBook Signing Tuesday, January 14, 2014, 8:30pm, Chapel

Lucy Christopher— United Kingdom-based Writer-in-Residence—

is the award-winning author of three nov-els, Stolen, Flyaway, and The Killing Woods (January 2014). Recognition for Stolen includes the 2010 Branford Boase Award, the Australian Gold Inky Award and the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year for Older Readers Award. Both Stolen and her second novel Flyaway were

long-listed for the Carnegie Medal, with Stolen being short-listed for the Waterstones Prize and the Costa Book Award 2010. Her third novel The Killing Woods combines “dark young adult themes with the lightness of touch for which Lucy Christopher is so acclaimed.”

Reading Monday, January 13, 2014, 7:30pm, ChapelBook Signing Tuesday, January 14, 2014, 8:30pm, Chapel


by Ivan Shadis

Ivan Shadis of The Bridge sat down with Gwendolyn Hallsmith, who until recently worked as planning and development director for Montpelier, for a taped interview on Janu-ary 5. Excerpts from the discussion—which touched upon the integrity of the city’s master plan and the zoning that flows from it, ques-tions of ethics in City Hall and Hallsmith’s potential political future—are given below.

Gwen hallsmith: I don’t think John Hol-lar should run unopposed again. I’ll oppose him if nobody else will.

ivan shadis: In what way has your experi-ence as planning director influenced your possible decision to run for mayor ?

Gh: I see the City Council backing down from the policies that the Montpelier citizens want. The citizens wrote the [master plan], they prioritized that plan and the City Coun-cil has been acting as if it is an anathema. The council directed the Planning Commission to ignore it. The Planning Commission has been ignoring it. We need to stick to what the citi-zens have said that they want. I just don’t see this City Council or this Planning Commis-sion [acting in accord with what the citizens have said they want]. I think the only way to see that master planning process through, which is something I am deeply committed to, is to get on the City Council and to make sure that the city zoning which is drafted matches the master plan.

is: Do you believe that your commitment to the faithful implementation of the master planning process is what led to your termina-tion by City Manager Bill Fraser ?

Gh: That sure seemed to be an important factor, in addition to my outside advocacy for public banking. The Planning Commission didn’t want to comply with the master plan … The priorities of the plan clearly show that the citizens of Montpelier want a balanced ap-proach to development. They want to balance the need for housing growth with the need to

protect our resources. To ignore things like river buffers, biodiversity protection, afford-able housing, and to ignore the need for a growth center, which thoughtfully says this is where we want the housing on our public infrastructure and outside of that we want to protect the resources, I just don’t think that’s right. I think the citizens of Montpelier deserve better.

is: How would you contrast what you want to do to current mayor John Hollar’s record of performance?

Gh: You can read in the city’s goals [2013–14 city goals are published at montpelier-vt.org/page/537.html] how they want to “[c]hange narrative and present Montpelier as business friendly.” I think Montpelier is busi-ness friendly ... I don’t think that requires a change in narrative. The narrative that they are trying to change is the important mandate that the citizens gave them to develop more affordable housing and to protect our impor-tant natural resources while they’re doing it.

is: Have you found support for these ideas in Montpelier?

Gh: We had over 300 people involved in the master planning process, with over 800 people contributing to the goals and the vi-sion for the city. The minority that want to skew the zoning policies and the other policies to meet a fairly narrow set of private interests are what is essentially corrupting the city gov-ernment right now. You’ve got a mayor who is looking out for his banking clients going after me for advocating public banking. You’ve got a chair of the Planning Commission who is trying to remove the property next to his from the growth center to prevent it from being developed into anything like affordable housing for the rest of folks who want to live here. Those are big problems. Our leadership has been operating with conflicts of inter-est. They’re letting their own private agendas direct what they’re doing as public officials.

is: If you were mayor, do you feel you would be able to oversee the activities of the

Planning Commission without a bias? Gh: My bias would be in favor of what

the Montpelier citizens have said they want. Is that a bias? If I were the mayor, we would give the Planning Commission some pretty clear direction on complying with city plans and policies.

is: If you became mayor, would you con-tinue to advocate for public banking?

Gh: You bet; it’s a good policy for cities. Several cities around the country are consider-ing their own public banks—Detroit, Phila-delphia and San Francisco, to name three. Please note that the filing deadline for munici-pal offices including mayor, city council and school board is no later than Monday, Febru-ary 3 at 5:00 p.m. The Bridge will continue to follow and report on city races from now through February 20, 2014 when we publish our special Town & City Meeting Election issue.

Gwen Hallsmith on the Master Plan, Banking and Running for Mayor

Mouse tracks on snow? Photo by Bob Nuner.

Did You Know?

Each ton of recycled paper can save:

3.5 cubic yards of land� ll17 thirty-foot trees

7,000 gallons of water380 gallons of oil

Central Vermont Solid Waste

Management District

802.229.9383CVSWMD.ORG

Recycle.

Legislator Special:First class free with purchase of 10 class card!

All levels welcome to join in taking a break amidst the madness.

studiozenithvt.com

Feel great, get fit & have fun!

The staff at the Capitol Plaza and J. Morgan’s Steakhouse welcomes all legislators back to Montpelier and we look forward

to seeing all of you as our overnight or restaurant guests.

100 State StreetMontpelier, VT 05602

capitolplaza.com jmorganssteakhouse.com

802-223-52521-800-274-5252

Welcome Back Legislators

The State Special:2 bacon, egg and cheese sliders and Vermont Artisan Organic Coffee. For here or to-go. $6.95

Local. Delicious. Affordable.

Welcome Back Legislators!

89 Main Street • Montpelier • 262-CAKEskinnypancake.com

(offer valid Mon-Fri, 8-11:30am, starting Monday January 13th)

Come Support Rhythm of the Rein

Therapeutic Riding Program

Wed., February 5, 2014

Sponsored By

St. Johnsbury AcademyAll proceeds go to supporting

Rhythm of the Rein Therapeutic Riding Program

in Marshfield, VT.

Have You Seen The Cow Cab?Whether you need a ride

to the airport or just around town, Capital

Cab and Car Service will get you there!

capitalcabvt.com

Come Support Rhythm of the Rein

Therapeutic Riding Program

Wed., February 5, 2014

Sponsored By

St. Johnsbury AcademyAll proceeds go to supporting

Rhythm of the Rein Therapeutic Riding Program

in Marshfield, VT.

Sunday, January 12, 3:30PMUnitarian Church of Montpelier

www.capitalcityconcerts.org

featuring soprano Hyunah Yu with Karen Kevra-flute, Daniel Gilbert-clarinet, Joy Worland-horn, and Jeewon Park-piano

performing Schubert’s Shepherd on the Rock, Libby Larsen’s Barn Dances, Debussy’s Claire de Lune and works by Berloiz and Roussel.

Tickets: $10-$25 at the door, in advance at Bear Pond Books, Montpelier, and online at:

July 3rd ~ 11am–9:30pm

30th birthday celebration!Beer and wine tent ~ FoodLive music by local artistsCome celebrate with us!

Since 1982

Vermont fresh, Italian inspired

15 Barre StreetMontpelier, VT229-5721angelenospizza.com

229-5721

Takeout and full- service restaurant

15 Barre StreetMontpelier, VT

angelenospizza.com

Since 1982

Welcome back Legislators!Healthy foods, healthy ingredients.Vermont fresh, Italian inspired.

PIANIST SIMONE DINNERSTEIN Saturday, January 18, 7:30 PM

Benefit concert for Chandler’s Steinway

J.S. Bach’s Two-part InventionsGeorge Crumb

Eine Kleine Mitternacht MusikVermont premiere of Nico Muhly’s

You Can’t Get There From Here.

www.chandler-arts.org 802-728-6464

Main Street Randolph, VT

THE APRIL VERCH BANDFriday, January 17, 7:30 PMCanada’s Ottawa Valley meets old-time Appalachia with crack fiddling, electric step dancing, and great vocals. They’ll knock your socks off!

Canadian Fiddle Styles Workshop – Friday, January 17, 3-4 PM

Community Potluck –6 PM

Ottawa Valley Step Dancing Workshop – Sat Jan 18, 10-11 AM

Sponsored By:

Chan dler Center for the Arts presents


by Jeremy Carter

On December 17, 2013, temperatures plummeted, snow plastered the streets and schools closed. And yet,

inside Vermont Technical College in Ran-dolph, Vermont, hundreds of Vermonters were busy tilling the soil and sowing seeds—planning the next step for the future of Ver-mont’s working landscape.

This year’s Summit on the Future of Ver-mont’s Working Landscape drew over 200 people from around the state. The event showcased the successes of this past year’s grant recipients of the Working Lands Enter-prise Fund and looked forward to the work that still needs to be done. Nearly 90 speakers and panelists shared their insights. Several main threads ran throughout these discus-sions and stitched the summit together like the patchwork quilt of fields and forests that makes up Vermont.

Crossing through and binding together these different narratives were the down-to-earth stories of people’s successes, failures and challenges of working the land. Stories make it possible for farmers and foresters to unite with consumers, chefs and lobbyists. Through these stories, Vermonters become more aware of their connection with and dependence on the land. This awareness creates strong partnerships, which have enabled the progress that has been made and will continue to be integral in shaping future successes.

Speakers were quick to cite success stories, but this did not cloud the second focus of es-tablishing what still needs to be done. Many

speakers emphasized the need to create and encourage careers that expand, enhance and preserve our working landscape. Many at-tendees feared that it is too difficult to find the money to buy land and create the fa-cilities needed to start a business that works the landscape. Carina Driscoll of Vermont Woodworking School said, “We need to make sure that these [economic] opportuni-ties are possible … so that they [students] are not leaving with a lot of debt … so that stu-dents can be successful.” Investments in the Working Lands Enterprise Fund has been pegged, by a growing number of Vermont-ers, as one of the solutions to keeping young people in Vermont and attracting others to the state.

Amanda St. Pierre of Berkshire Cow Power and the St. Pierre Dairy Farm sees additional hurdles to corralling young people into the working landscape movement. “We need to do a better job preparing people for work-ing outside … and for long hours and tough labor,” she said. St. Pierre and others fear that Vermont youth are not learning how to work the land nor gaining the work ethic needed to continue these traditions, which define the Vermont aesthetic and culture.

In an effort to meet this need, farm-to-table and gardening initiatives are taking root in classrooms throughout the state and across grade levels. Those who support the working landscape movement do not see this as just an elective to enhance children’s college ap-plications but rather as an evolution of how Vermonters manage and run big institutions in the state. Colleges and some big businesses

are joining in, too, hosting CSA drop-offs and starting gardens. During the summit, one breakout group focused exclusively on the role of higher education in developing local and sustainable food systems.

People are flocking to the working land-scape movement from all directions. The movement runs across society and has taken on the look of a political caucus—a caucus that carries real weight. During a period of economic decline and limited capacity for state funding, it is the only new program started under the Shumlin administration.

The caucus enjoys popular support, draw-ing committed advocates from across political lines. United by a desire to protect the land-scape that is integral to Vermont’s unique identity, the movement provides policy mak-ers with a common goal that transcends dif-ferences and overcomes political gridlock. Paul Harwood, a forester, captures the heart of the movement: “Our goals are honorable. Our goals are to protect and preserve the environment.” This message resonates with Vermonters and consumers.

Selling the Story

While Vermonters agree that the Ver-mont working landscape is valuable, there is still plenty of room in the market for products grown and produced from the working landscape. Jeremy Stevenson of Spring Brook Farm and Vermont Cheese Council said, “The marketplace is ready for products with a story.”

To get their stories to market, produc-ers will need more support from investors. Since the creation of the Working Lands Enterprise Fund, and after just one year, it is clear that the market is there. This invest-ment will have to continue if Vermonters are serious about preserving the aesthetic that they love. They have to be willing to make a commitment to partner with farm-ers, foresters and value-added producers.

When Katie Adams and Chris Brooks of Vermont Wood Pellet Company were designing their business model, they made a decision. “We decided we would do it, like most of you, a different way—the Vermont way,” said Brooks.

The Working Lands Enterprise Fund is uniquely Vermont, designed by and for Vermonters to protect the things we value most. As consumers, it is up to us to effect our values with every purchase.

Securing the Future of Vermont’s

Working Landscape

Five Steps to Ensure the Success

of the Working Lands Initiative

From Andrew Meyer of

Vermont Soy and Vermont Natural Coatings

1. The state of Vermont needs to value the landscape as a working resource for agriculture and for for-est- and food-based businesses; one example is maintaining the current-use program.

2. Businesses need to engage in business-to-business collaboration and partnership by building com-mon brands, messages and market-ing strategies and sharing resources.

3. From prekindergarten to higher education, Vermont needs to incorporate place-based learning in its educational programs: children who value where they live are more likely to protect the environment and recognize its opportunities.

4. The state, organizations and individuals need to share the risks of farmers and entrepreneurs by not only buying local but also investing in the enterprises and products they believe in and value.

5. Farmers and entrepreneurs need to be encouraged to take lead-ership positions in state government.

Overlooking Sparrow Farm in East Montpelier, Vermont. Photo by Amy Brooks Thornton.

Cattle endure the frigid weather at Sparrow Farm. Photo by Amy Brooks Thorton.

Photo by Joyce Kahn.


Accordion player and dance instructor Corey Porche. Photo courtesy of Corey Porche.

by Samantha LaCroix

I was waiting in line on a snowy Vermont morning, following typical airport secu-rity protocol. I had already said good-bye

in the main lobby to my family, but there was something far more poignant and emo-tional about being separated from them by a wall of glass. I could do nothing but give a convincing smile and wave good-bye—not forever, but for the next four months.

I was on my way to an internship at the Jupiter Island Club, an exclusive Florida club for multimillionaires and billionaires. With no worries about food or housing and a crav-ing for adventure, I was going this time not for vacation but to live, to work and to help build my future.

As I landed, millions of thoughts and emo-tions were racing through my brain: anxiety, excitement, pride, worry and happiness. My driver awaited me in baggage claim, holding a sign with my name on it. It felt like a scene from a movie. After a 40-minute car ride in the dark on a five-lane highway, we arrived, and I was escorted to my private dorm room. Orientation and facility tours took place the next morning.

The following day was my actual start date. As I looked in the mirror, I remem-bered everything NECI had taught me. I was going through the basic pastry recipes and methods in my head and checked my uniform over and over to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. Looking at myself in my chef whites with my name embroidered on my coat was a feeling like no other: the epitome of contentment. Finally, I was really going somewhere. Only eight months earlier when I was accepted into NECI, I knew my life would change. But I never imagined myself going so far out of my comfort zone. Now, possibilities seemed endless.

As I walked into the doors of the kitchen, I was nervous. Everyone stared at the foreign rookie, the intern. I knew that coming from NECI, the chefs’ expectations of me would be high. I had to do my absolute best, I had to show them what I had, and I had to re-main confident: that was the most important thing to me. I had to be strong.

Once I walked into the pastry kitchen, ev-erything changed. The smell of fresh dough-nuts and bread immediately made me feel at ease. Charlie, the pastry chef, greeted me and put me to work. Much to my relief, he didn’t just throw me into the fire. He gave me reci-pes and explained the methods he wanted me to use, which ingredients I should add first, and how to mix things. The best part was

that I knew the information he was telling me. I fully understood what he wanted of me, how he wanted me to do it, and I knew that I could rock it out.

After a few days, Charlie and his assistant, Kait, just gave me the recipes. They were al-ways open to any questions and very under-standing with any help I needed. My favorite part about working in the pastry kitchen is Charlie’s personality. This Santa Claus–looking man, with the bellowing voice and sarcastic attitude, makes my day every day. I am very thankful to be working with some-one so humble rather than an overly intense and serious chef.

I was soon familiar with the routines of our kitchen and understood how the club itself worked. This club is filled with mem-bers of some of the wealthiest families in the United States. Family members of presidents and families associated with major compa-nies—such as Ford, Johnson & Johnson, and Howard Johnson—frequent the club. It is not unusual to see a 150-foot yacht floating at the dock out front.

But the culture shock of being around such wealth was not as large as that of being with fellow employees from other cultures. I, a Caucasian from Vermont (a state most people here don’t know about), was not used to working with Jamaican, Puerto Rican and Haitian employees. I love being exposed to different types of people, different foods, and ideas. What surprises and disturbs me most about this diverse staff is how segre-gated everyone is. On my first night eating at the cafeteria, I didn’t know where to sit. All the Jamaicans were at one table, the Puerto Ricans at another. It was like a warped ver-sion of high school; I didn’t know where I belonged. As time went on, however, I made friends. I primarily socialize with the Puerto Ricans. It is fun for me to learn about the way they live, the food they eat and their outlook on life. I never thought I could feel more at home.

I love to go to the beach on my downtime, lately at night. It’s only a five-minute walk from my room, and one of my favorite places in the world. There is nothing like letting the waves rush up on you while looking at the moon and stars. When I look out to sea and at the endless sky, I feel everything and everyone. I have the greatest sense of who I am and what I want to do, and I feel like I have a meaning. I feel that there is a reason I have been brought here.

Samantha LaCroix is a student at NECI.

Out of My World at the Jupiter Island Club

Spice on Snow! The Summit School of Traditional

Music and Culture Presents Its Fourth Annual Folk Music Festival

By Joyce Kahn

The Summit School of Traditional Music and Culture, a nonprofit folk music school located in Montpelier, heats things up this winter by hosting Spice on Snow. This winter folk music festival, now in its fourth year, runs from January 9 to 12.

The school is bringing nationally known acts to Montpelier, including The Revelers (featured on the TV series Treme and Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations); Bruce Molsk, a world-renowned fiddler and folk musician; old-time musicians Richie Stearns and Rosie Newton from Ithaca, New York; and local musicians Pete Sutherland and Yankee Chank. The festival takes place in various locations in downtown Montpelier, including Bethany Church, Three Penny Taproom, NECI, Skinny Pancake and City Hall. Along with musical performances, there will be dances, cooking classes and music workshops. A weekend finale brunch will be held at the Three Penny Taproom, with live music and Cajun breakfast foods catered by Toby Rodriguez, a Cajun cuisine expert and chef.

For a complete festival schedule, go to summit-school.org. For information, call 917-1186 or e-mail [email protected]. Festival tickets can be purchased online at the website or at Vermont Violins, 2 Main Street, Montpelier.

By Lisbeth Dodd

The first Montpelier Memory Café for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related memory disorders will be held Saturday, January 11, at 10 a.m. at the Mont-pelier Senior Activity Center, on 58 Barre Street. Eric Friedman will be the featured

guitarist, and Mick Byers, founder of Vermont’s first Memory Café at Valley Terrace resi-dential facility in White River Junction, will speak. A care partner must accompany each participant. Free and open to the public, these Saturday monthly cafés will include refresh-ments and activities, such as musical performances, guest presenters and board games.

Begun in 1997 at Leiden University in the Netherlands by Dr. Bere Meisen, Memory Cafés are now found in a variety of settings, such as restaurants, bookstores and senior centers. They are located throughout Europe, and over 125 cafés are in the United States.

For further information contact Lisbeth Dodd at 229-9630.

Memory Café Opens


Three Penny Taproom BRUNCH MENTION THIS AD ON SUNDAYS FOR 5% OFF YOUR MEAL (FOOD ONLY).GOOD THROUGH JANUARY.

108 Main Street Montpelier Vermont www.threepennytaproom.com

Since 1972

Repairs • New floors and walls Crane work • Decorative concrete Consulting • ICF foundations

114 Three Mile Bridge Rd., Middlesex, VT • (802) 229-0480 [email protected] • gendronconcrete.com

The Center for Leadership SkillsBusiness & Leadership deveLopmenT

Lindel James coaching & consultingTaking You from Frustration to Enthusiasm

802 778 0626 [email protected] 1 Blanchard Court

Above First in Fitness Montpelier [email protected] Most Insurance Accepted

Dr. Steven Sobel, DC, is pleased to announce the opening of Align To Health, a wellness-based chiropractic clinic. Dr. Sobel has over 16 years of experience in private practice as a chiropractic physician and has completed over 450 hours of post-doctoral studies in Functional Neurology. He looks forward to offering his services to care for his local community. Appointment times are filling. Call or email today to reserve your slot.

Dr Steven Sobel, DC Chiropractic Physician

Functional Neurology & Chiropractic Care For All Ages

229-6800

To our vendors, who generously donated healthy foods:Albert’s Organics, Amy’s Kitchen, Annie’s, Bionaturae, Bob’s Red Mill, Bove’s, Chex Finer Foods, Chunks of Energy, Clif Bar, Country Choice Organic, Crofter’s, Delverde Pasta, Field Day, Food Should Taste Good, G.Housen, Green Mountain Gringo, Jovial, La Panciata Bakery, Mark Hackenberry and Jamie Schultz at Haddon House Food Products, MOM Brand Cereals, Natural Sea, Once Again Nut Butters, Pacific Natural Foods, Q.Bel Foods, Runa Tea, R.W. Knudsen, Scott Farm, Turtle Island Foods, United Natural Foods, Inc., Vermont Coffee Company, and Yogi Tea.

To our volunteers, who helped put it all together:Quinlan Anderson, Michelle Barber, Sheri Berger, Rachael Beuchler, Lori Boes, Abby Colihan, Barbara Dall, Whit Dall, Mel Donovan, Ellen Doyle, Anden Drolet, Jeff Fuller, Susan Fuller, David Gorges, Robin Gorges, Cynthia Hartnett, David Hartnett, Jennifer Haugen, Elizabeth Hinds, Jim Mangene, Jim McWilliam, Marie McWilliam, Montpelier 4H Club, Montpelier Unitarian Church Youth Group, Alison Partridge, Stefanie Pinard, Larry Rooney, Andrew Starzec, Liz Sykas, Tony Uzabel, and Kelly Walsh.

To the fantastic organizations, which helped to distribute all the food:Barre Schools, Central Vermont Council on Aging, Central Vermont Home,

Health and Hospice, Montpelier Food Pantry, Montpelier Senior Center, Union Elementary School, Vermont Foodbank, Washington County Family Center, and the Washington County Elves Program.

And, to The Coop Member-Owners and shoppers, who donated at the registers in November and December, and our staff for bringing together all the pieces, especially:Annie, Ben, Carmen, Cindy, Connor, Giles, Howard and the Kitchen Staff, Jeniel, Kari (and family), Karlyn (and family), Kevin, Krissy, Krystal, Kurt, Launa, Leo, Mary M., Mary T., Micum, Ned, Robert, Robyn, Royce, Taylor, Tim, Twigg, William, and everyone else who helped make it the most successful holiday grocery pack yet!

Open 8am-8pm daily623 Stone Cutters Way, Montpelier, VT

802.223.8000 www.hungermountain.coop

This year, Hunger Mountain Coop packed $45,000 in food donations for over 1,000 Vermonters!

Holiday Grocery Pack~ THANK YOU ~

to everyone who made it possible!


Jan. 9Encounter with Japan: An Adventure in Love. Reading and book signing with Susan Katz Saitoh. 6:30 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St, Montpelier. 223-3338. kellogghubbard.org.ecumenical Group. Songs of praise, Bible teaching, fellowship. Second and fourth Thurs., 7–9 p.m. Jabbok Center for Christian Living, 8 Daniel Dr., Barre. Free. 479-0302.

Jan. 9–12spice on snow festival. Workshops, concerts, cooking classes, dances and more. Festival takes place in various locations in downtown Mont-pelier, including Bethany Church, Three Penny Taproom, NECI and City Hall. 917-1186. [email protected]. Tickets: summit-school.org.

Jan. 10herbs for healing. A presentation by Sandra Lory, renowned folk herbalist and food justice educator. 2 p.m. Milne Room, Aldrich Public Library, Barre. Free. 476-7550. [email protected]. aldrichpubliclibrary.orglGbtqq youth Group. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning youth age 13–22 enjoy free pizza, soft drinks and conversa-tion. Facilitated by adult volunteers trained by Outright VT. Second and fourth Fri., 6:30–8 p.m. Unitarian Church, 130 Main St., Montpe-lier. Free. outrightvt.org.

Jan. 11cross-country ski, stowe. With the Green Mountain Club. All abilities. Various distances. Trapp Family Lodge. Trail fee. Contact Mary Garcia at 622-0585 or Mary Smith at 505-0603 for meeting time and place.

open house at Geezum crow yoga. Free one-hour yoga classes throughout the day. 8 a.m.–5 p.m. 37 Elm St., Montpelier. 229-9922. geezumcrowyoga.com. memory café launch. The first cafe will include participant introductions, performance by singer/guitarist Eric Friedman and volunteer-led conversations in small groups. Refreshments served. 10 a.m.–noon. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre St. 223-2518.capital city indoor farmers market. Fresh produce, cheeses, meats, other local foods and crafts from 35 vendors; music by Patti Casey; cooking demo of healthy winter soups by Marie Frohlich. 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Vermont College of Fine Arts gym, Montpelier. 223-2958. [email protected]. montpelierfarmersmarket.com.movies for everyone series. Charlie Chaplin’s tramp goes prospecting in Alaska (in winter), eats his boot, is mistaken for a chicken, and performs a dance with dinner rolls. Second Sat., 11 a.m. Jaquith Public Library, Old Schoolhouse

Common, 122 School St., Marshfield. 426-3581. [email protected]. film: Renoir. In French, with subtitles. 6:30 p.m. Presented by MSAC and Dharma Film Se-ries. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre St. Suggested donation: $3. 224-1001.

Jan. 12snowshoe, east montpelier. With the Young Adventurers Club of the Green Mountain Club. Easy. 1–2 miles. Contact leader Lexi Shear at 229-9810 for meeting time and place. shape note/sacred harp sing. No experience needed. All welcome. Second Sun., 5–7 p.m. Plainfield Community Center (above the co-op). By donation. 595 9951 or [email protected].

Jan. 13Winter book sale. Thousands of books; also CDs, DVDs and more. Hard covers $2; soft covers $1. Sale by donation begins on Jan. 13. Through Jan. 18. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier. 223-3338. kellogghub-bard.org.kids sing-a-long. Music with Lesley Grant, local musician and educator. Age 18 months–4 years. 10 a.m. Waterbury Public Library. Free. 244-7036.mindfulness practice and psychotherapy. With Robert Kest, Ph.D. A talk exploring the in-tegration of meditation and psychotherapy. 6–7:30 p.m. Free. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier. 229-6989. [email protected].

Jan. 14cross-country ski, east montpelier. With the Green Mountain Club. All abilities. Various dis-tances. Trail fee. Meet at Morse Farm Ski Tour-ing Center Contact leaders Reidun and Andrew Nuquist at 223-3550 for meeting time.library book delivery service. Rachael Grossman talks about the new book delivery service, to be available on first and third Tues. 1 p.m. See sign-up sheet near office for more info. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre St. 223-2518.

DanCEjan. 18: faculty and student Works in progress. Enjoy a variety of impressive and delightful works in progress. 40th Anniversary Celebration Event. 7 p.m. Contemporary Dance and Fitness Studio, 18 Langdon St., Montpe-lier. $10 suggested donation. 229-4676. [email protected]. cdandfs.com.

THEaTER, STORYTELLInG & COMEDYjan. 10: laugh local vt open mic comedy night. Montpelier’s monthly comedy open mic, open to the general public. If you are a comic and want mic time, this is the place. Please support local comedy by performing or watch-ing. Sign up 7:30 p.m.; show 8 p.m. American Legion Post 3, 21 Main St., Montpelier. Free, but dough nation$ welcome. 793-3884.jan. 17: stroke yer joke! Comedy open mic. Comics get five minutes each, with a cap at 15 comics. Hosted by Sean Hunter Williams. Sign up 7:30 p.m.; show 8 p.m. Cafe Espresso Bueno, 248 N. Main St., Barre. [email protected]. espressobueno.com.

jan. 18: the joanna landfill comedy act. Comic Joanne Hardy performs. 7:30–8:30 p.m. North Branch Café. 41 State St., Montpelier. Free. 552-8105.jan. 24: bueno comedy showcase! Five com-ics do their best material: Kathleen Kanz, Joel Chaves, Kevin Byer, Will Betts and Carmen Lagala. Hosted by Sean Hunter Williams. 8 p.m. Cafe Espresso Bueno, 248 N. Main St., Barre. [email protected]. espres-sobueno.com.

jan. 24: the tell-off. Frostival presents the third annual storytelling tournament of champi-ons. Winners from season three of Extempo tell original, first-person, true stories live onstage without notes. Audience voting and cash prizes. 8 p.m. American Legion Post 3, 21 Main St., Montpelier. Free. 223-9604. [email protected]. extempovt.com.

Chris Riddell performs at Extempo. Photo courtesy of extempovt.com and Curtis B Johnson Photo.

performing arts

Pianist Simone Dinnerstein performs at Chandler Music Hall Saturday,

January 18 at 7:30 pm. Photo courtesy of Chandler Music Hall.


medicare and you. Free workshops for those new to Medicare. Second and fourth Tues., 3–4:30 p.m. Central Vermont Council on Aging, 59 N. Main St., Suite 200, Barre. Free. Registration: 479-0531.

Jan. 14–15visiting Writers readings and book signings. Visiting writers in Vermont College of Fine Arts’ MFA in writing for children and young adults give public readings and book signings. Read-ings: Jan. 13 and 14, 7:30 p.m. Book signings: Jan. 14, 8:30 p.m. Vermont College of Fine Arts, 30 College St., Montpelier. Free. vcfa.edu/wcya/visiting-writers.

Jan. 15navigating the new vermont health care exchange. Learn about Vermont Health Care Connect with Peter Sterling, executive director of the Vermont Campaign for Health Care Security. 2–5 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St, Montpelier. 223-3338. kellogghubbard.org.achieving health Goals. With Alicia Feltus, clinical nutritionist and whole health educator . Learn about the power of food to manage your health: lose weight, increase energy, improve sleep and lower blood pressure and cholesterol. 6–7 p.m. Free. Hunger Mountain Coop com-munity room, Stone Cutters Way, Montpelier. Preregister: 223-8000 x202 or [email protected].

man-to-man prostate cancer support Group. Third Wed., 6–8 p.m. Conference room 2, Central Vermont Medical Center. 872-6308 or 866-466-0626 (press 3).keeping the books and tax planning for small businesses. Denice Brown, of Abacus Book-keeping and Tax Service, explains the tax law, what to keep track of and how to keep track of it. A Business Building Blocks Workshop. 6–8:30 p.m. Capstone Community Action’s Conference Room, 20 Gable Pl., Barre. Registra-tion: 477-5214 or [email protected] circle: community sing-a-long. With Rich and Laura Atkinson. Song books provided. Third Thurs., 6:45 p.m. Jaquith Public Library, Old Schoolhouse Common, 122 School St., Marshfield. 426-3581. [email protected]. marshfield.lib.vt.us.community cinema: Las Marthas. Panel dis-cussion follows screening. 7 p.m. Cosponsored by Vermont Public Television and Independent Lens. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier. 223-3338. kellogghubbard.org.historic buildings, new accessibility rules and codes training day. Seminar clarifies Ver-mont’s building codes with three experts from ADA-New England, the preservation communi-ty and the Division of Fire Safety. Presentations and discussions focus on case studies suggested by participants. 7:30 a.m.–3 p.m. Vermont Technical College, Old Schoolhouse, Randolph. $60, includes full day of training, continental breakfast, lunch. Registration: buildsafevt.org.

Jan. 16talk on the civilian conservation corps. The CCC, a public work relief program, created roads, stone buildings and campsites nationwide. Third Thursday lunch series. Noon–1 p.m. Ver-mont History Museum, 109 State St., Montpe-lier. Free. 828-2180. [email protected]. vermonthistory.org/calendar.brain injury support Group. Open to all survivors, caregivers and adult family members. Evening group facilitated by Marsha Bancroft; day group facilitated by Kathy Grange and Jane Hulstrunk. First and third Thurs., 1:30–2:30 p.m. Unitarian Church, 130 Main St., Montpe-lier. 244-6850.diabetes discussion Group. Focus on self-management. Open to anyone with diabetes and their families. Third Thurs., 1:30 p.m. The Health Center, Plainfield. Free. Don 322-6600 or [email protected]. survivors of suicide loss support. Monthly group for people affected by a suicide death. Third Thurs., 6–7:30 p.m. Central Vermont Medical Center, conference rm. 1, Fisher Rd., Berlin. 223-0924. [email protected] raising their children’s children. Third Thurs., 6–8 p.m. Child care provided. Trinity United Methodist Church, 137 Main St., Montpelier. 476-1480.film presentation: The Hungry Heart. Documentary film by Bess O’Brien about the impact of drug abuse and addiction on young

people and their families and communities. Age 12 and up. Presented by MSMS Parents Group. 6:30–8:30 p.m. Main Street Middle School, Montpelier. Free. 225-8192. [email protected]’ meeting. Meeting of the North-ern VT/NH chapter of the Nashville Songwriters Association International. Bring copies of your work. Third Thurs., 6:45 p.m. Catamount Arts, St. Johnsbury. John, 633-2204.library film series: Writing and reading. An East German Stasi agent sets up surveil-lance of a writer and starts reading the books he hears about. 7 p.m. Jaquith Public Library, Old Schoolhouse Common, 122 School St., Marshfield. 426-3581. [email protected].

Jan. 17Walking the camino: no experience re-quired. Kathy and Jerry Kilcourse share their experience walking the 475-mile Camino de Santiago de Compostela trail in the French and Spanish Pyrenees. 7 p.m. Green Mountain Club Visitor Center, 4711 Waterbury-Stowe Rd., Waterbury Center. 244-7037. cvcoa provides medicare assistance. Sarah Willhoit from Central Vermont Council on Aging assists people with their Medicare Part D Plans. 9 a.m. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre St. Call to schedule a half-hour appointment: 479-4400.

MusicVEnUESbagitos. 28 Main St., Montpelier. Free. 229-9212. bagitos.com.

Jan. 9: Andy Pitt and friends (roots/blues/Americana) 6–8 p.m.Jan. 10: Jim Thompson (piano and song) 6–8 p.m.Jan. 11: Good Old Wagon with Andy Pitt and Mark Greenberg (blues/ragtime/roots) 11 a.m.–1 p.m.; Irish session with Sarah Blair, Hilari Farrington Koehler, Benedict Koehler, Ka-trina VanTyne and others, 2 –5 p.m.; Art Herttua and Stephen Morabito (jazz duo) 6–8 p.m.Jan. 12: Dave Moore (Irish and American folk songs) 11 a.m.–1 p.m.Jan. 14: Open mic, 6–8 p.m. Jan. 15: Papa GreyBeard (blues) 6–8 p.m.: Keith Williams (blues/roots) Jan. 17: Jeff Lathrop (indie folk/rock) 6–8 p.m.Jan. 18: Peter Farber (jazz sax) 11 a.m.–1 p.m.; Irish session with Sarah Blair, Hilari Farrington Koehler, Benedict Koehler, Katrina VanTyne and others, 2 –5 p.m.; The Wall Stiles (indie rock/folk) 6–8 p.m.Jan. 19: Eric Friedman (folk ballads) 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Jan. 21: Old-time music session, 6–8 p.m.Jan. 22: The Peoples’ Café: music, poetry and comedy sponsored by the Occupy Central Ver-mont group, 6–8 p.m. Jan. 23: Montpelier High School jazz band, 6–8 p.m.Jan. 24: Jim Thompson (piano and song) 6–8 p.m. Jan. 25: Irish session with Sarah Blair, Hilari Farrington Koehler, Benedict Koehler, Katrina VanTyne and others, 2 –5 p.m.; Waves of Adrenaline with Alana Shaw and Bridget Ahrens (contemporary folk) 6–8 p.m.Jan. 26: Dan Kennedy (New Age piano) 11 a.m.–1 p.m.

chandler music hall. 71–73 Main St., Ran-dolph. All shows 7:30 p.m. Tickets: 802-728-6464 or chandler-arts.org.

Jan. 17: April Verch Band. Canada’s Ottawa Valley meets old-time Appalachia with crack fiddling, step dancing and great vocals. $27 adults advance; $30 day of show; $20 students. Jan. 18: Simone Dinnerstein. Pianist. $35 adults advance; $40 day of show; $10 students.Jan. 25: Tim Erikson and the Trio de Pump-kintown. Love songs of the sea, fiddle tunes,

ballads, shape-note and Afro/Celtic gospel. $16 advance; $19 day of show.

charlie-o’s. 70 Main St., Montpelier. Free. 223-6820.

Jan. 9: Hayley Jean and the Primates (Ameri-cana).Jan. 10: Lucky Jukebox Brigade (gypsy swing).Jan. 11: Dance party.Jan. 16: DJ Crucible (metal).Jan. 17: Boomslang, No Humans Allowed, Aztecs (hip-hop).Jan. 18: Dance party.Jan. 24: Township (rock).Jan. 25: Dance party.Jan. 31: Starline Rhythm Boys (rockabilly).

north branch café. 41 State St., Montpelier. Free. 552-8105.

Jan. 9: Dave Loughran (classic soft rock cov-ers) 7–8:30 p.m. Jan. 10: Simon DeVoil, singer-songwriter (contemporary folk songs) 7:30–9 p.m. Jan. 11: Paul Marangelo, singer-songwriter (traditional Celtic and original songs) 6:30–8:30 p.m. Jan. 16: James Secor on the kora, a traditional Senegalese instrument. 7:30–9:30 p.m.

positive pie. 22 State St., Montpelier. 10:30 p.m. Free unless otherwise noted. 229-0453. positivepie.com.

Jan. 10: Josh Panda and the Hot Damned.Jan. 18: Rustic Overtones (funk/rock).

skinny pancake. 89 Main St., Montpelier. Free unless otherwise noted. 262-2253. skinnypan-cake.com.

Jan. 9: Richie Stearns and Rosie Newton (old time) 8 p.m.Jan. 11: Cajun dance party, 9 p.m.Jan. 12: Big Hat No Cattle (western swing) 6 p.m.Jan. 15: Jay Ekis and guests, 6 p.m.Jan. 19: Karen Krajacic (folk) 6 p.m.Jan. 21: Sheesham and Lotus and Son (au-thentic old time) 8 p.m., cover $10.

sweet melissa’s. 4 Langdon St., Montpelier. Free unless otherwise noted. 225-6012. face-book.com/sweetmelissasvt.

Jan. 9: Andy Lugo, 8 p.m.Jan. 10: Brett Lanier, Bob Wagner and D. Davis, 9 p.m.; Honky Tonk Happy Hour with Mark LeGrand, 5 p.m.Jan. 11: Red Hot Juba, 9 p.m.; Blue Fox, 5 p.m.Jan. 14: Open mic, 7 p.m.; Andy Plante, 5 p.m.Jan. 15: Open bluegrass jam, 7 p.m.Jan. 16: The Hubcats, 8 p.m.Jan. 17: Blue Fox and the Rockin’ Daddys, 9 p.m.; Honky Tonk Happy Hour with Mark LeGrand, 5 p.m.

Jan. 18: The Aerolites, 9 p.m.; Andy Pitt, 5 p.m.Jan. 21: Open mic, 7 p.m., Dan Stein, 5 p.m.Jan. 22: Carrie Cook, Peter Lind and D. Da-vis, 7 p.m.; wine down with D. Davis, 5 p.m.Jan. 23: Zach Nugent, 8 p.m.Jan. 24: Mark Struhsacker (bluegrass guitar) 9 p.m.; Honky Tonk Happy Hour with Mark LeGrand, 5 p.m.Jan. 25: Joe Moore Blues Band, 9:30 p.m.; Bob and the Troubadours (folk/gospel/blues) 7–9 p.m.; Blue Fox, 5 p.m.Jan. 28: Open mic, 7 p.m.; Michael T. Jer-myn, 5 p.m.Jan. 29: Big John, 7 p.m.Jan. 30: John Daly Trio, 8 p.m.Jan. 31: Hillside Rounders, 9 p.m.; Honky Tonk Happy Hour with Mark LeGrand, 5 p.m)

Whammy bar. Maple Corner Store, 31 W. County Rd., Calais. Wed.–Sat., 7:30 p.m. Free. 229-4329. whammybar1.com.

Jan. 9: Lizzy Mandell with Christine Mal-colm and Mary Collins.Jan. 10: Celtic sessions.Jan. 11: Audrey Bernstein and Joe Capps (jazz).Jan. 15: Open mic.Jan. 16: Poetry slam hosted by Geof Hewitt.Jan. 17: Granite Junction.Jan. 18: The Aristocratic Peasants with Mi-chael Jermyn.Jan. 22: Open mic.Jan. 24: Jeremy Sicily.Jan. 25: Borealis Guitar Duo.Jan. 29: Open mic.Jan. 30: Miriam Bernardo and Seth Eames.

aRTISTS & SpECIaL EVEnTSjan. 11: northeast heritage music camp midwinter Gathering. Featuring the stel-lar NHMC faculty with potluck and contra dance. Concert 4 p.m.; dance 7 p.m. Capital City Grange, Rte. 12, Montpelier. $15. 229-1403. [email protected]. northeastheritage-musiccamp.com.jan. 11: two shoes off. Folk trio featuring Susannah Blachly, George White and Carter Stowell. 7 p.m. Optional potluck at 5:30 p.m. Adamant Community Club, 1161 Martin Rd., Adamant. $10 advance at Adamant Co-op; $15 door. jan. 12: rural refrains. Featuring soprano Hyunah Yu, clarinetist Daniel Gilbert, pianist Jeewon Park, flutist Karen Kevra and Joy Worland on horn. Playing works by Schubert, Libby Larsen, Roussel, Berlioz and Alec Wilder. Presented by Capital City Concerts. 3:30 p.m. Unitarian Church, Main St., Montpelier. $10–$25. Tickets: capitalcityconcerts.org or at Bear Pond Books, Montpelier.jan. 15: 40th army band. Featuring the musi-cal performance teams The Liberty Belles, a woodwind quintet, Ruck and Load, a big-band-style ensemble, and The Power of 10, a power rock-show band. 7:30 p.m. House of Represen-tatives, Vermont State House, Montpelier. Free. 338-3480.

April Verch Band. Performing at the Chandler Music Hall, Randolph, on January 17. Photo courtesy of Chandler Music Hall.


submit your Event!Send listings to [email protected].

navigating the new vermont health care exchange. Learn about Vermont Health Care Connect with Peter Sterling, executive direc-tor of the Vermont Campaign for Health Care Security. 2–5:30 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St, Montpelier. 223-3338. kellogghubbard.org.

Jan. 18lake champlain birding. Explore the wetlands, fields and water bodies of the Champlain Valley for waterfowl and winter birds. 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. $20 members; $25 nonmembers. North Branch Nature Center, 713 Elm St., Montpelier. 229-6206. [email protected] recyclables collection center Grand reopening. Celebrate ARCC’s new location and hours with a tour, ribbon-cutting ceremony, truck demos, refreshments and more. 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Ribbon cutting at 11 a.m. (ARCC to be open every third Sat., 9 a.m.–1 p.m.) 540 N. Main St. (old Times-Argus building), Barre. 229-9383 x106. [email protected]. cvswmd.org.boys and books. Duncan McDougall, execu-tive director of Children’s Literacy Foundation, and Dan Greene, U-32 High School librarian, discuss how to motivate boys to read. 11 a.m. Children’s Room, Bear Pond Books, 77 Main St., Montpelier. 229-0774.

Jan. 19seed-saving Workshop. With Anne Miller. What you need to know about seed saving before ordering your vegetable gardening seeds. 1:30 p.m. Jaquith Public Library, Old Schoolhouse Common, 122 School St., Marshfield. 426-3581. [email protected]. families of color. Open to all. Play, eat and discuss issues of adoption, race and multicultur-alism. Bring snacks and games to share; dress for the weather. Third Sun., 3–5 p.m. Unitarian Church, 130 Main St., Montpelier. Alyson 439-6096 or [email protected].

Jan. 20the problem of slavery in early vermont. Vermonters have always been proud that their state was the first to outlaw slavery in its consti-tution—but is that what really happened?

Professor Harvey Amani Whitfield of the University of Vermont presents the true history of slavery in Vermont. Noon–1 p.m. Vermont History Museum, 109 State St., Montpelier. Free. 828-2180. [email protected]. vermonthistory.org/calendar.onion river exchange and community potluck. Learn about time banking; meet other members; set up exchanges. 5:30 p.m. 46 Barre St., 2F, Montpelier. 552.3040. [email protected]. plainfield book club. Third Mon., 7–8:30 p.m. Cutler Memorial Library, 151 High St. (Rte. 2), Plainfield. Free. 454-8504 or cutlerlibrary.org.

Jan. 21home share now. Joel Rhodes, program and outreach assistant with Home Share Now and VHCB AmeriCorps member, discusses the Home Share program and answers questions. 10:30 a.m.–noon. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre St. 223-2518. navigating the new vermont health care exchange. Learn about Vermont Health Care Connect with Peter Sterling, executive direc-tor of the Vermont Campaign for Health Care Security. 2–5:30 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St, Montpelier. 223-3338. kellogghubbard.org.boreas borealis: Who/What is north? Introduction to a new series sponsored by the Center for Circumpolar Studies. 5:30–7:30 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Mont-pelier. 223-3338. kellogghubbard.org.Walk the camino. The camino is an ancient pilgrimage trail that starts in France, stretches across northern Spain and ends in Santiago de Compostela. Barbara and Whit Dall walked it in April 2013 and share their experiences and a slide show. 6:30 p.m. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre St. 223-2518.Washington county stamp club meeting. 7 p.m. New meeting place: Montpelier Senior Ac-tivity Center, 58 Barre St., Montpelier. Free and open to the public. 223-2953. edsbobnan9 @myfairpoint.net.

Jan. 22transforming the judgmental mind. Join informative evening talk with Ven. Amy Miller,

director of Milarepa Center, Barnet, and learn tools to transform reactive patterns into compas-sionate wisdom. 6–8 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier. 223-3338. kellogghubbard.org.

Jan. 23navigating the new vermont health care exchange. Learn about Vermont Health Care Connect with Peter Sterling, executive director of the Vermont Campaign for Health Care Security. 2–5 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St, Montpelier. 223-3338. kellogghubbard.org.memories of montpelier with William doyle. Twelve senior Montpelier residents share their stories as kids during the days of trolley cars and ice delivery wagons. 6:30–7:30 p.m. Cosponsored by the Montpelier Historical Society. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier. 223-3338. kellogghubbard.org.ecumenical Group. Songs of praise, Bible teaching, fellowship. Second and fourth Thurs., 7–9 p.m. Jabbok Center for Christian Living, 8 Daniel Dr., Barre. Free. 479-0302.Green mountain dog club monthly meeting. Learn about the club and events. All dog lovers welcome. Fourth Thurs., 7:30 p.m. Commodore’s Inn, Stowe. 479-9843 or greenmountaindogclub.org.

Jan. 24lGbtqq youth Group. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning youth age 13–22 enjoy free pizza, soft drinks and conversation. Facilitated by adult volunteers trained by Outright VT. Second and fourth Fri., 6:30–8 p.m. Unitarian Church, 130 Main St., Montpelier. Free. outrightvt.org.dark times for bats. Wildlife biologist Mollie Matteson, from the Center for Biological Diversity, talks about why bats are important and the multiple threats to bat survival, includ-ing disease, pesticides, climate change and large-scale wind energy. 7 p.m. Unitarian Church, 130 Main St. Montpelier. $5 suggested donation.Great Green mountain bob dylan Wannabe contest. 7–9 p.m. Montpelier High School. To compete in the Bob Dylan contest, e-mail [email protected]. Suggested dona-tion: $10 to benefit Vermontivate, a com-

munity sustainability game. facebook.com/events/1412552488979105/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming. vermontivate.com.

Jan. 24–25superbowl of birding xi. Winter’s premier birding competition is back. In the past five years, NBNC’s youth and young adult teams have tallied 92 species. North Branch Nature Center, 713 Elm St., Montpelier. 229-6206. [email protected].

Jan. 25snowshoe, Groton. With the Green Mountain Club. Moderate. About 5 miles. Snowshoe to Peacham Bog and return. Contact leader Steve Lightholder at 479-2304 for meeting time and place.mammoth book sale. Thousands of books on every subject, priced $2 and under. All proceeds benefit the library. 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Jaquith Public Library, Old Schoolhouse Common, School St., Marshfield. 454-7767.everybody Wins! vermont ninth annual read-a-thon. Free, family-friendly event celebrating literacy and mentoring. Attendees read books aloud, in pairs and small groups, to break last year’s record of books read in an hour. Marko the Magician, snacks, prizes and free books for kids.1–3:30 p.m. National Life Building, 1 National Life Dr., Montpelier. Free. 229-2665. [email protected].

Jan. 26ski for heat central vermont. Cross-country ski and snowshoe fundraiser for heating fuel as-sistance. 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Morse Farm Ski Touring Center, 1168 County Rd., Montpelier. 793-7674.ice on fire. Outdoor winter festival. Parade, storytelling, winter games, theater and more. 2–5 p.m. North Branch Nature Center, 713 Elm St., Montpelier. Suggested donation: $3 adult; $1 child; $5 family. 229-6206. [email protected].

continued from page 25

visual arts through jan. 10: janet fredericks, quiet observations: anthills, insects & Water. Drawings and paintings about the seen and un-seen life of the natural world. Central Vermont Medical Center Lobby Gallery, 130 Fisher Rd., Berlin. 371-4100.through jan. 21: janice Walrafen, Grief and praise. Eight clay decorative masks reflecting a seven-day walk-about fast. Contemporary Dance and Fitness Studio, 18 Langdon St., 3F, Montpelier. 228-4676. cdandfs.cm.through jan. 31: art resource association members Group show. ARA members exhibit work. City Center, Montpelier.through jan. 31: buddhist thangkas. Hand-painted Buddhist thangkas by artists from Nepal and India; fundraiser for Child Haven International, a nonprofit organization that op-erates homes for children in India, Nepal, China and Bangladesh. Tulsi Tea Room, 34 Elm St., Montpelier. 223-0043.through jan. 31: kim Ward and terri kneen, shared landscape. Multimedia works by Ward and photography by Kneen. Green Bean Visual Art Gallery, Capitol Grounds, Montpelier. [email protected] mar. 9: kelly holt, Where. Mixed-media paintings. Reception Jan. 9, 5–7 p.m. Common Space Gallery, River Arts Center, 74 Pleasant St., Morrisville. 888-1261. riverartsvt.org. Hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

through mar. 9: evie lovett and Greg shar-row, backstage at the rainbow cattle co: the drag queens of dummerston, vermont. Photographs by Lovett and audio interviews by Sharrow. Two-year project documenting the Rainbow Cattle Co., a gay bar in Dummer-ston. Reception Jan. 9, 5–7 p.m. Artist talk at 6 p.m. Gallery at River Arts, 2F, River Arts Center, 74 Pleasant St., Morrisville. 888-1261. riverartsvt.org. Hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.through mar. 9: making an impression. The work of 18 Vermont printmakers. Reception Jan. 18, 4–6 p.m. Chandler Gallery, 71–73 Main St., Randolph. [email protected] mar. 28: regis cummings, faces & places on a journey. Reception Jan. 22, 3–5 p.m. A photo ID is required for admission. The Governor’s Gallery, 109 State St., 5F, Montpe-lier. 828-0749. Hours: Mon.–Fri., 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. through mar. 28: ken leslie. Vermont Supreme Court, 111 State St., 1F, Montpelier. Hours: Mon.–Fri., 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. through may: round. An exhibition of objects of circular shape, from the Sullivan Museum collection. Sullivan Museum and History Center, Norwich University, 158 Harmon Dr., Northfield. 485-2183. Norwich.edu/museum.through dec. 19, 2014: 1864: some suf-fer so much. Stories of Norwich alumni who served as military surgeons during the Civil War and traces the history of posttraumatic stress disorder. Sullivan Museum and History Center, Norwich University, 158 Harmon Dr., North-field. 485-2183. Norwich.edu/museum.

SpECIaL EVEnTSjan. 14: teen art studio. Twice monthly ses-sion where teens make art, chat with profession-al artists. With graphic designer Sally Stetson. Age 11–18. This is a 6:30–8:30 p.m. Helen Day Art Center, 90 Pond St., Stowe. Free. Registra-tion required: 253-8358 or [email protected]. helenday.com.

jan. 25: oil pastel Workshop with carol boucher. One-session workshop. Participants create their own surfaces to work on using photos from home or memory for inspira-tion. 10 a.m.–2 p.m. River Arts Center, 74 Pleasant St., Morrisville. Registration required: 888-1261. riverartsvt.org.

Dancing Barefoot by Kelly Holt. Mixed-media painting on exhibit at Common Space Gallery, River Arts Center, Morrisville.


Weekly EventsaRT & CRafTbeaders’ Group. All levels of beading experi-ence welcome. Free instruction available. Come with a project for creativity and community. Sat., 11 a.m.–2 p.m. The Bead Hive, Plainfield. 454-1615.noontime knitters. All abilities welcome. Ba-sics taught. Crocheting, needlepoint and tatting also welcome. Tues., noon–1 p.m. Waterbury Public Library, 28 N. Main St., Waterbury. 244-7036.life drawing sessions. Usually brief, dynamic poses. Wed., 7–9 p.m. Storefront Studio/Gal-lery, 6 Barre St., Montpelier. $15 suggested donation. 839-5349. [email protected].

BICYCLInGopen shop nights. Volunteer-run community bike shop: bike donations and repairs. Tues., 6–8 p.m.; other nights. Freeride Montpelier, 89 Barre St., Montpelier. By donation. 552-3521. freeridemontpelier.org.

BOOkS & WORDSlunch in a foreign language. Bring lunch and practice your language skills with neighbors. Noon–1 p.m. Mon. Hebrew, Tues. Italian, Wed. Spanish, Thurs. French. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier. 223-3338.conversations with the Word Weaver. Ex-amine the roots and definitions of words we use in daily conversation. Tues., 1:30 p.m. Starting Jan. 14. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St. 223-3338. kellogghubbard.org.english conversation practice Group. For students learning English for the first time. Tues., 4–5 p.m. Central Vermont Adult Basic Education, Montpelier Learning Center, 100 State St. 223-3403.ongoing reading Group. Improve your read-ing and share some good books. Books chosen by group. Thurs., 9–10 a.m. Central Vermont Adult Basic Education, Montpelier Learning Center, 100 State St. 223-3403.

BUSInESS & fInanCE, COMpUTERSpersonal financial management Workshops. Learn about credit/debit cards, credit building and repair, budgeting and identity theft, insur-ance, investing, retirement. Tues., 6–8 p.m. Central Vermont Medical Center, Conference Room 3. Registration: 371-4191. computer and online help. One-on-one computer help. Tues. and Fri., 10 a.m.–1 p.m. Waterbury Public Library, 28 N. Main St., Wa-terbury. Free. Registration required: 244-7036.

fOOD community meals in montpelier. All welcome. Free.

Mon.: Unitarian Church, 130 Main St., 11 a.m.–1 p.m.Tues.: Bethany Church, 115 Main St., 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.Wed.: Christ Church, 64 State St., 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m.Thurs.: Trinity Church, 137 Main St., 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.Fri.: St. Augustine Church, 18 Barre St., 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m.Sun.: Last Sunday only, Bethany Church, 115 Main St. (hosted by Beth Jacob Synagogue),

4:30–5:30 p.m.

HEaLTH & WELLnESSsocial anxiety support Group. Meet other people with similar experiences and learn techniques to reduce anxiety. Supportive and confidential. New group to meet weekly; time and place to be determined. Contact Danielle at [email protected] for more information.turning point center. Safe, supportive place for individuals and their families in or seeking recovery. Open daily, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. 489 North Main St., Barre. 479-7373.

Sun.: Alchoholics Anonymous. 8:30 a.m.Tues.: Making Recovery Easier workshops. 6–7:30 p.m.Wed.: Wit’s End Parent Support Group. 6 p.m.Thurs.: Narcotics Anonymous. 6:30 p.m.

sex addicts anonymous. Mon., 6:30 p.m. Bethany Church, 115 Main St., Montpelier. Call 552-3483 for more information or to leave a confidential message.diabetes prevention series. Reduce your risk for type 2 diabetes and gain tools for healthy living. Learn how the YMCA’s Diabetes Preven-tion Program can help you reach healthy living goals. Tues., beginning Jan. 21. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre St. 225-5680. [email protected] anonymous. Tues., 5:30–6:30 p.m. Church of the Good Shepherd, Barre. 249-0414.hiv testing. Vermont CARES offers fast oral testing. Thurs., 2–5 p.m. 58 East State St., suite 3 (entrance at back), Montpelier. Free. 371-6222. vtcares.org.overeaters anonymous. Twelve-step program for physically, emotionally and spiritually over-coming overeating. Fri., noon–1 p.m. Bethany Church, 115 Main St., Montpelier. 223-3079.

kIDS & TEEnSmad river valley youth Group. Sun., 7–9 p.m. Meets at various area churches. Call 497-4516 for location and information.sit n knit. For first-timers or superstar knitters alike. Bring a project you are working on or start one with Joan Kahn. Age 6 and up; under 9 accompanied by adult. Mon., 3:30–4 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Mont-pelier. 223-4665. kellogghubbard.org.the basement teen center. Cable TV, Play-Station 3, pool table, free eats and fun events for teenagers. Mon.–Thurs., 3–6 p.m.; Fri., 3–11 p.m. Basement Teen Center, 39 Main St., Mont-pelier. 229-9151.story time at the Waterbury public library. Baby/toddler story time: Mon., 10 a.m. Preschool story time: Fri., 10 a.m. Waterbury Public Library, 28 N. Main St., Waterbury. 244-7036. waterburypubliclibrary.com.story time at the kellogg-hubbard library. Stories, songs and special guests. Birth to age 5. Tues. and Fri., 10:30 a.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier. 223-4665. kellogghubbard.org.fiddlefest storytime with katie trautz. Enjoy Katie’s magical melodies woven into your favorite books. Tues., 10:30 a.m. Starting Jan. 21. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier. Children’s department: 223-4665. kellogghubbard.org.story time at the jaquith public library. With Sylvia Smith, followed by play group with Melissa Seifert. Birth to age 6. Wed. 10–11:30 a.m. Jaquith Public Library, 122 School St., Marshfield. 426-3581.story maps. Chart the wilds of your imagina-tion. Age 3–6. Wed., 11 a.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier. Preregistra-tion required: 223-4665. kellogghubbard.org.Games unplugged. Learn a new board game from game master Ben T. Matchstick. Featured games include Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, Dominion, No Thanks, For Sale, Snake Oil, Smallworld. Bring your favorite game or select one from the collection. Age 8–18. Wed., 3–5 p.m. Jan. 22–March 5; no group on Feb. 5. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier. 223-4665. kellogghub-bard.org.

read to coco. Share a story with Coco, the resident licensed reading therapy dog, who loves to hear kids practice reading aloud. Wed., 3:30–4:30 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier. Sign up ahead: 223-4665 or at the children’s desk. kellogghubbard.org. read with arlo. Meet reading therapy dog Arlo and his owner Brenda. Sign up for a 20-min-ute block. Thurs., 3–4 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier. 223-4665. kellogghubbard.org.special story time. Story times with varied themes. Fri., 10:30 a.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier. 223-4665. kellogghubbard.org.drop-in kinder arts program. Innovative exploratory arts program with artist/instructor Kelly Holt. Age 3–5. Fri., 10:30 a.m.–noon. River Arts Center, 74 Pleasant St., Morrisville. 888-1261. RiverArtsVT.org.teen fridays. Find out about the latest teen books, use the gym, make art, play games and if you need to, do your homework. Fri., 3–5 p.m. Jaquith Public Library, 122 School St., Marsh-field. 426-3581.Write on! Are you full of ideas? Looking to spin a story? Willing to play with words? Drop in once or join us for the series. Age 6–10. Fri., 3:30–4 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier. 223-4665. kellogghub-bard.org.

MUSIC & DanCEbarre-tones Women’s chorus. Open re-hearsal. Find your voice with 50 other women. Mon., 7 p.m. Alumni Hall, Barre. 223-2039. BarretonesVT.com. dance or play with the swinging’ over 60 band. Danceable tunes from the 1930s to the 1960s. Recruiting musicians. Tues., 5:30–7:30 p.m., Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre St., Montpelier. 223-2518.monteverdi young singers chorus rehearsal. New chorus members welcome. Wed., 4–5 p.m. Montpelier. Call 229-9000 for location and more information.ukelele Group. All levels welcome. Thurs., 6–8 p.m. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre St. 223-2518.

RECYCLInGfree food scrap collection. Compost your food waste along with your regular trash and recycling. Wed., 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sat. 6 a.m.–1 p.m. DJ’s Convenience Store, 56 River St., Montpelier. cvswmd.org.additional recycling. The Additional Re-cyclables Collection Center accepts scores of hard-to-recycle items. Tues and Thurs., 12:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m. ARCC, 540 North Main St., Barre. $1 per carload. 229-9383 x106. For list of

accepted items, go to cvswmd.org/arcc-addition-al-recyclables-collection-center.html.

SOLIDaRITY/IDEnTITYWomen’s Group. Women age 40 and older explore important issues and challenges in their lives in a warm and supportive environment. Faciliatated by Amy Emler-Shaffer and Julia W. Gresser. Wed. evenings. 41 Elm St., Montpelier. Call Julia, 262-6110, for more information.men’s Group. Men discuss challenges of and insights about being male. Wed., 6:15–8:15 p.m. 174 Elm St., Montpelier. Interview required: contact Neil 223-3753.

SpIRITUaLITYchristian science. God’s love meeting human needs. Reading room: Tues.–Sat., 11 a.m.–1 p.m.; Tues., 5–8 p.m.; Wed., 5–7:15 p.m. Testi-mony meeting: Wed., 7:30–8:30 p.m., nursery available. Worship service: Sun., 10:30–11:30 a.m., Sunday school and nursery available. 145 State St., Montpelier. 223-2477.shambhala buddhist meditation. Group meditation practice. Sun., 10 a.m.–noon; Tues., 7–8 p.m.; Wed., 6–7 p.m. Shambhala Medita-tion Center, 64 Main St., 3F, Montpelier. Free. 223-5137. montpeliershambala.org.deepening our jewish roots. Fun, engaging text study and discussion on Jewish spirituality. Sun., 4:45–6:15 p.m. Yearning for Learning Center, Montpelier. 223-0583. [email protected] meditation Group. People of all faiths welcome. Mon., noon–1 p.m. Christ Church, Montpelier. 223-6043.zen meditation. With Zen Affiliate of Ver-mont. Mon., 6:30–7:30 p.m. 174 River St., Montpelier. Free. Call for orientation: 229-0164. rite of christian initiation of adults. For those interested in learning about the Catholic faith, or current Catholics who want to learn more. Wed., 7 p.m. St. Monica Church, 79 Summer St., Barre. Register: 479-3253.

SpORTS & GaMESapollo duplicate bridge club. All welcome. Partners sometimes available. Fri., 6:45 p.m. Bethany Church, 115 Main St., Montpelier. $3. 485-8990 or 223-3922.roller derby open recruitment and recre-ational practice. Central Vermont’s Wrecking Doll Society invites quad skaters age 18 and up. No experience necessary. Equipment provided: first come, first served. Sat., 5–6:30 p.m. Mont-pelier Recreation Center, Barre St. First skate free. centralvermontrollerderby.com.

Finesse by Terri Kneen. On display at Green Bean Visual Art Gallery, Capitol Grounds, Montpelier.


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

ClassifiedsSERVICESIS YOUR WaRDROBE REaDY fOR WInTER? Something Sew Right can help. Professional clothing alterations and repairs on everything from formal attire to leatherwork since 1986. 250 Main St. suite103 (former n.e.c.i. building, top of the hill) 802-229-2400 10-5 mon-fri, by app. Sat Patty Morse [email protected].

aRTIST, MUSICIan STUDIOS Solo or to share starting at $150 monthly. Larger spaces of vari-ous sizes available full-time or time-shared. Join us as we transform a historic convent and school at 46 Barre Street, Montpelier, into a unique center for the arts, music and learning. Call Paul for a tour at 802-223-2120 or 802-461-6222.

CLaSSES anD WORkSHOpSTaI CHI fOR BEGInnERS Tuesday evenings 7:30 to 9 PM starting January 14th. Enjoy learning these slow, graceful movements of this ancient Chinese practice that are rejuvenating and calming. Taught by Sara Norton. First class is free. In Montpelier at 1 Granite street. Pre-registration is not necessary. For more informa-tion call Sara at 454-8550.

YOUTH pROGRaMS aT HELEn DaY aRT CEnTER. Saturday workshops: Monster Art! Janu-ary 11th and Wintery Mixed Media February 8th. Afterschool classes start January 13th and 14th. Winter Break Camp: Art Sled Design Lab runs February 24th - 28th. Register at www.helenday.com. Member discounts and scholarships avail-able. 90 Pond Street, Stowe. 802-253-8358.

WRITInG COaCH. Struggling with beginning, continuing, finishing? Need tools to start you up and keep you working from concept to comple-tion? Art is long, and life short. WRITE NOW is what we have. Thirty years working in film, TV,

theater and prose, coaching writers in all genres. Free initial consultation. [email protected] 802-225-6415.

WInTER WRITInG WORkSHOpS Introduc-tion to Memoir, Crafting the Story Within: Ten Mondays, January 13 - March 17, 10 a.m.-Noon, $200. Guided Writers’ Group, for experienced writers: Ten Fridays, January 10 - March 14, 10 a.m. - Noon, $200. Classes meet at Christ Church, 64 State Street, Montpelier. Maggie Thompson, MFA, Instructor. To register or for more information, call 454-4635.

WaRM Up YOUR fREnCH! Alliance Fran-caise is offering a 6-week winter term in Mont-pelier starting January 16. Beginning Warm-up French and Advanced Warm-up French levels. Thursdays at 6 p.m. at Pacem Community School. Full descriptions, contact info and sign-up options at aflcr.org/classes. Call Micheline with questions at 802-881-8826.

EMpLOYMEnTJOB OppORTUnITY: SEnIOR SOfTWaRE aRCHITECT/EnGInEER Job location: East Thetford, VT (headquarter) with work-at-home option available for all cities through-out the U.S. Duties: Consult, design & develop software & services for clients seeking to design, implement & maintain healthcare information technology systems & services. Act as subject matter expert on healthcare IT (HIT). Design & implement healthcare data & interoperability standards to enhance & develop data exchange between healthcare organizations including HL7 standards specifications. Resp. for providing HIT subject matter expertise, architecture, design & develop-ment leadership for Health IT systems. Require-ments: Master’s degree in Computer Science or closely related degree plus 3 years of experience in the job offered or in healthcare IT field, or related field. Experience which may have been obtained concurrently must include 3 years of prior experi-ence with healthcare IT systems. Mail Resume to: Ms. Becki Kuhl, Lantana Consulting Group, LLC., 1038 Countess Ln, Spring Hill, TN 37174.

Live life in balance with nature.

Cheryl PetersonHolistic Health Coach

[email protected]

Looking to make extra income working part time from home?

We will be having an informational presentation about our company and how it can change your life.

Taking place January 10th in Montpelier.

Please call 203-314-6935 for time and place.

Rocque Long Painting

• Insured • 30+ years professional

experience• local references.

802-223-0389

Small Town Theater Management & Events Programming Services

Needed$

The Town of Plainfield requests pro-posals from qualified individuals or organizations to manage and coordinate events and activities at the Plainfield Town Hall and Opera House for the Town of Plainfield. For details and cop-ies of the Request for Proposals (RFP) information, contact: Linda Wells, Town Clerk Town of Plainfield 149 Main Street P.O. Box 217 Plainfield, VT 05667 (802) 454-8461 [email protected]

Sealed proposals will be received until 4:00 p.m., January 22nd, 2014, at the above address.

Pre-proposal submission meetings are scheduled for:

10:00 a.m., January 10th, and for 4:00 p.m., January 14th, at the Plainfield Town Hall and Opera House on Route 2 in Plainfield, Vermont.

Contact David Strong, Select Board Chair, at (802) 454-1418, if you are planning to attend.

***Attendance at the pre-proposal meeting is encouraged but not mandatory.

9 Main Street, Montpelier • 229-0747Hours: Mon–Fri 7am–6pm; Sat 9am–1pm

Capital Dry Cleaners

Vermont’s Greener Dry Cleaner

Free pick-up and delivery.Same-day service available.

ARTISANS HANDContemporary Vermont Crafts

89 Main at City Center, Montpelierwww.artisanshand.com

See more images on Facebook

Vermont scenes in prints

Hand colored wood block prints

by Mary AzarianDaryl Storrs - earrings


Annual Campaign

On behalf of all of us here – please accept my thanks for the strong support we have received to date in response to our 2013-2014 annual campaign to benefit The Bridge.

As many of you already know – The Bridge is currently going out to our readers and friends in a fundraising campaign with both near and long-term objectives.

In the near-term we need to close the gap between our advertising sales revenues and what it costs to project the paper. In the long-term, The Bridge is pursuing three major objectives: first, to intensify our work with young people, students and interns; second, to expand our editorial coverage and advertising outreach to neighboring communities; and third, to strengthen the paper’s Internet presence.

To achieve all of these objectives we have set a goal of $50,000 that will go a long way toward getting us where we need to go.

If you can help us financially with a contribution of any size, please do. Please send a check made payable to “The Bridge” and either drop a check off at The Bridge on the lower level of Schulmaier Hall on the campus of the Vermont College of Fine Arts, or send a check to this address: The Bridge, P.O. Box 1143, Montpelier, VT 05601.

Thank you in advance for your needed and timely and generous help and support.

EditorialJust moments before Governor Peter

Shumlin gave his State of the State ad-dress on Tuesday, January 8, we caught

up with Speaker of the House Shap Smith, and asked him to respond to some of the re-marks made in a widely circulated statement by House Minority Leader Don Turner. Below, we have excerpted some of Shap Smith’s responses to the allegations laid out in Turner’s statement. [Turner’s statement is printed on the accompanying page.]

Minority Leader Turner’s various allega-tions are paraphrased in bold.

Turner: The Democratic supermajority and the Shumlin Administration are to blame for the possible $67.3 million bud-get gap for FY2014.

Smith: I would be willing to accept blame if we cannot resolve the gap this year, but I believe that we will do what’s necessary to close the budget gap, and in 2015 we will put forth a balanced budget. I would note that over the last couple of years we have balanced the budget and had a little bit of surplus each year. So I’m not going to apolo-gize for any budgeting that we have done.

Turner: Spending is the issue causing budget deficits in the first place.

Smith: It is. There is a challenge that we face and while our revenues keep growing at a pretty good clip, we definitely have pressures that are real… During the Great Recession when the whole financial world was falling apart and the economy was in free fall, we made a conscious decision that we weren’t going to add to that problem by taking more money out of the system, by cutting money that was assistance to people. And that indeed we would use federal mon-ies that were sent for the purpose of stabiliz-ing the economy, that we would actually use that money for that purpose. And we were priming the pump as it were. And I think that was the right decision to do. And what we’re seeing now is stepping down from the decisions that were made during the middle of that crisis. And I think that it is appropriate now that the economy has got-ten stronger that we bring down the level of spending growth.

Turner: The Democratic House and the Shumlin Administration have run up the budget deficit by over hiring state employ-ees, over spending, and failing to rein in spending on education.

Smith: Well, many of my colleagues in the Republican, Democratic, and Progres-sive, caucus, as well as the Independents, voted for the budget over the last couple of years. So if he [Turner] wants to charge us with that, we can all accept some blame there. I think we have to be judicious in the amount of hiring we do in state gov-ernment, I think we ought to look at each particular recommendation and be careful about whether we want to make that hire and only do it if it is really necessary.

Turner: The Legislature is not orga-nized as well as it could be to deal with the budget and budget requests.

Smith: Well, I know that the chair of the appropriation committee asks each chair of the relevant committee of jurisdiction to re-view the budget requests that come from ad-ministration and make recommendations. That has been true for years…

I would like the committees of jurisdic-tion to do what they have done in the past, which is make recommendations about those budget requests, and if there are areas we can reduce the amount of expenditure, I think that is a good thing.

Turner: The Shumlin Administration and many members of the Democratic su-permajority in the House ran on the plat-form of improving the economy. Where are the big gains and why the continued budget gap?

Smith: I don’t know if you remember Tropical Storm Irene that happened right in the middle of the Governor’s first term? And that certainly impacted some of our finances. We actually put a fair amount of state money into addressing the damage caused by Irene. And we did not raise rev-enue to do that. And so I would say that that is one significant bump in the road. I do believe that the economy has improved since 2010. We do not deficit spend. We balance our budget every year despite the fact that Vermont is the only state in the country that doesn’t have either the Constitutional or a statutory requirement to do so.

We had a significant amount of one-time funds in 2009, 2010, and they ran into 2011, from the era of stimulus money from the President [Obama]. We have been work-ing to step down [our use of those] since that time… My hope is that our reliance on one-time funds can be cut almost in half in this next year’s budget.

by John Hollar

I appreciate The Bridge’s coverage of the Montpelier City Council meetings, but unfortunately an article in your most

recent issue both misquoted and misinter-preted comments I made about Montpelier Alive.

Montpelier Alive plays an essential role in promoting Montpelier and making it a more vibrant place. It has a hardworking board and hundreds of volunteers who pro-duce amazing results, from the July Third festivities to the regular downtown art walk events. Montpelier Alive is a unique source of creativity, organization and financial sup-port for events and activities that make Montpelier a great place to live.

Montpelier Alive (and the Montpelier Business Association [MBA], which is a committee of Montpelier Alive) plays an-other role as the representative of the city’s

business community. At a recent City Council meeting, two business owners said their voices are not being heard by the city. I responded that we need to ensure that we have an organization that represents their interests before the city. That wasn’t meant as a criticism of Montpelier Alive, but sim-ply a statement that the council needs to be able to look to one organization to speak on behalf of the merchants. Montpelier Alive obviously cannot always represent the views of all merchants. However, we need to ensure that business owners have a forum through which they can express concerns or opinions to the city.

I encourage Montpelier merchants to be-come involved with Montpelier Alive and the MBA to ensure that the opinions of the business community are well represented before City Council.

John Hollar is the mayor of Montpelier.

Montpelier Alive Is Essential to Montpelier

by David Abbott

At a time of acceleration in the movement of wealth and income to the wealthiest Americans and a severe reduction in oppor-tunities for upward economic mobility for middle- and working-class families, public school education stands alone as a beacon of hope for a more egalitarian society. Public education is the nation’s most important infrastructure.

Its quality has consequences. America has already fallen behind many other countries as measured by the educational achieve-ment of our young. Failure to address this decline will cause us to become increasingly less competitive in the global marketplace of ideas, science, engineering and technol-ogy and in the creation of good jobs and a strong economy that leadership in these areas creates. From a host of perspectives and at the local, state and national levels, the long-term cost to society of poor public schools is prohibitive.

The citizens of Montpelier have consis-tently demonstrated support of their schools by approving school budgets by overwhelm-ing margins. As the Montpelier School Commission works to develop a budget for the next fiscal year, there are some in the city who are questioning whether Montpe-lier’s school taxes are affordable.

That’s a complex question, one that can be answered only by you for yourself be-cause the answer is dependent upon your financial circumstances, of course, but also, perhaps in equal or greater measure, upon your priorities and values. It is presumptu-ous to attempt, as some have done, to an-swer this question for others. First, we must ask ourselves whether we are receiving good value for our school taxes in Montpelier. The answer involves a calculus of cost and benefit.

US News & World Report has ranked Montpelier High School as the top public high school in the state. It is reasonable to conclude that this ranking reflects posi-tively upon Montpelier’s elementary and middle schools as well, since they prepare students for the city’s high school. In 2013 the cost per pupil in the Montpelier School District put Montpelier in the middle of the pack among school districts across the

state. If Montpelier begins to drift toward the bottom of this pack, we will lose our competitiveness in attracting and retain-ing good teachers—without question the essential element in providing a quality education.

What about the cost of taxes serving as a deterrent to young families moving to Montpelier, a claim we read from time to time in these pages? Let’s focus on those folks because here’s where we appear to have people deciding for other people whether their taxes are affordable. Property values are relatively high in Montpelier in part because of the reputation of our schools. For families of modest financial means, a decision to move here may involve sacrifice, one that they may view as an investment in their children’s future. We keep the faith with those families when we strive to im-prove our schools. We fail those families if we permit our schools to deteriorate. The private school option is likely not an afford-able one for these families.

But are Montpelier’s taxes affordable for these families? With the income sensi-tivity of the Property Tax Adjustment, it would seem so. Consider the following: In 2013 the combined municipal and school tax on a property assessed at $200,000 is $4,975. Because of income sensitivity, the amount the homeowner actually pays with a Property Tax Adjustment would vary. At $30,000 income, the combined real estate tax would be $1,756 ($147 a month). At a $40,000 annual income, the combined tax would be $2,256 ($188 a month). The school tax portion of this combined tax would be slightly more than half of those figures, or roughly the cost of a daily cup of coffee at a favorite coffee shop. Affordable? This is where values and priorities enter the calculation.

Our school commissioners have impor-tant work to do in preparing a budget that will provide a superior education to a growing student population. Let’s sup-port them in that work, demanding wise and effective stewardship of this essential infrastructure. We will all benefit from this strategic investment in the education of Montpelier’s children—our own and those of our neighbors.

Funding the Montpelier Schools Is Crucial


Thanks to the Montpelier Public Works Department

To the Editor:In the late afternoon of January 2, as the

temperature headed below zero, a water pipe burst on Elm Street in Montpelier, flooding the street and causing the city to turn off the water. My apartment, along with many other homes, was affected.

Because the apparent water main break happened right in front of my home, I had a bird’s-eye view of the efforts of the Montpelier Public Works Department, as they jackham-mered their way through the frozen street to find and repair the break. While many of the rest of us were retreating from the frigid tem-peratures, these men were in the full brunt of it, trying to restore water service to this heav-ily populated area. Within 12 hours of losing water service, they had it restored.

My sincere thanks and appreciation to the men on the crew that night. I don’t know your names, but I’m very thankful for what you did, especially under extremely difficult conditions.

Anne E. Buttimer, Montpelier

The ORE Thanks the Vermont Community

To the Editor:The Onion River Exchange (ORE) time

bank thanks the Vermont community for its support of the December Community of Abundance Fund Raiser. The ORE hosted a silent auction, with goods and services donated from our members, and served up a localvore dinner with chefs Susan Reid and Mary Roehm at the Montpelier Senior Activity Center. ORE member Michael Ar-nowitt inspired us with his music. Our intention was to show the abundance of the ORE, raise funds and raise awareness of our time bank. Success all around!

Your support of ORE means the world to so many people in central Vermont. Through ORE exchanges, members can provide help for other members when needed. Some recent exchanges include snow shoveling, pet sitting, respite, one-time cleaning, help with finances and rides to the airport. These simple activi-ties are not always readily available nor finan-cially feasible but contribute to our well-being For many members, the ORE is the only way to live within their means or to enrich their lives by connecting—giving and receiv-ing—with others. Your donations support the ORE, which enables the community to utilize its resources on a personal level.

Heather Kralik, outreach officer for ORE, Montpelier

Rally for Paid Sick DaysTo the Editor:I’m a farmer and builder in Glover, Ver-

mont, writing about the importance of paid sick days. When folks initially explained the

idea to me, it seemed absurd. I’ve worked over 20 jobs and never had paid sick days. Yet I’ve seen firsthand how important paid sick days are to workers.

When I was 19, at my first farm job, I whacked myself in the head pounding tomato stakes. I left work, drove myself to the hospital and got stitches. Because I was afraid to take unpaid time off, I returned to work the next day. The concussion I had re-ceived made it impossible to work. I was not paid during my recovery, and I struggled financially while trying to recover. Last fall I got shingles in my eye but continued to work. I wasn’t able to deal with my health because I was afraid of missing work, and it got bad enough that I became completely unable to work for a few weeks.

I’ve heard many stories of friends losing jobs for taking a day off for their or their children’s health. We need to see health as a collective re-sponsibility so that we can all live better lives. One step in that direction is Vermont passing a paid sick days law in 2014.

Chris Schroth, Glover

Support Shoreland Protection Legislation

To the Editor:Proposed shoreland protection legisla-

tion pushes forward efforts to protect and improve the quality of Vermont lakes and ponds. The legislation would place reason-able regulations on shoreland activity, in-cluding clearing of native trees and bushes and the expansion of impervious surfaces. (Impervious surfaces are artificial structures that are covered by impenetrable materials such as asphalt.) Although shoreland pro-tection isn’t the only pollution and flood control tactic, it will propel

Not only is shoreland protection a crucial pollution and flood mitigation measure, it also greatly impacts fish and wildlife. Clearing vegetation and creating impervi-ous structures on shorelands can disrupt habitats for fish and wildlife, which can make it hard, or nearly impossible, for them to survive. By protecting Vermont’s shore-land, we will also be defending fish and wildlife.

Vermonters have the opportunity to help shape sensible shoreland protection. You can help define the proposed model in leg-islation concerning our beautiful, healthy, thriving lakes and shoreland creatures in Vermont. For more information about the committee, bill and public meeting, you can visit leg2.vermont.gov/sites/legislature/LSP/default.aspx. Don’t just rely on the legisla-ture; speak up!

Maya Facciolo, sophomore at Montpelier High School and intern at Conservation Law

Foundation.

Lettersby Don Turner

At a legislative briefing last month, Speaker Smith and the Shumlin administration attempted to de-

flect responsibility for Vermont’s current financial shortfalls. They sugarcoated the severity of this problem and encouraged members to look at Vermont’s financial outlook through rose-colored glasses. This message came one week after the Speaker, thankfully, announced that he would not support raising any new taxes or expand the lottery.

We need to recall that this story began when Speaker Smith and then Senate president pro tem Shumlin orchestrated a historic override of Governor Douglas’s budget veto in 2009. This was a cru-cial point in Vermont’s financial future. It was the first time in the state’s history that the legislature, controlled by a lib-eral Democrat supermajority led by Smith and Shumlin, had overridden a governor’s budget veto. At that time, these two leg-islative leaders chose to put Vermont on an upward-spending trend that is totally unsustainable.

Each year since, they have passed bud-gets that grew spending at rates far ex-ceeding the growth of Vermont’s economy and the paychecks in taxpayers’ wallets. Their spending choices have led the state to annual $50-million-plus budget gaps. Spending more money than revenues, cre-ating new or expanding programs, using one-time revenue sources to support ongo-ing programs and not adequately funding pensions is a path to demise from any perspective. Furthermore, they chose to unwisely spend a large portion of the nearly one billion federal stimulus dollars awarded to Vermont to help stabilize state services and its economy during the great recession. These spending trends can be found on a chart created at my request by the Legisla-tive Joint Fiscal Office at leg.state.vt.us/jfo/appropriations/fy_2014/FY09-FY14%20Appropriations.pdf.

At the briefing and even though revenue projections are slightly above target, we were told of a projected budget gap for FY15 of $55 to $70 million. This information clearly illustrates that Vermont has a spend-ing problem, not a revenue problem. It is a spending problem that has grown as a result of the poor choices made by the Shum-lin administration, Speaker Smith and the Democratic supermajority—choices such as ignoring the rapidly escalating cost of education and property taxes, reforming the health care system (Shumlincare) above and beyond what was required by Obamacare, hiring hundreds of new state employees, increasing reliance on questionable federal

dollars to expand programs, misusing the federal dollars that were designed to sta-bilize our economy during the recession and not fully funding teachers’ retirement health care and pension costs. These costly decisions will burden generations of Ver-monters for years to come.

Last session my caucus fought hard for the following items to be included in the budget: establish a general fund growth rate of 3 percent or less, create no more than 30 new positions in state govern-ment (staff needed for the new psychiatric state hospital), increase state reserves by $20 million to address the decline in future federal dollars, satisfy the accruals for pen-sion fund obligations and address teacher health care funding, reform our education funding system, and prohibit the creation or expansion of programs until we can be assured that the state is on a stable and sus-tainable financial path. I am confident that had these items been included in the final FY14 appropriations bill, we would not be facing yet another budget gap of $55 to $70 million in FY15.

Today, we must evaluate every program to ensure that the results are meeting or exceeding expectations. Programs that do not perform as expected must be elimi-nated or modified. Eligibility requirements for all programs must be revisited to de-termine feasibility and sustainability. Du-plication and overlap of programs must be eliminated. Priorities of the past must now be revisited to see if they have been accomplished or are still worth pursuing. Going forward, every program and func-tion of state government must be put on the table for discussion. This could be accomplished by directing each legislative committee to spend the first four weeks of the session delving into the operations and budget requests from agencies in their jurisdiction. The current process of relying on only 11 people to do this work is not transparent and does not allow enough time for members to ask and explore the tough questions.

In closing, I am happy to see the Speaker has come around to our common-sense way of thinking about taxes. But, talking the talk is much different than walking the walk. I have to wonder if the fact that 2014 is an election year has anything to do with his sudden change of heart. Whether it has or not, my caucus is committed to keep-ing Vermont affordable for all Vermonters, which means we must adjust our spending priorities and not raise taxes.

Don Turner is a House representative (R-Milton) and House minority leader in the

Vermont legislature.

Current Administration Is Not Fiscally Responsible

by David Schutz

Arthur Williams represented Fayston in the Vermont legislature in the early

1960s and promptly fell in love with the State House. That love affair with our capitol building continued until just this past Saturday, when its longtime preser-vation advocate passed away at his most recent home, Copley Woodlands in Stowe, surrounded by a loving family. Arthur left behind not just three children, but also four grandchildren and a much-loved sister and sister-in-law.

Arthur was an early investor in the Mad

River Valley’s Sugarbush ski resort and a for-mer schoolteacher who lost his legislative seat to reapportionment in 1965. The following year, Governor Philip Hoff appointed him to be the first director of the Vermont Council on the Arts, and Arthur worked on and off for the council until 1986.

Arthur recognized early that the State House and its collections were seriously ne-glected. He applied for and landed a large National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1979, which funded a two-year study of the building. The study recommended ways in which the State House and its collections of furniture and art could be restored and curated. From that point on, Arthur worked

tirelessly with others to create the Friends of the Vermont State House, a private, non-profit advocacy/fundraising organization that lobbied for the restoration of the building. Arthur’s interest in and enthusiasm for the State House inspired thousands of people to visit the building and view it with newly ap-preciative eyes.

The State House, like so many historic sites throughout Vermont, is still a living and breathing building whose purpose has never changed. In the 21st century, it con-tinues to serve Vermont’s legislature with original chambers and original furniture—the oldest in the country with restored inte-riors that, thanks to Arthur and the friends,

look just as they did over 150 years ago. The friends and I have heavy hearts this

week as we contemplate the future without Arthur. Today, the restored State House, managed by a state curator’s office in con-cert with the sergeant-at-arms, is the happy result of his vision. It is a legacy he worked hard to achieve, and we vow to work hard to maintain.

Services will be held at 4 pm, on Saturday January 18, at the Round Barn in Waits-field, VT.

David Schutz is the Vermont state curator at the State House.

Remembering Arthur Williams 1926–2013


They were married on January 7, 1936. Both were born in Rochester, New York: Vera in 1913 and Jack in 1915.

Their secret to a long marriage? “Keep doing it,” says Jack. “I can’t remem-ber ever having a real disagreement with Vera.”

“Love and respect. And give them room,” adds Vera. “Jack and I have al-ways gotten along well. We could talk things out. You don’t have to fight.” It

helped, Vera says, that they “Enjoyed each others’ company, enjoyed doing the same things.”

And as for longevity? Jack’s recipe: “Oatmeal in the morning and scotch every evening.”

“We had a loving family,” Vera con-tinues. “You can’t quarrel all the time.” And, she adds, “a sense of humor, you need that.”Photo by Amy Brooks Thornton.

Jack and Vera Fogg Celebrate their 75th Anniversary

at The Gary Home in Montpelier.

And have fun?

Do you want to play piano?

Nicholas Mortimer, Certified Teacher | [email protected] | LovePlayingPiano.org | simplymusic.com

Do you dream about playing piano? Do you know a child who wants to play? Simply Music might be the perfect fit.

Come find out about Simply Music

This proven method gets you playing great sounding music — pop, classical, gospel, accompaniment and blues — from your very first lessons.

ATTEND A FREE PRESENTATION:

Thursday, January 9 5:00–6:00 pm Christ Church 64 State Street, Montpelier

Friday, January 10 3:30–4:30 pm

Montpelier Senior Center 58 Barre Street

Saturday, January 11 9:30–10:30 am Christ Church 64 State Street, Montpelier

Sunday, January 12 3:00–4:00 pm Four Corners SchoolhouseEast Montpelier

It’s Simply a different way to learn

• Start by playing songs—30 to 50 in the first year

• Quickly and easily connect with the joy of playing

• All ages and experience

• Add depth and richness through your fast-growing repertoire

• Feel comfortable accompanying friends and peers

• Small group sessions reinforce student confidence

• Instructional CDs and DVDs support practicing at home

From its start in 1997, Simply Music now has over 700 teachers worldwide, including East Montpelier’s Nicholas Mortimer. He is introducing thiscomprehensive, fully structured piano method and music curriculum in our areaand is excited to share his love of piano playing with students of all ages.

“Each lesson is tailor-made and I am encouraged not to feel hurried or impatient with the learning process. I’m so happy and surprised by my progress. After only ten lessons I had a play list of twelve songs and three structured improvisation pieces in the works.”

– Alex Noyes, student, Plainfield, VT, age 63

“I have seen a lot of music programs over the years. Some were fun. Some were clever. Some were thorough. Here’s one that has it all. In terms of presentation, effectiveness, philosophy — you name it — there’s nothing out there that compares at all.”

– Mary Pride, publisher, Practical Homeschool Magazine

Winter classes start mid-January

Documents

The Bridge, January 9, 2014-January 22, 2014