The Vermont Standard – Vermont Weekly Community Newspaper

The Select Board of the Town of Hartland took up an issue relating to possible changes in the tax structures for its three hydro-electric power plants at its Monday night meeting, May 20. The owner of the smallest of the three plants, Hartland resident Jay Boeri, attended the meeting.

“I think the Select Board finds itself between a rock and a hard place. They are aware of the concerns and are fair-minded,” he said. “The State of Vermont Department of Taxes is now setting the standard for appraising hydro-electric power plants and other renewable energy sources, taking it out of the hands of Town Listers.”

For more on this story–see our May 23 print and/or e-edition

May 19
1:40 am

Rockets, trucks and more at Hartland Rec. event

Hartland — Families from around the region gathered at the Hartland Recreation Department on Saturday to enjoy the Truck Extravaganza featuring a Fun Run hosted by the Hartland Cooperative Nursery school, rocket launching, a BBQ lunch and several trucks to explore.

Vehicles available for visitors to explore included a Hartland Fire Department truck, construction trucks, an Army truck and a State Police of Vermont car.

The Hartland Boy Scouts Pack No. 235 launched the rockets they had built. Nao Tsukamoto, 6, of Lebanon, NH was the first to catch the rocket they had launched and received a prize. According to Tsukamoto’s mother, today “was the best day” for Nao.

May 17
8:00 am

Baked bean supper steeped in tradition

On Sunday, the West Windsor Historical Society (WWHS) shared an 84-year-old tradition with the community when it held its Brownsville Baked Bean Community Supper at the Grange Hall in Brownsville. The family-style community supper is a fundraiser for WWHS and School Community in Partnership (SCIP) and will be divided equally.

Nearly 100 people filed into the Grange Hall over two-and-a-half hours as they served themselves beans, salads and meat on brightly colored plates reminiscent of the 70s then sat family-style at brightly covered tables for up to 10 people. The family-style seating is done intentionally to help create community, according to WWHS President Karen Diop.

For more on the story check out the May 16th edition of the Vermont Standard.

May 17
8:00 am

West Windsor updates town plan

The West Windsor Planning Commission wants to know what the residents feel about economic growth, aging in place, and recreation options for the next eight years. They’ve sent out a survey to all the households in town seeking input that will help direct them as they develop the new town plan.

The state requires towns to update their town plans every set number of years, according to Planning Commission Chair Alan Keiller.

“The regulations have changed, it used to be every five years, but towns are now required to do them for every eight years. We just missed the cutoff for that,” Keiller said in a phone interview.

For more on the story, pick up the May 16th edition of the Vermont Standard.

May 17
8:00 am

Lincoln Covered Bridge closed due to damages

The Lincoln Covered Bridge will be closed for the next few months after a pick-up truck with a long trailer carrying a backhoe tried to cross the bridge and caused major damages on Wednesday.

According to Captain Joseph Swanson of Woodstock Police, The backhoe was above the 10-feet height limit when it entered the bridge. Portions of wood at both of the entrances were ripped out and up to 10 collar ties that hold the bridge together were compromised.

According to Swanson, Gavin Ratliff, 23, of Sharon left his worksite and tried crossing the bridge to Route 4 to head home. After Ratliff went through the bridge, he pulled over and called 911.

Swanson could not put a dollar amount on how much the bridge sustained in monetary damages. An engineer will examine the bridge in a matter of weeks and determine when it should be safe to travel on again.

“Drivers can use the Mill Road Bridge if they want to access the other side [of the river],” Swanson said. “Drivers can also access Fletcher Hill Road via Carlton Hill Road and Riverside Park Road to cross over as well.”

Sports

May 17
8:00 am

Lola Dorsogna: track and field superstar

Woodstock Union High School junior Lola Dorsogna is having a remarkable year in track and field. The sprint specialist is winning races, she already qualified for the State Championships and she will be gunning for state individual titles in the 100 and 200 meters.

Dorsogna is one of the top female sprinters in southern Vermont. In the first meet of the season on April 27 at Windsor High School, she finished third in the 100-meter final out of 43 athletes.

Then on May 4, she placed third in the 100-meter final and won the 200 meters final. The following Tuesday, May 7, the Wasps travelled to Rutland and Dorsogna was runner-up in the 100 and 200 meters.

“I think that I’m a competitive person, which track is good for,” Dorsogna said. ”It’s a competition, but you’re not doing it for anyone else. You have to rack points for your team, but it still feels personal for me. The whole experience is a rush. It’s hard to explain.”

To read more on Lola Dorsogna, check out the May 16th edition of the Vermont Standard.

Features

May 17
8:00 am

Woodstock’s country doctor reflects

WOODSTOCK — Dr. Hugh Hermann has witnessed a vast difference in the medical world of 1950 to that of 2019. Developments within medicine would certainly have been expected but, as he noted in a recent interview, they have been in leaps and bounds in the last decades.

What is most noticeable to him, however, is not necessarily the technological advances but the standards of practice themselves that have resulted in a new paradigm in which patients — and doctors — have been met with new rules and guidelines.

For more of his reflections, see our May 16 print and/or e-editions

Entertainment

May 17
11:27 am

Standing room only at The Jungle

Zack’s Place Theatre Guild performed “Jungle Book” by Rudyard Kipling and adapted by Dail Frates at the Woodstock Town Hall on Wednesday, May 15 to a standing room only audience. From left: Big Frog Michael (Michael Leavitt) gets a lesson on how to fish and survive on the jungle from Ballou (Keegan Moriarty), Bear (Tanner Dow) and Black Panther (Patrick Green). Nancy Nutile-McMenemy photo.

May 17
8:00 am

School art show coming up

Students at Woodstock Union Middle High School have spent the year experimenting, exploring, thinking, and creating like artists. Right now is a busy time in the art rooms, as the artists work to prepare their work for the 26th annual art show.

The Art Show will run May 22-23 in the middle school gym. Open hours are: Wednesday May 22, 8:30-2:30 p.m., and 5:30-8:30 p.m. and Thursday May 23, 8:30-2:30 p.m., and 5:30-8:30 p.m. The opening reception is Wednesday evening.

For more details of the event, see our May 16 print and/or e-edition

May 17
8:00 am

Pentangle: 45 years and going strong

Forty-five years ago when it all began, the movers and shakers behind the Pentangle Council on the Arts were Mrs. Franklin Billings (Polly) and a team of brave supporters in Woodstock. In particular, Billings has publicly thanked Bo Gibbs, Patsy Niles and Gennie Caruso for their leadership from the start.

It was 1974. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) had been set up about ten years earlier during the John F. Kennedy administration by the President and the First Lady.

Billings was appointed by then-Governor Philip H. Hoff to the Vermont Arts Council. Peter Fox Smith was its director.

Smith “placed much importance in making art participatory for all,” said Billings. “He stressed the need to restore art to an elemental aspect of life. And he stressed the need to have the schools actively cooperating in this effort.”

This fit in with the vision Billings had, along with the other founders, who all met with Smith in Billings’ living room on Bond Street.

They wanted to model their own local arts council on the Vermont Arts Council and the NEA, and to be able to apply for funding from state and federal entities.

To read more on Pentangle Arts, pick up the May 16th edition of the Vermont Standard.

Obituaries

May 20
8:00 am

Memorial for Ed Osmer on Saturday May 25th

Woodstock

A memorial service for Ed Osmer, who died on Feb. 3, 2019, will be held on Saturday May 25th from 1:00pm to 4:00pm at Don & Elaine Singers Property on 96 Garvin Hill Road, Hartland, Vermont 05048

The Cabot Funeral Home in Woodstock is assisting in arrangements.

May 17
8:00 am

Margaret Chadwick McCracken, 1952-2019

Margaret Chadwick McCracken died peacefully early in the morning of March 10, 2019 at Woodstock Terrace. During the last week of her life, she had a constant stream of visitors, family and friends, who came to say goodbye to her.

Margaret was born in Oberlin, Ohio in 1952 to W. Chave and Mary Tyler (Chadwick) McCracken. She grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio and graduated from Laurel School in Shaker Heights. After graduation from Pine Manor College, she attended Boston University, studying Fine Arts.

Margaret moved to Vermont in 1975 and married Theodore S. (Tim) Turner in 1978. They had two sons, Caleb M. Turner and Frederick L. Turner.

Margaret was an artist. She learned to make stained glass with Linda Ethier when she first moved to Vermont, and went on to create many beautiful stained glass pieces. She also drew and painted, made intricate beaded earrings and necklaces, and created and maintained beautiful and extensive flower gardens and stone walls. She was a photographer who generously documented and shared the important moments in the lives of many. She was creative and productive.

Margaret was also a storyteller. She always had an outrageous story to tell, and had a gift for making people laugh. She was vibrant, engaging, and had a fun-loving personality.

During the last years of her life Margaret was diagnosed with Progressive Supra-nuclear Palsy, an uncommon brain disorder, which ultimately causes a person to lose the ability to speak and to control the body. She eventually lost her ability to draw or do any kind of artwork, and her ability to tell stories, but she continued to love and appreciate her friends and family. She never lost her radiant smile, or her ability to connect with people through means other than talking.

Margaret’s artwork will be featured in a show at ArtisTree Gallery in Pomfret in June, focusing on three artists with dementia and how their disease affected their art.

Margaret was pre-deceased by her husband, Tim Turner. She is survived by her sons, Caleb Tuner and his wife Meghan (Thompson) Turner, and Fred Turner and his partner Briana Haugh, and by her grandson Jackson Lion Turner. She is also survived by her sisters, Adelaide McCracken and Sara Norcross and by her siblings in-law: Steve Killam, Kenny Norcross, George and Jodi Turner, Roger Turner and Linda Rood, and Jonathan Turner, as well as by her McCracken and Turner nieces and nephews, all of whom adored her.

Donations in her honor can be made to Bayada Hospice and CurePSP, an organization that studies and provides support to those with neuro-degenerative brain diseases.