The Woodstock Town Selectboard and Village Trustees on Monday evening approved an updated, open-ended, employment-at-will contract with municipal manager Eric Duffy that calls for the town official to be paid a salary of $176,000 for the 2026-27 fiscal year that gets under way on July 1 — a hike of just under 24.3% over the $141,620 Duffy is being compensated for the current year.

The Woodstock governing bodies okayed the new contract with the manager in a public vote following a brief executive session at a joint meeting of the two boards Monday night — the last of a series of closed-door sessions at which the employment agreement was hammered out over the past several weeks. The decision came as the village trustees and Duffy continue to contend with legal maneuvering and a $5 million civil suit concerning Duffy’s demotion of Woodstock Police Chief Joe Swanson last year.

In addition to setting Duffy’s pay at $176,000 for the 2026-27 fiscal year, the updated contract also offers the manager six weeks of paid vacation — equivalent to the amount of time off afforded in the town’s personnel policy to employees with 20 years of service to the town. Duffy is wrapping up just three years of work at the helm. Duffy began working for the town and village on Feb. 1, 2023, under an initial, open-ended contract at a salary of $130,000 for his first year. For the past three years, Duffy has received the same annual cost-of-living allowance (COLA) as other non-union employees of the town. 

The vote regarding Duffy’s updated contract was not unanimous, although all members of the two five-member boards were uniform in their praise of his work over the past 36 months. Woodstock Selectboard vice chair Susan Ford and village trustees vice chair Jeffrey Kahn both abstained from the vote on the contract, while the eight other members of the joint boards voted to approve the agreement. Both Ford and Kahn spoke favorably of Duffy’s work, but opted to abstain from the contract vote because of objections to some stipulations in the new accord.

Contacted for his own reaction to the updated contract, Duffy responded to the Standard’s inquiry in an email Tuesday morning.

“In my three years as Woodstock’s Municipal Manager, we have professionalized town staff, received over $2.2 million in community grants, bought a water system, took steps to address decades of delayed maintenance, and overcame past financial challenges with a more forward-thinking approach that has helped to create long-term financial stability for Woodstock,” Duffy wrote. “Working with our staff, and both boards, we have slowly turned Woodstock away from being reactive and focused on the shiny object of the day to being proactive and prioritizing the long-term needs of the municipalities,” he added.

For more on this, please see our Feb. 26 edition of the Vermont Standard. 

By Emma Stanton, Staff Writer

The Village of Woodstock’s annual Village Meeting will be held at the Woodstock Town Hall on Tuesday, March 17. Voting, via Australian ballot, will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the two open trustee positions. One position will be for a three-year term, the other for a two-year term. 

Two Woodstock Village residents have submitted nominating petitions to be placed on the ballot — Stephen Stuntz, who will run for the three-year term, and Jamie Fox, who will run for the two-year term. Current trustees chair Seton McIlroy and trustee Frank Horneck will not be seeking re-election. 

Then, beginning at 7:30 p.m. on March 17, village residents can gather at Town Hall to vote from the floor for the remaining articles of consideration. 

The floor vote will begin with the nominations for other local office positions, including the moderator (1-year term), trustee of public funds (1-year term), village clerk (1-year term), and treasurer (1-year term). 

Article 2 asks voters to approve the payment of village officers, with the trustees to receive $750 per year, the village treasurer to receive $150 per year, the village clerk to receive $400 per year, and the moderator to receive $50 each time they serve. McIlroy told the Standard, “The trustees have voted to not receive their pay in order to lower the taxes.” The $750 allocated to each of the five trustees has been excluded in the final proposed budget seen on the ballot, McIlroy explained. 

Article 3 asks voters to approve the collection of village general taxes on real estate and other taxes levied through the treasurer, with the fixed dates of payment on Nov. 6, 2026, and May 7, 2027, with the required payment to be received by the Town Office by the close of business on those days. 

Article 4 asks voters to authorize the treasurer to borrow money, if necessary, in anticipation of taxes for fiscal year 2026-2027 to defray current expenses and debt of the village. 

Article 5 asks voters to approve a budget of $1,805,116.18. Of that amount, up to $839,547.40 will be raised by taxation to pay expenses and debt of the village. The total budget breakdown is as follows: general government ($543,542.95), boards and agencies ($88,635.20), village parks ($1,700), village police ($1,163,738.03), and trustee contingency ($7,500). 

 “Voters are only voting on that final $1.8M number,” McIlroy said. “They are not voting on line-items, [if something] costs more, we will move money around. And of that $1.8M, only $839k can be raised by taxation. The other million dollars is coming from other things.” McIlroy mentioned that some of these other revenue streams will be from parking fees, and the roughly $600,000 the town pays the village for the use of the local police. 

“When you have that breakdown of the police budget of [roughly] $1.2M, $600,000 of that is already coming from the town as payment. The rest would be either allocated through the money raised by taxes or other money the village takes in,” McIlroy concluded. 

“The projected tax rate increase [from last year’s approved budget] is 9.86%,” McIlroy explained later in a text to the Standard. “The [projected] tax rate is .2765 [or] $276.50 per $100,000.” 

Article 6 asks voters to raise and appropriate from taxes $3,000 for the purpose of village beautification projects and seasonal decorations. 

“Christmas lights and flower boxes have been taken over by the town,” McIlroy explained. “I believe [the selectboard] is paying for that for the upcoming year out of the local option tax fund. What [Article 6] is for, and what we have used this fund for in the past, is Halloween candy, which is always $1,500 or more. The rest we use for random things we need throughout the year, like extra signs and clean-up.” 

Article 7 asks voters to appropriate $400 for the purpose of paying the trustee of public funds. “The trustee of public funds was Jill Davies, but she doesn’t live here anymore. The next person we elect will be in charge of keeping an eye on [the public] funds,” McIlroy said.  

Article 8 will ask voters to appropriate another $400 to pay to have the public funds audited and to approve expenditures from the income of the trust funds. 

Article 9, McIlroy explained, allows anyone at the meeting to raise an issue or concern that can be discussed but not voted on. “It’s similar to public comment at the trustee meetings, but we cannot vote on something brought up during Article 9 because it would not be properly warned.” 

McIlroy encourages village residents to go to Town Hall between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. to vote, via Australian ballot, for the two Trustee candidates, and they are encouraged to return at 7:30 p.m. that same day for the floor vote. 

“It’s very important to show up and vote,” McIlroy concluded. “Not only because you need to make your voice heard, but this is how you understand how your local government works.” 

The latest demotion hearing for Police Chief Joe Swanson is expected to get underway Monday before the Woodstock Village Trustees, but don’t expect the veteran lawman to attend, nor any of the witnesses that testified against him the last time.

Swanson is still recovering from major back surgery and has not been cleared by his doctor to attend the hearing that the village trustees have refused to delay, according to his lawyer, Linda Fraas.

Fraas also said she has been told that municipal manager Eric Duffy does not plan to have any witnesses put on the stand, but rather will rely on the transcripts from an unsuccessful March 2025 demotion hearing.

A state judge ruled the village trustees had failed to properly follow the law and overturned their finding demoting Swanson to patrol officer.

Fraas said she does not have subpoena power to force the witnesses from the first hearing to return for the second hearing on Monday.

Duffy had the village police employees and members of the town’s emergency dispatch center voluntarily appear for the 14 1/2 hour marathon demotion hearing last year.

Fraas said this week she has been told that the Monday hearing will be at the Woodstock Masonic Temple, 30 Pleasant Street, but she had not been told the start time yet.

Duffy failed to respond to the Vermont Standard on Tuesday about the start time, or why the long-planned hearing had not been posted publicly under Vermont’s Open Meeting Law.

Trustee chair Seton McIlroy said Wednesday morning “details are being finalized and will be sent out later today.”

Under Vermont law the village trustees can wait until 48 hours before the hearing to tell the general public the time, date and place for the hearing and to post the meeting agenda. 

Woodstock Village officials were questioned and criticized for conducting the March 2025 hearing in a small basement room with no windows and limited seating at the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department.

Duffy first put Swanson on paid leave in October 2024 and called for three investigations. The Vermont State Police and the Vermont Criminal Justice Council cleared Swanson.

A private detective firm hired by Duffy to interview employees reported the workers thought the chief failed to clean his office, had messy hair and sometimes wore non-matching socks. The employees also complained that the chief would leave the police station and not tell them where he was going and sometimes failed to answer his cellphone when they called.

Duffy, after the demotion was overturned by the judge in December, said later he wanted Swanson dismissed at the second hearing. However, the trustees have said he needs to stick with his original demotion request.

Fraas said she plans to keep the fight going to get Swanson fully restored.

“I will appear,” said Fraas, who apparently will be flying solo. 

“Joe can’t testify. He will not be attending,” she said.

The spine surgery is due to a fall Swanson sustained during a shootout while trying to apprehend a homicide suspect, Jay Wilson, in June 2022 on Slayton Terrace. After a more than nine-hour standoff the suspect took his own life inside a home, state police said.

Chief Swanson is still out of work and is unable to stand or sit for long periods of time due to the lumbar fusion surgery performed in late December, Fraas said. 

“In addition to his very limited sitting and standing ability, Chief Swanson remains in constant pain which distracts him from concentrating and focusing. He continues to use narcotic medication intermittently for severe unpredictable episodes of pain. Thus, the suggestion that Chief Swanson attend telephonically or by video conference is not acceptable,” Fraas said in an email to lawyers in the case.

“He has not been cleared. Joe is on full disability and has no work capacity,” Fraas told the Vermont Standard this week.

The chief continues to draw full workman’s comp from the village, she said.

Fraas has asked the village trustees to postpone the Monday hearing until at least the end of March to give Swanson more time to recover and possibly attend, but it was rejected.

The five trustees, who initially sided with Duffy, may be in a rush to conduct the new demotion hearing because two of the board members are not seeking re-election and will be replaced in mid-month by two new candidates at the annual Village Meeting on March 17.

For more on this, please see our Feb. 26 edition of the Vermont Standard. 

Concerns by the town leaders of Weathersfield about the current finances of the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department and the possible inability to complete its five-year agreement for road patrols were among the reasons the town pulled out of its contract last week, according to Municipal Manager Brandon Gulnick.

Gulnick, during the Weathersfield Selectboard meeting this week, offered both details and context leading up to the 5-0 vote by the selectboard last week. He said the town and board were somewhat limited about what could be said before the meeting last week.

He said there are still some limitations about what can be said due to ongoing criminal investigation by Vermont State Police.

Windsor County Sheriff Ryan Palmer has pleaded not guilty in Vermont Superior Court to seven misconduct charges. He denied two counts of aggravated stalking with a deadly weapon, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of prohibited acts and one count of lewd and lascivious conduct. 

A judge ordered him to stay away from four women: two 19-year-olds, a 25-year-old and a 39-year-old former classmate from when he attended Windsor High School, records show.

None of the criminal charges deal with any financial issues, but that was the initial purpose of the Vermont State Police being asked to study the operation, officials have said.

“After the Selectboard voted in executive session to terminate the contract, we immediately began working with Town Counsel to determine what information can legally and responsibly be shared. We have a duty to protect the Town and mitigate liability, especially given the number of ongoing matters,” Gulnick wrote.

“There is currently a State financial audit underway, and a forensic audit may follow. That review pertains to the department’s finances as a whole,” he said.

Gulnick said Palmer has not resigned “and the current chain of command lacks clear, consistent decision-making authority, raising legitimate concerns about stability, oversight, and leadership.”

Former Chief Deputy Claude Weyant, who has been left in charge of the department, took exception to that claim. He repeated again this week to the Vermont Standard that road patrols continue, prisoners are transported, court papers are being served and court security is being maintained.

Weyant said he has spoken to almost all the towns and entities with contracts with the sheriff’s department and all have said they hope to continue with the sheriff’s department.

After his arraignment, Palmer said he would take a step back while his case is resolved. Weyant has 20 years with the department and was chief deputy under former Sheriff D. Michael Chamberlain.

Weathersfield, which used to have its own municipal police department, voted to do away with it when the last police chief left to go to Windsor. The town voted to contract with the sheriffs.

Now Weathersfield is looking to have a regional police force by joining with Reading and Cavendish. There is a meeting at the Town Hall on U.S. 5 in Ascutney at 6:30 p.m. Thursday to begin the public discussion of creating the Mount Ascutney Regional Police Department. It is available by Zoom also.

Weyant said he understands that Reading and Cavendish plan to review both options: staying with the sheriffs or moving to the regional department. 

When Weathersfield disbanded its police force in June 2025, the town sold its three cruisers, guns, equipment and other property to the sheriff’s office. The agreement with the sheriffs called for policing coverage, emergency response, and increased patrol visibility within our approved municipal budget, Gulnick said.

“In the months that followed, the level of coverage in Weathersfield frequently exceeded the 100 hours per week outlined in the contract. Residents noticed that presence, and it was appreciated,” he said.

“However, as we reviewed the arrangement, it became clear that the volume of service being delivered exceeded what the Town was funding. The Sheriff personally responded to many calls in our community, including critical incidents and late-night responses. While those additional services were not billed, that model was not sustainable long term,” he wrote.

During budget discussions in December and January, the Sheriff’s Department informed Weathersfield that substantially increased funding would be necessary to maintain the level of service being provided. The requested figure approached nearly $500,000.

“At the same time, broader concerns emerged regarding the department’s financial management and long-term sustainability. A financial investigation is currently underway. Even prior to the Sheriff’s arrest, we were engaged in discussions about the operational stability of the department,” Gulnick indicated.

For more on this, please see our Feb. 26 edition of the Vermont Standard. 

The Twin Farms rezoning request for commercial expansion has been approved by the Barnard Selectboard by a unanimous vote at their meeting on Feb. 18. 

Twin Farms, a luxury resort located on Stage Road in Barnard, had initially brought their rezoning proposal to Barnard’s planning commission. Twin Farms had submitted documentation requesting that one of the lots they recently purchased along Stage Road be rezoned for commercial use of one building. Steve Cota, planning commission chair, told the Standard last month that the proposed rezoning would create a “more contiguous commercial area for Twin Farms, and it would also clean up the boundaries for the town in respect to zoning.” At the time, selectboard member Richard Lancaster had added that the rezoning would “allow Twin Farms to expand if they needed to into that area and not have to piecemeal their requests.”

The selectboard’s vote to accept the rezoning proposal will become final on Mar. 11, unless a petition is filed with the town clerk by Mar. 10.

For more on this, please see our Feb. 26 edition of the Vermont Standard. 

A car accident resulted in a vehicle spinning off the road and landing on the frozen Ottauquechee River on Monday morning, Feb. 23. According to interim Woodstock Police Chief Chris O’Keeffe, the accident occurred around 9:20 a.m. when Esther Griffith (81) of Woodstock was traveling eastbound in her 2022 GMC Terrain on East Woodstock Road near the Taftsville Bridge when she made an abrupt U-turn and collided with the vehicle that had been following behind her. The other vehicle was a 2017 Subaru Outback operated by Daniel Bellmore (79) of Woodstock. O’Keeffe said that when Griffith struck Bellmore, her GMC bounced off the Subaru and went off the roadway, over the bank, and into the river. 

O’Keeffe estimated that the car came to a halt about 100 feet off the roadway and down a 50-foot embankment. He said that the river was frozen at the time of the accident and supported the vehicle until the very end of the extraction, when it began to sink a few inches into the ice. 

The Woodstock Fire Department responded to the accident. O’Keeffe said that a firefighter hooked up to a harness and rappelled down the embankment to extract Griffith from the vehicle. She was then loaded onto a litter and brought back up, where she was assessed for minor injuries and transported to Dartmouth Health Medical Center. Montshire Towing extracted the vehicle from the river. Both lanes of traffic were closed for about 15-20 minutes, and were down to one lane for about 45 minutes. Bellmore was not injured and was able to drive away in his Subaru, O’Keeffe said. He noted that a ticket for Griffith is pending. 

By Justin Bigos, Staff Writer

The East Barnard Community Hall needs a new roof, as well as ADA-certified accessibility, and they are asking for the public’s help to make the necessary renovations. Donations contributed before Feb. 28 can be matched up to $5,000, according to the East Barnard Community Club (EBCC) website, which states, “Two families are offering to match gifts given by community members to the Roof Fund to renovate and insulate the Hall roof. You’ll help the EBCC preserve this unique structure and allow this community resource to be used year-round. Your donation will enhance the Hall’s position as the centerpoint of village life, and help counter the isolation brought on by winter weather.”

 “The anchor of the valley, socially over many generations, has been this little Community Hall that started out as a wood shop and a store,” Thistle Cone, chair of the fundraising committee for the EBCC, told the Standard when recounting the history of the Community Hall. “In 1907, it became the location where they had the East Barnard Grange. Granges were a kind of a social movement that had to do with supporting agricultural communities. It started right after the Civil War, and there were Grange halls all over the country that had various purposes, but for the most part, it was kind of giving education and a voice to the agricultural community, but also provided a social hub,” said Cone.

In 1927, the Community Hall was moved about 100 yards away from its original location on the Grange to its current location. “The Grange sold the Community Hall to the East Barnard Community Club in 1984; it was stipulated that it be used for community events. The club became a state-registered nonprofit in 2012,” Ryan Newswanger, who became a member of the East Barnard Community Club in 2018 and served as president from 2021–2025, told the Standard.

“In the 1930s all the way up through the ‘50s it was a big location for dances and a social gathering place for many purposes,” said Cone. “It’s right across the street from this beautiful 1884 church, but the church doesn’t have a hall space in it, so it’s often been used for things associated with that church, any kind of gatherings, whether they were weddings or family reunions or funerals — even to this day.”

With such a rich and long history of gathering and celebration, it’s natural for the Community Hall to have weathered some storms and accrued some wear and tear. The very roof over the community’s head is the first thing that needs some TLC. “We did some research into the roof, and it dates to at least the 1950s, and maybe even older,” said Newswanger. “It’s kind of remarkable that it’s held up for probably at least 70 years, for a standing seam-metal roof. It’s given us decades of service. We do see some leaking that happens during heavy rain events, and especially as we’ve been making some improvements already to the interior of the Hall, we don’t want those to be damaged any further by rain. So the roof is the biggest thing that is facing us,” he said. 

For more on this, please see our Feb. 19 edition of the Vermont Standard. 

According to a press release from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Vermont, attorneys for White River Junction resident Mohsen Mahdawi filed a letter on Tuesday, Feb. 17, with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit announcing that an immigration judge has terminated Mahdawi’s removal proceedings. 

“I am grateful to the court for honoring the rule of law and holding the line against the government’s attempts to trample on due process,” said Mahdawi in the release. “This decision is an important step towards upholding what fear tried to destroy: the right to speak for peace and justice. Nearly a year ago, I was detained at my citizenship interview not for breaking the law but for speaking against the genocide of Palestinians. In a climate where dissent is increasingly met with intimidation and detention, today’s ruling renews hope that due process still applies and that no agency stands above the Constitution. This is not the end of the story. It is the beginning of a deeper commitment to peace, dignity, and justice; work I will continue, fearlessly and without apology.” 

The release said that the filing outlines the immigration judge’s decision, which was based on the government’s failure to authenticate a memorandum purportedly from Marco Rubio. This document, which was filed without including referenced attachments, served as the basis for seeking to deport Mahdawi, and declared Mahdawi a threat to U.S. foreign policy based solely on his protected speech. The ruling was issued without prejudice, which means the government may appeal the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals or may attempt to refile a new case based on the same charge. 

 “This decision highlights the importance of federal court review of immigration proceedings, especially when First Amendment and other constitutional violations are alleged,” said Brett Max Kaufman, senior counsel with the ACLU’s Center for Democracy. “Had we been unable to pursue Mohsen’s release in federal court, as the government is arguing should be law of the land, he would still be in detention today on a charge that the government itself couldn’t even bother to substantiate 10 months later with basic forms of authentication. The government should take the immigration judge’s hint and drop this absurd case for good.” 

According to the release, Mahdawi was detained in April 2025 and held in detention for over two weeks. He was released on bail on April 30, 2025, after filing a habeas petition in the United States District Court for the District of Vermont in which he argued he was wrongfully detained in retaliation for his constitutionally protected speech. 

 “We’re pleased that the court has terminated this witch hunt of a case,” said Cyrus Mehta of Cyrus D. Mehta & Partners PLLC. “Mohsen is a peaceful man and a valued member of his communities in Vermont and at Columbia University. The government’s pursuit of his deportation has been an affront to the principle of free speech that undergirds our democracy. The government’s inability to even file the proper paperwork demonstrates how careless and reckless they are being in their policy of detaining innocent people for their speech.” 

Eva Douzinas is a part-time Woodstock Village resident, mother of three, and leader of several nonprofit organizations and foundations. She is endeavoring to protect our oceans and ensure the sustainability of our seas through science-based approaches and advocacy.

“I have a daughter and a son in college, and another son who is currently a junior in high school in Cambridge, Mass.,” Douzinas told the Standard this week. “My life is somewhat international as I split my time between Boston, Woodstock, and Poros, Greece.”

“My professional background,” Douzinas said, “is as a software entrepreneur in the commercial maritime sector. I co-founded Veson Nautical and led the company for nearly fifteen years. Today, the company employs about 500 people worldwide and develops software that helps manage the commercial operations of many of the world’s leading maritime organizations. After that chapter, I shifted toward nonprofit and philanthropic work, beginning with the creation of a nonprofit organization, Katheti, on the island of Poros — where my father is from — focused on environmental stewardship, education, and cultural initiatives.” 

“My dad is Greek,” Douzinas explained. “He had a company that focused on making software for the commercial shipping industry, and I used to work for him all through high school and college. That’s where I developed my niche for software and shipping. In Greece, shipping is intrinsically tied to the sea, and so my interest in maritime and aquaculture started from a very young age,” Douzinas explained. 

Douzinas spent her summers with her father and grandparents on the island of Poros. “I really consider it my home in many ways,” Douzinas said. “My cousin, who still lives in Greece, and I both wanted to bring a philanthropic philosophy to the island and become a kind of partner to the local municipality, the local schools, the local sports teams — as a way to funnel philanthropic support and outside expertise to help this very special, sacred community. From this desire, our organization ‘Katheti’ was born.”

Eva Douzinas
Courtesy of Eva Douzinas

In December of 2017, the pair began renovating an old run-down tavern in an attempt to bring life back to a part of the island that felt left behind. “We allow nonprofit groups to use our space for community theater, educational workshops, seminars, training, musical events. In the summertime, we try to feature local artists or bring in artists from other parts of Greece. Our goal is to enrich the island,” Douzinas said. 

Last year, through Katheti’s nonprofit status, Douzinas found out about Greece’s national plan to expand industrial aquaculture. “They were going to take over 25% of the Poros coastline to become industrial fish farms, which is really mind-blowing, because you just picture Woodstock — a town of 3,200 — having 25% of the land taken for an industrial use. It would completely change the entire place.”

“At the time,” continued Douzinas, “I didn’t realize how devastating industrial aquaculture is to the environment. I first thought that fish farming helped stop overfishing, but the deeper I looked into it, I found out about all the devastating effects fish farming has on the environment, and how it actually takes more wild fish from the seas than it produces. This is because the fish that the farms supply are carnivorous — salmon, sea bream (branzino), sea bass — they are the wolves and tigers of the ocean. Fish farms are actually emptying the seas faster because they’re taking between 1.25 and four kilos of wild fish to produce one kilo of farmed fish.” 

“We did win the battle on the island of Poros,” added Douzinas. “We blocked the plan to take over 25% of the coastline. In cooperation with the municipality, with the support of a whole team of people, and with the help of those on the island, we won.” Douzinas and her team held a 2,500-person demonstration on an island of 3,200 people in June of 2025. Douzinas then spoke at the parliament in Greece. “Now, we’re really working hard with other communities [in Greece] to try to get the law changed nationally.” Douzinas’ grass-roots movement is firmly planted in the Mediterranean, but she also partners with organizations across America to try to stop similar fish farming plans from expanding in the States. 

“We support groups like Don’t Cage Our Oceans, based in New York, that recently won a case against Trump’s 2020 executive order to open federal waters to industrial fish farming, even in states where fish farming was previously banned,” Douzinas said. 

“In 2023,” Douzinas continued. “I had the opportunity to take over leadership of the Rauch Foundation from my mother and relocate its headquarters to Woodstock, where I’ve been a part-time resident for over twelve years.”

The Rauch Foundation’s main areas of focus are advancing more equitable and science-based global food systems — particularly in relation to aquaculture — and improving financial literacy for young people. 

“The Rauch Foundation works to advance equitable, science-based approaches that protect ocean ecosystems, respect coastal communities, and ensure the sustainable use of our seas,” she added. “A significant focus of our current work is researching, tracking, and helping curb the rapid expansion of intensive industrial fish farming — particularly the farming of carnivorous species such as sea bass, sea bream, salmon, and shrimp.

“It’s been inspiring to see a long tradition of sustainability and even ocean protection efforts being based in Woodstock,” Douzinas continued. “Having a home base for this global work right here in Vermont is very grounding for me.” 

Locally, Douzinas has been involved in a few different projects, from renovating the space that now holds Farmer and the Bell to recently working to revitalize her property on 4 The Green. She explained, “I’m working on developing 4 The Green into a collaborative hub called ‘Fulcrum House,’ envisioned as a space where creatives, foundations, and nonprofits can meet, work, and collaborate. The name comes from a quote by Archimedes: ‘Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I can move the world.’ The idea is to create a thoughtful gathering place to support meaningful work being done by many in our community.” 

She added, “I’m turning the ground floor of the building into a workspace/private café, complete with a beautiful greenhouse aesthetic and a cozy living room to serve as a workspace. The upstairs will be a shared conference room. It will be able to house 10 to 15 members of different creative organizations, nonprofits, or foundations to organize meetings or simply work collaboratively.” 

“I think there are over 100 nonprofits and foundations in the Woodstock area,” Douzinas said. “I want to provide them with a space steeped in the historic charm of Woodstock, while also offering conference rooms complete with the latest tech and the privacy to complete the important work that they do.” 

Moving forward into 2026, local residents can expect to see Douzinas partnering with Sustainable Woodstock to host speakers and educational nights, raising awareness for aquaculture and sustainable farming methods, or continuing to support foundations determined to bring financial literacy to the youth of America (a personal passion of Douzinas). Renovating and reopening her 4 The Green property is also high on her list. Douzinas said she will continue fighting the good fight, from here to the shores of Poros, Greece, until sustainability reigns true for all. 

For more on this, please see our Feb. 26 edition of the Vermont Standard. 

The Grand Kyiv Ballet will be returning to our area this March to bring a performance of “Giselle” to the Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph. 

The ballet company’s founder Oleksandr Stoianov, spoke to the Standard this week about his dancers, how their performances have changed since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, and why he encourages all to see “Giselle.” 

“Our company has been touring in the United States for almost three years,” Stoianov began. “This season, we showed seven different productions to our audience in the states — ‘The Nutcracker,’ ‘Swan Lake,’ ‘Snow White,’ ‘Snow Queen,’ ‘Don Quixote,’ ‘Sleeping Beauty’, and now, ‘Giselle.’” 

Stoianov explained how his company is made up of two dance groups — one that performs on the West Coast and another that performs in the East. “At this upcoming show in Vermont, the principal dancer will be Viktor Tomashek, a wonderful and interesting dancer who worked with the Odesa National Opera before starting with our company in 2021. He has danced all around the world, from Europe to Australia to New Zealand to Japan.” 

“We have an interesting cast for the performance of ‘Giselle,’” Stoianov continued. “During the last four years, our company has grown four times in size. Because of the war, we started to receive a lot of requests from dancers from different countries to be a part of our company — from Europe, from the United States. Now the Grand Kyiv Ballet is more like an International Ballet Company [comprised of] Ukrainian dancers, American dancers, European dancers, and some Asian dancers. 

“When we first started to work with all these different dancers, it was difficult to adapt everyone to one style. All countries and ballet schools have a different technique, teach different arm positions, etc. But now, three or four years into this expanse, when our dancers step on stage, you cannot tell they come from different backgrounds. Everything is seamless and perfect.” 

Stoianov went on to describe the effects the war in Ukraine has had on his dance company, telling the Standard, “Everything was changed; everything was changed after the war started. In our mind, our style of dance also changed — especially in the first and second year of the war. We still and always have tried to bring Ukrainian style and culture to the stage because our teachers are Ukrainian, our choreographers are Ukrainian, our costume and decoration design is Ukrainian. But after the war started, there was a different energy to what we brought to the stage. We saw a lot of tears from our performers during the first two years of the war, because a lot of our dancers have families and parents and friends in Ukraine. We want to use the stage to honor those people and to proudly show our nationality.” 

“Giselle” follows the story of a young peasant girl who falls in love with a nobleman disguised as a commoner. Tragically, the girl dies of a broken heart when she discovers the truth about her lover’s identity. The ballet is known for its stunning choreography and beautiful music and is a true masterpiece of the ballet repertoire, Stoianov said. “Every time we perform ‘Giselle,’ those in attendance burst into tears.” 

The Grand Kyiv Ballet will be performing their rendition of “Giselle” on Wednesday, March 11 at the Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph. 

For more on this, please see our Feb. 26 edition of the Vermont Standard. 

By Mike Donoghue, Senior Correspondent

Three years after being banned from all extracurricular activities, including sports by the Vermont Principal’s Association (VPA), the Mid Vermont Christian School (MVCS) is headed back to the post season girls basketball tournament.

The fourth-seeded MVCS Eagles were due to host No. 13 The Sharon Academy at 7 p.m. Wednesday in a VPA Division IV playdown game as the Vermont Standard was coming off the presses.

A Wednesday win would give the Eagles another home game by hosting a quarter final game on Friday at 7 p.m.. No. 5 Williamstown advanced by beating No. 12 Poultney 62-34 on Tuesday evening.

The VPA voted to ban Mid Vermont Christian as a member after the school attempted to protest in February 2023 a transgender athlete playing for the girls team, according to federal court papers. 

MVCS, in its lawsuit, had maintained it created an unsafe and unfair situation by having the tall, oversized player on the girls team. The player was more than six feet tall.

A federal appeals court in New York City ruled last September that the VPA had violated its own rules and discriminated against the private school located in Quechee. It came when the school said it would take a forfeit rather than play the team with a transgender player, records show. The VPA took the unprecedented step to vote to a full ban of Mid Vermont from all sports and activities. 

The pairings for the girls tournament came out Sunday and are somewhat deceptive. The VPA lists Mid Vermont with a 4-2 record, which reflects games only against Vermont high schools. The losses came to two high division schools: Mount Anthony (56-48) and Vergennes (44-32). 

The Eagles beat Twinfield (48-23), Rivendell (43-40), Blue Mountain (48-23) and picked up a forfeit win over Grace Christian of Bennington.

The VPA did not give any credit for the games MVCS played this winter against teams in the New England Association of Christian Schools. The VPA also moved No. 4 West Rutland into the third seed even when it had a lower ranking, but rounded up. 

MVCS actually finished the winter season with a 22-3 record between VPA and NEACS games.

Mid Vermont had a 9-0 conference record in NEACS games to capture the regular season crown in the 20-team league.

While the federal appeals court in New York City ordered the VPA to restore MVCS as a member, most Vermont high schools were locked in for their 2025-26 winter schedule so there was little to no room to add games this winter. Most schools are on a two-year cycle, so there may also be some limits to add games next year.

The final records show several Vermont high schools still did not reach the 20-game maximum schedule imposed by VPA. 

In Division IV, Richford, Mount St. Joseph (Rutland), Williamstown, Twin Valley (Wilmington), Danville and Twinfield (Plainfield) were among the schools that played only 19 games, posted records indicated.

In Division III, Hazen (Hardwick), Vergennes, Green Mountain Union (Chester) and Randolph played only 19 games.

In Division II, Lamoille, Spaulding (Barre), Otter Valley (Brandon), Harwood (Duxbury) each were lacking one game, while Montpelier had two games available, final records show.

It was unclear if any of those schools were feeling either internal or external pressure to not schedule Mid Vermont Christian due to the federal court overruling the VPA’s actions.

MVCS Head Coach Chris Goodwin said the Eagles have a well-balanced team. He said five MVCS players have ended up as the top scorers in various games this season. He said many of the players are part of the same crew that were mostly freshman and eighth graders when the VPA imposed the ban three years ago.

The team includes seniors, Lydia Dickey, a center and Kira Gray, a forward, along with juniors, Rebekah Roberts, a point guard, and Jorja DuPlessis, a forward.

Two others with considerable playing time are guards Myranda Goodwin, a sophomore and Kaia Gray, a freshman.

“We are nursing injuries and dealing with a close hard-fought loss up at Vergennes which took place last week as we enter VPA postseason play,” Goodwin told the Vermont Standard.

“Hopefully we can meet the moment and play our best ball of the year these next two weeks,” the veteran coach said.

The Eagles have had some athletic success including most recently sharing the Division IV Vermont high school basketball crown in 2020 in a season cut short by COVID. MVCS (17-6) knocked off No. 1 West Rutland in the semifinals, but the final with Proctor was called off creating co-champs for the first time.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York City said in a unanimous decision in September that MVCS has a strong discrimination claim.

“We conclude that Plaintiffs are likely to succeed in showing that the VPA’s expulsion of Mid Vermont was not neutral because it displayed hostility toward the school’s religious beliefs,” the judge wrote. 

The three-judge panel said it found open hostility by the VPA toward Mid Vermont Christian. The judges also noted the VPA failed to follow its own rules and policies in its rush to dismiss the Christian school from the statewide association. 

The ruling overturned a decision by Senior Federal Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford in Burlington that allowed the banishment to remain in place while the two sides battle in court. The lawsuit will continue, but the court ruled MVCS can participate. 

The court, in its 19-page decision, was very critical of VPA Executive Director Jay Nichols and his conduct toward MVCS and other religious schools in Vermont. 

“In sum, Plaintiffs are likely to succeed in establishing that Defendants acted with hostility toward Mid Vermont’s religious beliefs. The VPA executive director publicly castigated Mid Vermont — and religious schools generally — while the VPA rushed to judgement on whether and how to discipline the school,” the judges said.

“In upholding the expulsion, the VPA doubled down on that hostility by challenging the legitimacy of the school’s religious beliefs. And as noted above, the punishment imposed was unprecedented, overbroad and procedurally irregular,” the judges wrote.

The judges ordered the case sent back to Vermont with instructions to grant Plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction to allow for Mid Vermont’s reinstatement as a VPA member.

Mid Vermont Christian School, founded in 1987, is a private faith-based pre-K-12 school in Windsor County, whose religious beliefs drive and form the foundation for everything it does. It maintains competing against a transgender athlete would have violated the school’s religious convictions. MVCS joined the VPA about 1993-94 when it fielded its first basketball team.

By Tyler Maheu, Staff Sportswriter

The boys and girls hockey teams split a doubleheader last Saturday night at Union Arena against Stowe, with the girls winning 3-1 and the boys falling 2-1.

“It was a really good game,” said girls head coach Ian Coates. “A fun game to coach, and fun game for the players. For our senior to be celebrated and come home for the victory, it was the pinnacle of our season so far.” 

The senior he is referring to is team captain Alexis Audsley, who has played on the varsity level since eighth grade. “First and foremost, she’s a committed hockey player,” said Coates. “She’s all in, she loves it. With any athlete who’s really into their sport, they’ll find avenues to get better. She’s done all she could to be able to grow her game.” He continued his praise. “She’s a player that is very receptive to coaching, a very coachable player.”

Audsley is playing in her fourth year with the team, but is a senior because she has elected to graduate early from Woodstock. The senior has seen it all, from beginning her career on a state championship team to assisting Coates and his staff in the past two “rebuild” years. “She’s seen the peak of our success, back to the bottom, and this has been a growth year, and she’s been a part of that success.”

Coates described her as a hard-working teammate and captain, who, despite her success with advanced teams in the offseason, always represents Woodstock. “She is a Woodstock girl,” he said. As a reward for her effort this season and throughout her career, Audsley has been named to the 2026 Rotary Hockey Classic set to take place on March 21 at Essex High School. “Rotary is a big deal for seniors,” said Coates. “With my history here, over 13 years, not a lot of kids make that team. It’s really cool to have her make it.”

Two other players on the Woodstock girls’ team are set to earn postseason honors as well. Josephina Palazzo has been named to Second-Team Defense in the Vermont Principals’ Association Division II, and Pippa Shaw has earned an Honorable Mention as a goalie.

Despite being in the heat of the season, Coates and his squad took time this weekend to grow the program. “We held Step-Up day for the eighth graders,” he said. “We showed them the ropes, explained how we run our morning practices, and ran through our typical drill selection.” He continued. “They got to totally feel what it’s like to be with the team. It was a good bonding moment.”

Saturday’s game went differently for the boys. Despite a goal from sophomore standout Cole Little, they dropped the contest to Stowe 2-1. The loss dropped the team to 4-10-2, and was their third in a row. Despite this, head coach Jon Chamberlain remains optimistic. 

“We have lost to three of the top teams in our division,” he said. “We lost 1-0 to Milton, who has the best goalie in the division, 5-0 to North Country (who the team has played tight all year with a tie and OT loss), and Stowe 2-1, who beat us in a scrimmage 7-2 and in our prior game 3-0.”

“We aren’t far off, and the goal of this season from the beginning was to be the best form of ourselves at the end,” said Chamberlain. “That is happening now. We’re a shot away. This team is always eager to learn and get better. For what we have, this team has exceeded all expectations so far, and I can’t wait to see them down the stretch.”

Two Wasps are standing out most for Chamberlain as the season winds to a close: Little and senior goalie Dominic Palazzo. “Dom has made the saves he should have, and then some,” he said. “He’s also been a consistent voice throughout the team.” He heaped praise on Little. “Cole will be a three-sport captain and has kept so many goals for us off the scoreboard,” he said. “He plays both ways without coaching, and his work ethic is unmatched. Throughout my 11 years of being head coach, there hasn’t been too many who meet his work ethic. I can’t wait to see him finish his career here and lead this group going forward.”

With the boys’ record sitting at 4-10-2 and the girls at 5-13, both squads are rounding out their seasons, hoping to be in top shape for the playoffs. “I feel like we’ll be ready,” said Coates. “I told this team at the beginning of the year that it’s a marathon and not a sprint. I have a lot of belief in our team. We’ve been in every scenario, we talk about what things we need to be successful.”

Chamberlain’s team will wrap up their regular season at home against Hartford on Saturday at 5:15 p.m., while the girls have two games remaining — Thursday at Brattleboro and Saturday at U-32.

By Tyler Maheu, Staff Sportswriter

Three area residents will be hitting the slopes at Wilmington’s Hermitage Club in March for the 2026 Vermont Winter Games hosted by Special Olympics Vermont. 

More than 150 athletes from around the state will converge on the private club on March 9 and 10 to compete in four sports — alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing. According to Tess Wilkinson, communications and social media manager for Special Olympics Vermont, the Winter Games have been held for about 50 years but are currently re-finding their footing after the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’ve been back doing winter games for the last three or so because COVID was a big lull in terms of events and making statewide events possible,” she explained.

The event is mostly put on with the help of volunteers. “Volunteers are a big component, tons of volunteers that help start to finish,” she explained. “Coaches and heads of programs coming are all volunteers; they’re the people taking the time out of their day to make it possible for our athletes.”

Two local athletes will be competing for gold in alpine skiing. Jenny Mayfield of Hartland and Lili Leonard-Heath of White River Junction. Mayfield, 32, has what her mother, Liz Barker, calls a “global developmental delay,” but that has never stopped her from getting out on the slopes. “Her biological dad has always been a big skier; we’ve always just skied,” said Barker. “She’s been skiing since she was about four.”

Mayfield competes in several other sports throughout the year, including basketball, golf, and track & field. She’s taken her golf talent far, winning first in Vermont’s Special Olympics state tournament before competing in the nationals back in 2022. “I love getting medals,” she said. While winning is important to the skilled athlete, Mayfield points to two other reasons why she loves athletics. “I love having fun and getting out of the house,” she said with a laugh. 

36-year-old Leonard-Heath is a Special Olympian with Down Syndrome, who has devoted her life to fitness and excellence in sport. She began her skiing career in her teens through the Hartford Regional Resource Center.

Left, Lucy Meyer, of Barnard, poses with a Special Olympics volunteer at an event last winter. Courtesy of Jamie Meyer Right, Lili Leonard-Heath, of White River Junction, smiles for a photo in front of the fireplace at Saskadena Six — her favorite place to ski — when the games were held in Woodstock. Courtesy of Mary Alice Leonard-Heath

Both of Leonard-Heath’s parents work for the Upper Valley Hawks, the Upper Valley’s leading Special Olympics program. “I’m the coordinator for the local Upper Valley Hawks program,” said her mother, Mary-Alice Leonard-Heath. “I’m pretty proud of our athletes, obviously, I’m especially proud of Lili because she’s so athletic and takes pride in that. She works super hard.”

While her mother focuses on swimming, the sport in which Leonard-Heath finds the most pride and skill, her dad helps to coach the ski team. “That is also a draw,” said Mary-Alice Leonard Heath. “She gets to see some of her friends. These opportunities to participate in quality, competitive sports are very social. Lili takes a lot of pride in being healthy.” She concluded, “The Special Olympics is a community.”

Leonard-Heath said that her favorite parts of skiing are going down the hill with her pink and white skis and skiing between the gates. “Rooming with my friend Jenny,” she said, on what she looks forward to the most at the Winter Games. “I love riding the chairlift at Haystack; some people think it’s scary, but not me.” She continued, “I love seeing my old friends and making new friends, and the dancing.”

She concluded by explaining why the Special Olympics are important to her. “I love being a part of a team,” she said. “I am an athlete, and the Special Olympics makes it possible for me to compete with my friends and other people.”

Last but not least is 26-year-old Lucy Meyer, who recently moved to Barnard from Los Angeles, Calif. with her family. Meyer has cerebral palsy and has been a survivor since her first moments on this earth. “I was deprived of oxygen for five minutes at birth,” she explained. “The doctor told my parents I might not sit up or swallow; they even considered taking me off life support.”

“Before the Special Olympics, she couldn’t compete,” said her mom, Jamie Meyer. “She wanted to, all her friends could compete, and she couldn’t; she was always the referee.” Then, Meyer found the Special Olympics. “She got to compete like everybody else. It gave her self-esteem and confidence just to be like everybody else.”

Meyer made the switch from alpine skiing to snowshoeing for this winter. “I love them both a lot, they’re both amazing and such a great time,” she said. When not on the mountain, she can be found horseback riding, playing basketball or at one of several speaking commitments and Special Olympics events like the recent Penguin Plunge. 

“She’s been in the Special Olympics since 2012, and speaking on behalf of the Special Olympics since 2014,” said Jamie Meyer. “She speaks around the country and the world. Speaking to well over 200 schools.” Meyer will soon be going to North Macedonia for a speaking commitment, and does work for the Spread the Word campaign, which focuses on eliminating the r-word, which is commonly used to demean, discriminate and insult those with disabilities. 

Like the other athletes, Meyer loves the competition, but the camaraderie is the most important aspect of the events. “I love having fun with my friends,” she said. “I’m excited to compete and have fun, just have a great time.”

Her parents are both proud of her and thankful for the opportunities provided by Vermont Special Olympics. “Happy to have her compete because she loves doing it, and it gives her a feeling of accomplishment,” said her dad, Chuck Meyer. “It’s giving kids who haven’t had the chance to do things, to do things.” Her mom agreed. “I’m so proud of her, so proud of her,” she said. “It’s incredible.”

Wilkinson finished by explaining the importance of what Vermont Special Olympics aims to accomplish. “It’s huge,” she said. “Winning a medal is a big deal for our athletes and makes them very proud, but the opportunity to get out there and compete. Everybody loves sports.” She concluded. “We give them a competition which is very empowering, to compete and represent their town.”

Honoré Hager, known to her many friends as “Honey,” passed away at home in Woodstock, as a gentle snow fell on the evening of Feb. 20.  Death followed a lengthy battle with kidney disease. She was 87 years of age. 

Known for her sparkling personality and spontaneous wit, she loved literature, cooking, entertaining, and good conversation. She harbored strong opinions and a “no-nonsense” approach to everyday life. She took great pride in her ethnic roots, having been raised by an Italian-American mother and an Irish-American father in the city of Rutland, Vt., steeped in the traditions of both cultures. 

As the wife of a television journalist, she readily embraced the rigors of moving around the country and the world, providing family stability and nurturing three daughters while her husband’s profession often called him away for long periods covering breaking news. But no matter where she lived, she always considered Vermont “home.” She delighted in reminding her husband that his beginnings had been from “away,” having moved to Woodstock as an eighth grade schoolboy, whereas she had been born in Rutland — a true native.    

She was justifiably proud of those three daughters whom she encouraged to seek interesting and meaningful careers, resulting in one lawyer, one fashion-industry executive, and one television reporter turned public relations executive. 

She was born in 1938, graduated from Rutland’s Mount St. Joseph Academy in 1956, and attended Castleton College (now Vermont State University).

She met her husband on a blind date, 68 years ago, when the two were still in college and while he was a summertime disc jockey at a radio station in Rutland. They married a year later, after which she went to work to help her husband through his senior year at Dartmouth, where the couple lived in married students’ quarters. 

Following college, the couple moved to North Carolina where, in the racially-segregated South of the 1960s, she worked tirelessly in a program to help Black grade-schoolers prepare for unfamiliar and challenging surroundings in newly integrated schools. Later, in Washington, D.C., she volunteered for years at a soup kitchen and clothes closet for the poor and homeless. 

Beginning in childhood years when, to her delight, she discovered the Rutland Library, and stretching to retirement in Woodstock and long hours reading on the back porch, she had a lifelong love affair with literature — fiction, non-fiction, emotional, technical — she loved and devoured a huge variety of books and delighted in discovering a new or unexpected idea or an artfully turned phrase. She was active in Woodstock’s historic New Century Club, which fosters research and writing. 

Honoré Vargas Hager is survived by her husband Robert; her daughters Gabrielle of Greenwich, Conn., Jennifer of Upper Montclair, N.J., and Christina of Granby, Mass.; sons-in-law John Nossiff, Jim Henegan, and Gary DeAngelo; grandchildren Aaron, Peter, and Johnny Nossiff, Bobby and Lilly Dukich, Patrick Henegan, and Brady and Derek DeAngelo, and a new great-granddaughter Yumin.  

Arrangements are by Cabot Funeral Home. In accordance with Honoré’s wishes, no memorial gathering is planned. Gifts in her memory may be made to a favorite place of her youth, the historic Rutland Free Library (currently under great financial pressure), 10 Court Street, Rutland, VT 05701. 

Mary Ryan, age 83, passed away peacefully at her home in Scottsdale, Ariz. on Feb. 14, her family at her side.

Mary was a beloved presence in the lives of her family and friends. She was a dedicated mother, raising three children in Amherst, N.H. and Paradise Valley, Ariz. She combined a New England directness with an Arizona warmth that earned loving and lifelong friendships with the people she came to know.

She was an avid reader, tennis player, friend, wife, mom, and grandmother. She never missed a milestone — baptisms, first communions, confirmations, sporting events, ballets, plays, and graduations. She served on the board of Hospice of the Valley, was a Hospice volunteer, a volunteer for Crisis Nursery, a Eucharistic Minister to patients of Banner Hospital, and a nurse volunteer for Mission of Mercy of Arizona. She was a pillar of stability, strength, and compassion. She is deeply missed.

Born Mary Frances Leete on July 29, 1942 in South Portland, Maine, the daughter of Lawrence and Frances Leete. She attended St. Joseph’s Academy and later graduated from the nursing program at Salve Regina College in Newport, R.I. She married Thomas Ryan of Huntington, N.Y. on Sept. 11, 1965 with whom she raised Sean, Elizabeth and Mark.

A loving grandmother to ten beautiful grandchildren, she found her greatest joy in her family. She cherished time spent with them in Arizona and the family home in the mountains of central Vermont. She will be remembered for her kindness, quiet strength, and the love she so freely gave.

Mary is survived by her husband, Tom; her three children, Sean, Elizabeth, and Mark; her two daughters-in-law, Jennifer and Kerrin; her son-in-law, Jeffrey Catalano; and her cherished grandchildren — Christine and her husband Jesse, Davis, Zachary, Hayden, Tessa, Grace, Keira, Celia, Tommy, Jack; and her two brothers Larry Leete Jr. and Paul Leete of Michigan.

A Mass will be celebrated at Our Lady of the Angels, Franciscan Renewal Center, 5802 E Lincoln Dr, Paradise Valley, AZ 85253, on March 9 (livestream) beginning at 10 a.m. with the rosary, followed by a Mass at 10:30 a.m. and reception following at the Casa. There will be a celebration in late July at Our Lady of the Snow in Woodstock (date TBD) for family and friends in New England.

Mary’s memory will live on in the hearts of all who loved her.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Hospice of the Valley or the Franciscan Renewal Center. Condolences may be expressed at https://www.whitneymurphyfuneralhome.com/.

It is with a heavy heart we announce the death of our mother, Norma Bradley, who passed away peacefully at the Mertens House on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026 at the age of 97.

Norma was born on July 10, 1928 in West Hartford, Vt. to Olin Bert Hill and Nellie Gray (Powell) Hill. In 1932, her family moved to a farm in Barnard and started a dairy farm. She attended her elementary school years in a one-room school on the Lakota Road, a short walk from the farm. She attended high school in Woodstock, graduating in 1946.

In early 1946, she attended the Firemen’s Ball at the Masonic Temple and met a young Marine who had returned home from the Pacific, Thomas Bradley. They married in November 1946 and went on to raise five children while living on Maple Street. In 1965, the family bought the farm from her parents and moved to Barnard.

While raising five children, Norma always held a job outside the home.

One of her first jobs was as a telephone operator — at a time when operators would actually ask what number you wanted. Over her lifetime, she also worked at the Woodstock Inn, the Vermont National Bank, Cabot’s Furniture Store, and Elsa Ross Antiques until retirement in the late 1980s. She was a lifelong member of the VFW Ladies Auxiliary.

After retirement, Norma and Tom became snow birds and purchased a home in Plant City. They played golf every day, making dozens of friends from all around the country along the way. After Tom’s death in 2014, Norma moved back to Vermont permanently in 2017. She resided at the Homestead for several years before moving to the Mertens House in 2023.

Norma is survived by her two daughters, Barbara Frizzell (Philip, Jr.) and Jayne Straight (Steve Smith); her two sons Robert Bradley (Diane Wood-Bradley) and Steve Bradley (Nancy Haynes); and her grandchildren James Lewis, Jr., Kristine Urban, Tom Frizzell, Matthew Frizzell, Kate Yeutter, Justin Bradley, Jillian Hackett, and Steven Newcomb; many great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her brother-in-law James Lewis.

She was predeceased by her husband, Thomas Bradley, her daughter Karen Lewis, her parents, her sisters Evelyn Hubbard, Dorothy Washburn, and Beverly Lewis, her daughter-in-law Michelle Bradley, and her sons-in-law James Lewis, Sr. and Raymond Straight.

The family would like to thank all the staff at the Homestead and the Mertens House, as well as Bayada, for the kind, exceptional care provided to our mother.

There will be no calling hours. Burial will be at the Veterans Cemetery in Randolph, Vt. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Mertens House.

An online guestbook can be found at https://www.cabotfh.com/.

Peter R. Bailey, 73, passed away on Tuesday February 10, 2026 at Cedar Hill Nursing Home in Windsor, Vt.

Pete was born on Feb. 8, 1953 in Hanover, New Hampshire the son of Raymond and Ethna (George) Bailey.

Pete was employed by the United States Postal Service on Sykes Ave. in White River Jct., beginning in the ‘80s, sorting mail there for many years. He later transferred to the Post Office in Woodstock as a Postal Carrier. He was well known as he enjoyed taking the time to chat and get to know the people on his route and it didn’t matter what the weather was, he loved his job.

Pete enjoyed woodworking, feeding the birds, camping, fishing, card games, taking day trips, and going to many car shows. He was especially proud to show his 1965 VW Beetle to all those interested. Above all Pete enjoyed family and having get-togethers at his home with family and friends. He also enjoyed repairing vehicles and anything that needed fixing around his home.

Pete is survived by his wife of 50 years Dorinne M. Bailey and a son Samuel R. Bailey. In addition to his parents he is pre-deceased by a son Nicholas B. Bailey and a sister Janet B. Smith.

A graveside service is being planned for this coming June.

Those wishing may make donations to David’s House, 461 Mt. Support Road, Lebanon, N.H. 03766.

An online guestbook can be found at cabotfh.com.

Janet Louise Spencer, 62, of Hartland, Vermont, died unexpectedly on Dec. 21, 2025, after being struck by a car. The day marked the winter solstice, which she embraced as a time of returning light and renewal, a meaning that brings comfort to those who loved her.

Janet was a woman of formidable intelligence, exacting standards, deep loyalty, and fierce love. She brought integrity and strength to every part of her life and left a lasting mark on those fortunate enough to be in her orbit. Beneath her formidable exterior lived a mischievous wit, an infectious laugh, and a generous heart that loved deeply and without half measures.

That strength carried into her life and work. Born April 5, 1963, in Windsor, Vt., and raised in Plainfield, N.H., Janet showed early the independence and determination that would define her path. She earned her PhD in Social-Organizational Psychology from Columbia University and began her consulting career at W. Warner Burke Associates, working with clients including NASA and British Airways. She went on to build a distinguished career as a management consultant helping CEOs and senior leaders guide their organizations through complex change. She served as a managing director at Delta Consulting Group and later worked in collaboration with Genesis Advisors while continuing her independent consulting practice. Over the course of her career, she worked globally, developing leaders and advising organizations with her characteristic rigor and insight. Her clients included hundreds of senior executives, many of whom became lasting allies and friends. She co-authored “Executive Teams” and published numerous book chapters on change management and leadership.

Beyond her professional life, Janet cultivated a rich home life. She surrounded herself with books and ideas, cherishing an eclectic library that reflected her wide-ranging curiosity and many journeys. Her homes were warm, layered spaces filled with books, magical touches, home-cooked meals, gardens alive with flowers and pollinators, the happy presence of her beloved dogs, and the easy flow of visiting friends. She returned to New England during her treatment for breast cancer and, after recovering, chose to remain, shaping her Vermont home and farm into a place she loved deeply and where she found renewal near her family and the land where she grew up.

At the center of that life were her relationships. Though quiet by nature, Janet became the gravitational center of a wide circle of friends. During her decades in New York and later in Connecticut and Vermont, she formed a close chosen family bound by love, humor, and shared experiences. These relationships existed alongside her abiding love for her parents, siblings, and their families. Janet could be direct and sometimes sharp-edged, qualities those closest to her recognized as expressions of her deep commitment to truth. She did not always soften her words for colleagues, family, friends, or romantic partners, yet those exchanges often fostered understanding and respect. Beneath that exterior was a deep warmth and generosity that drew people in and held them there. She opened her home and her life to others, caring for the people around her and allowing herself to be cared for in return. Those who knew her best understood that her toughness and tenderness were inseparable.

Janet was predeceased by her parents, Winston F. Spencer and Claudine Mae Spencer. She is survived by her siblings Winston F. Spencer Jr., Patty Spencer, and Sarah Spencer; by her niece Amanda Williams; her nephews Winston F. Spencer III, Christopher Spencer, and Bryan Tibbals; by her former husband, Francis Laros of New York City; and by her cherished friends.

Gatherings to celebrate Janet’s life are planned in Woodstock and New York City in May 2026. Details will be shared at a later date.

Donations in Janet’s memory may be made to the National Bernese Mountain Dog Rescue Network, the Norman Williams Public Library in Woodstock, Vermont, the Vermont 4-H Foundation, or the Vermont Center for Ecostudies. In Janet’s honor, please consider lifelong learning, caring for yourself and others, planting a native tree in your community, and remembering, as she did, not only to count your blessings but to share them.

An online guestbook can be found at cabotfh.com.

It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of Don Fielder, of Stockbridge, Vt. at Gifford Memorial Hospital after a brief illness.

A gathering celebrating Don will be held later this summer.

A full obituary is available online at www.dayfunerals.com.

Marlene Ellen (Gramling) Katz, 74, passed away peacefully at her home on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, surrounded by the love of her family.

Born in Hanover, N.H., on July 14, 1951, Marlene was the daughter of the late Gerard and Nedra (Heselton) Gramling. A 1969 graduate of Woodstock Union High School, she went on to follow her passion for the arts, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Anna Maria College in 1973.

On July 21, 1973, Marlene married the love of her life, Jeffrey W. Katz, in South Woodstock. Together, they shared over 52 years of marriage, navigating the challenges and adventures of military life during Jeffrey’s career as a colonel in the U.S. Airforce.

A gifted musician, Marlene shared her talents by teaching piano and guitar in the mid-1970s. Later in life, she combined her creativity with her career, serving as a Manager for House of Fabrics and Jo-Ann Fabrics from 1990 to 2001. Her hands were rarely still; she was a master of sewing and crafts and found great peace in her garden.

Above all else, Marlene was the ultimate supporter of her children and grandchildren. Whether it was a cold morning at a hockey rink, a sunny afternoon at a soccer or baseball field, or the quiet anticipation of a music concert or play, Marlene was always in the audience. She was her family’s greatest fan and took immense pride in every achievement, big or small.

Marlene is survived by her devoted husband, Jeffrey W. Katz; her three children, Stacy Katz Mortensen, Jonathan Ryan Katz, and Matthew James Katz; and her four cherished grandchildren, Abigail Mortensen, Isabelle Mortensen, Ainsley Katz, and Oliver Katz. She also leaves behind her siblings, Linda White and Phillip Gramling, as well as many beloved nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her brother, David Gramling.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Marlene’s memory to her hospice care providers, who offered such compassionate support: Amedisys Hospice Care (0902) Bedford, N.H.

John L. MacDonald, lifelong resident of Woodstock, passed away peacefully on Jan. 30, 2026. John was born June 2, 1950, in Rutland, Vt., to Leslie J. MacDonald and Elizabeth (Salisbury) MacDonald, who predeceased him. John was very proud to be a true Vermonter.

John lived a full life at “the farm” for all his years, except for college where he attended Castleton State College, pursuing a biology degree, and Boston University, where he studied photography. He was schooled in the Woodstock school system, where his father taught and was also the principal. Many childhood friends were made that remained over his 75 years. 

In his younger days, John hitchhiked across county and landed in North Dakota, where he worked at a large cattle farm owned by his sister-in-law, Carol MacDonald’s family, a memorable experience. He also worked at the Farm and Wilderness Children Camp in Plymouth, Vt., teaching outdoor skills, survival, camping, and outdoor adventures to kids of all ages. Many years later some of those campers would visit him at the farm to reminisce and show admiration. 

John enjoyed farming, known locally for growing the best corn, raising pigs, chickens, and cows. John also worked at the Woodstock Union High School for many years, first driving a school bus and later he began work as a paraprofessional, working with children on a one-on-one basis, he was skilled at this and admired. John enjoyed music, he was a beautiful singer and played guitar. John was well loved by his community and known locally for his stories and yarns, as he would call them. 

He leaves a son, Jamie A. MacDonald of Woodstock; and brothers, Russell K. MacDonald of Richmond Hill, Ga., and Robert G. MacDonald, (Lindy) of Woodstock; along with three nephews and a niece. In addition to his parents, John was predeceased by Russell’s beloved wife, Carol MacDonald.

The family would like to thank the town of Woodstock for caring for and helping John navigate through his dementia, as local community members, including the Woodstock Police and Emergency Services gave a great deal of time and compassion to John. The family is also very grateful to his caregivers, Arnalyn and Michael Asis, for the kindness, attention, and tender care they gave John.

Cabot Funeral Home will be handling the arrangements. The date and time of the service, which will be held at the Episcopal Church in Woodstock, will be announced soon. In lieu of flowers, John would likely want you to give to a Charity of your choice or walk around a summer hayfield and watch the cows, an animal that he particularly cherished.

Jeffrey D. Zayas of Woodstock, passed away on Jan. 28, 2026 at the age of 50 years old. Born April 12, 1975 in Bellows Falls, Vt., to Richard and Linda (Karkut) Zayas he is survived by his wife Amy, and children Keira, Ethan, and Zachary as well as brother Kevin Zayas of Concord, NH and partner Beth, and brother David Zayas and wife Stephanie of Boise, Idaho, along with  several nieces and nephews and extended family members. Jeff was preceded in death by his parents, Richard and Linda. 

He was a graduate of Bellows Falls Union High School and The Gemological Institute of America and a certified Jeweler Gemologist. He began working in the jewelry industry at Harty Jewelers in Bellows Falls, Vt. and then at Stephen L. Singer in New York, N.Y. He had a specialty with estate jewelry at Pearce Jewelers in West Lebanon, N.H. Jeff owned Zayas Jewelers for several years in Woodstock, and was a partner in Beneficial Estate Buyers in Philadelphia, Pa. for many years. 

 Jeff was an avid skier and was a ski patroller for many winters at Okemo Mountain. He also enjoyed hiking, biking, the outdoors, eating out, and trying  new recipes at home. Jeff loved to have fires in the backyard while  listening to his favorite music.  Taking family vacations, especially to Block Island, R.I. and Vieques, Puerto Rico, was one of his favorite things. 

A celebration of life will take place at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Woodstock Foodshelf on his behalf. 

An online guestbook can be found at https://www.cabotfh.com/.

Eileen B. Turgeon, 100, died Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, at Stoughton House in Windsor, with her family at her side.

Eileen was born January 4, 1926, in Windsor, Vt., a daughter of Eli and Mary (Villenue) Robideau. She attended Windsor schools and was married to John J. Turgeon on July 21, 1948, in Windsor. Together they made their home in Windsor, where they raised their family.

Eileen found joy in life’s simple pleasures, including thrifting and scratching lottery tickets. She also enjoyed watching old movies. Her greatest joy, however, came from spending time with her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. 

She was predeceased by her husband, John Turgeon; four brothers, Royal, James, George, and Harold Robideau; and four sisters, Jeanette Alexander, Louise Thomas, Bernadette Young, and Theresa Messier.

She is survived by two daughters, Sandra Anderson (Thomas) of Windsor and Patricia Davis of Springfield, Vt.; five grandchildren, Creed Anderson of Windsor, Vt., Lance Anderson of E. Thetford, Vt., Shannon (Shawn) Larkin of Windsor, Vt., and Kirk (Sara) Anderson from Mt. Martha, Australia, Cochena Davis of Windsor, Vt.; and eight great-grandchildren, William, Noah, Rhys, and Rhett Anderson, Cole Anderson, Kalem Larkin, and Henry and Lucy Anderson.

We would like to express our appreciation to all the staff at Stoughton House that took such good care of our Mother and Bayada Hospice for caring for her.  

A graveside service will be held Wednesday, May 20 at 11 a.m. in Ascutney Cemetery in Windsor. Knight Funeral Home of White River Junction has been entrusted with arrangements. Condolences may be expressed in an online guestbook at knightfuneralhomes.com.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Stoughton House in Windsor, Vt.

By Dan Cotter, Publisher 

Well, my friends, this is my fourth and final article of our 2025 annual appeal. 

Once again, this year, it’s been a privilege to talk directly with you about the mission we’re on at the Vermont Standard and the difficult challenges we face — to ask if you’ll please consider donating to the Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation in support of our efforts to connect our community and keep you informed on issues of public importance.

Today, the main thing I want you to know is that we are proud to work for you.

We know you’re counting on us to be your eyes and ears — filling you in about local government actions that affect you, about local crime, about court cases playing out here, about notable news items and occurrences, the accomplishments of our neighbors and local youth, about developments at our schools, churches, businesses, and charitable or civic organizations, about the happenings and things to do in the local area, and lots more. 

We are the one and only news source that’s entirely focused on our area; reporting news that’s primarily of interest right here. Our work — week in and week out — is entirely dedicated to the welfare of this community. 

That’s the way it’s been here for 172 years. And Phil Camp and I and our small team are now trying to produce a 2025 version of the Vermont Standard that’s the best it has ever been in the paper’s long history.

The Standard is for you. It exists simply to benefit you and your neighbors. We regard this responsibility and the trust you place in us as a badge of honor. We pledge to give it our best. All we’ve got.

As I’ve explained before, the financial pressures we face are intense. And, tragically, various powers that be are trying to exert additional pressure in a sad attempt to undermine the press. By extension, their actions undermine you, the public. That’s nothing new, really, but it’s pretty acute right now. Shame on them.

However, with your donations to keep us afloat, we’re hanging in there, staying strong and getting stronger. We are continuing to work, not only on improving this week’s Vermont Standard, but next month’s and next year’s too, as we attempt to set things up so we can produce high-quality local journalism for the long term. 

We’ll make sure your gift is put to good use as a worthwhile investment in one of the key components of the critical infrastructure that underpins this community.

As a citizen, it’s essential for you to be well-informed. That’s the only way we can have a functioning local democracy and a lively, connected community. As your eyes and ears, we’ll continue to follow the news closely and report it to you in new, better, and more engaging ways as time goes on. 

We hope to make you proud as we strive to do the best community journalism in the country. We believe that’s a realistic goal. This weekend — for the ninth time in the last twelve years — the Standard will once again be a finalist for the honor of being named New England Weekly Newspaper of the Year.

When it comes to journalism, we believe you deserve the absolute best.

We are deeply appreciative of any financial help you can offer in this year’s 2025 annual appeal. In fact, if you’re interested, Phil Camp and I would be very grateful for an opportunity to meet with you in person to talk more about what’s needed and our plans. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at dcotter@thevermontstandard.com or 802-457-1313.

Also — very importantly — if you have a family foundation, please consider adding the Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation (EIN: 93-3287932) to the worthwhile causes you regularly support. We’ll be deeply indebted to you.

The Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation is a public charity, so your gift will be fully tax-deductible. 

If you’re willing to make a tax-deductible donation to our 2025 Annual Appeal, please send a check to PO Box 88, Woodstock, VT 05091, or go to our Vermont Standard THIS WEEK website at thevermontstandard.com to make a contribution with your credit card. Be sure to make your check out to the “Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation.” 

By Dan Cotter, Publisher 

Lord knows, there are lots of fascinating people in our community.

At times, it seems as if every person you meet here in the course of a day is even more interesting than the last one. Sometimes, I marvel at how in the world all these wonderful and impressive folks are either from here or ended up here, in this little corner of Vermont.

Of course, I’m lucky. I get to participate in our story planning meetings at the Standard each week to decide who and what we’re going to write about next. Beyond the breaking news, what feature stories should we write – about which people, which organizations, which businesses?

It’s a joy.

There are always plenty of nominations. And then, even though you think you pretty well know who someone is or what an organization does and stands for, our reporter does a deep dive and provides new insight about them or their work or their cause in an account that’s simply breathtaking. Who knew? Right here among us! 

I often refer to the Vermont Standard as a kind of “glue” for our community. It’s a paper everyone can turn to in order to stay informed about the local news — the goings-on, the things to do. Something to look forward to each week to catch up on the latest. A common experience shared by those who live here or care about this place.

But maybe the best part about the Standard is the way it enables us to connect as a community. The way it helps us get to know each other better by introducing us to that really interesting person who lives next door (sometimes literally). And I’ve found that typically the more impressive people are, the less likely they are to talk about themselves. They’re too modest. So, it takes a nosy reporter to get them to tell their full story.

And the same goes for some of the incredible organizations in the area, including charities, nonprofits, schools, churches, arts organizations, libraries, history centers, and many more. They aren’t always focused on touting or telling their story – about what they do, who they help, what they accomplish. Often, they toil away under the radar. But the Standard is eager to bring their story to the public’s attention. We want to shine a spotlight, applaud their work, and make the folks who might decide to join or support them aware of them.

Soon, we’ll be bringing you those kinds of stories on video too, as we roll out our Headliners and Inside Scoop programs this fall.

The bottom line is that living in a community is much more fulfilling for most of us when we get to know more about the ordinary people among us, who are doing some pretty extraordinary things. Reading about them and their aspirations and accomplishments in the Standard is fun, and, on occasion, when those stories also explain their struggles and failures, their resilience and ultimate triumphs, it can be touching to read, inspiring even. 

These stories help us all feel a deeper sense of kinship with the people and organizations in our midst. They connect us and make us feel that we all truly belong to this beautiful community.

As I said, being this glue that strengthens our connection? It’s a joy.

We are deeply appreciative of any financial help you can offer in this year’s 2025 annual appeal. Our effort to preserve quality journalism for our community is quite urgent, my friends. And Phil Camp and I would be very grateful for an opportunity to meet with you to talk more about what’s needed and our plans. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at dcotter@thevermontstandard.com or (802) 457-1313.

Also, if you have a family foundation, please consider adding the Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation (EIN: 93-3287932) to the worthwhile causes you regularly support.

The Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation is a public charity so your gift will be fully tax-deductible. 

Your donation will be utilized in the form of project grants to support the Vermont Standard’s mission to inform, connect, and educate our community on issues of public importance. 

If you’re willing to make a tax-deductible donation to our 2025 Annual Appeal, please send a check to PO Box 88, Woodstock, VT 05091, or go to our Vermont Standard THIS WEEK website at www.thevermontstandard.com to make a contribution with your credit card. Be sure to make your check out to the “Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation.” 

By Dan Cotter, Publisher

For the past 15-20 years, most local newspapers have been trying to “do more with less” in an effort to survive. And, of course, since that’s not a good long-term strategy, it has put our industry into a slow death spiral.

America has lost 3,200 of its newspapers in that same period of time, and currently, an average of more than two per week go out of business. Hundreds more papers are on life support, as they try to hang on by cutting staff, cutting pages, cutting the frequency of their publishing days, and eliminating their print editions. In their resulting emaciated state, those papers certainly can’t serve the need for local news and information in their communities.

Those withered newspapers are called “ghost papers,” because they are hollowed out shells of their former selves. Technically, they still exist. They continue to survive. But the communities counting on them? Well, they can no longer really count on them.

The handful of hedge funds and corporate raiders that bought up so many of our nation’s newspapers and ruined them wrote the playbook. In their effort to “rightsize” (meaning to dramatically downsize…) their papers in the face of diminishing advertising revenue, they chopped the expenses. Severely.

For newspapers, the primary expense is paying the people who work there. After many rounds of staff cuts, those papers barely cover any news at all, because they no longer have enough people to do it.

And as many of the small independent papers – like the Standard – encountered those same advertising revenue headwinds, lacking a better plan, they began following the same playbook. Consequently, in their efforts to survive, they now f ind themselves in that same never-ending spiral of cost-cutting.

Also, newspapers in that ragged state aren’t able to do the type of development work required to create a sustainable path for the future. In order to survive beyond just this week or this year, news organizations must create new services and revenue streams that will support them long-term. To do that takes time, thought, experimentation, risk-taking, and perseverance.

The beleaguered staff that’s left at most newspapers today simply lacks the energy for that.

“Doing more with less” (and less, and less…) was originally supposed to be a stopgap measure to buy time for newspapers to get their feet under them so they could forge a path to sustainability. Sadly, though, for most, it’s simply become standard operating procedure.

Fortunately, for our community here, the Vermont Standard has not followed that all too popular “survivor” playbook. We’ve never wanted to preside over a slow death march, just to be able to say we’re still publishing, but, in fact, failing to serve the very real need for local news, information, and connection in this community.

Thanks to your financial support, we’ve been able to go another way. Instead of doing more with less, we realize that we – and all local news organizations, especially in today’s political climate – just need to do more. Much more. And while doing that, we also need to create a sustainable path forward so we can live on to serve this community in even better ways for many more years.

Our efforts to survive are actually just the first step towards our real intention, which is to thrive.

In fact, with your help, we’ve upgraded our staff and improved our publication in recent years. The team we have reporting local news is now stronger than ever. They have a good deal of talent and a whole lot of heart, working for ridiculously low wages at this frugal newspaper, yet fueled by such a worthy mission. At the Standard, we haven’t forgotten why we exist in the first place. We are striving to provide wall-to-wall coverage of a steady stream of complex stories that are of great interest and importance to this community we serve.

We’ve also enhanced the look, feel, and utility of our publications.

And we’ve expanded our digital news and information products – we are doing more and more online programming with them. This fall, we are introducing our new series of “Headliners” interviews with local newsmakers that you’ll be able to view on our Vermont Standard THIS WEEK website. Also, we’re introducing a new show called “Inside Scoop”, which will give you an in-depth, insider look at the goings-on at many of the businesses and organizations that make our community so special.

At the Standard, we are trying to save a real newspaper that offers the powerful local journalism our community needs to function properly. Not a ghost paper. The Standard has to be good enough to get the job done now and survive in the long run. “Right-sizing” here does not mean a diminished publication that’s essentially worthless, as it does in so many communities throughout our nation. Here, it means being just big enough to provide the essential local journalism that contributes mightily to the quality of life in our community, and break even.

That’s the kind of Vermont Standard we are trying so hard to preserve, while setting things up so we can provide the quality local journalism our community needs well into the future.

I sincerely hope you’ll join us on this very important mission.

As we begin this year’s 2025 annual appeal, we are deeply appreciative of any financial help you can give us. Our mission is quite urgent, of course, and Phil Camp and I would be very grateful for an opportunity to meet with you to talk more about what’s needed and our plans. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at dcotter@thevermontstandard.com or (802) 457-1313.

Also, if you have a family foundation, please consider adding the Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation (EIN: 933287932) to the worthwhile causes you regularly support.

The Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation is a public charity so your gift will be fully tax-deductible.

Your donation will be utilized in the form of project grants to support the Vermont Standard’s mission to inform, connect, and educate our community on issues of public importance.

If you’re willing to make a tax-deductible donation to our 2025 Annual Appeal, please send a check to PO Box 88, Woodstock, VT 05091, or go to our Vermont Standard THIS WEEK website at thevermontstandard.com to make a contribution with your credit card. Be sure to make your check out to the “Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation.”

By Dan Cotter, publisher

It’s been said that there are very few things in life that you can always count on. But there are indeed a few, and I believe you’re holding one of them in your hands right now (or perhaps reading it on a screen).

For 172 years, the people of Woodstock, Hartland, Pomfret, Barnard, Bridgewater, Reading, West Windsor, Quechee, Plymouth, and the surrounding towns have counted on the Vermont Standard to keep watch on things in order to keep them informed, empowered, and connected. Our columnist, Dave Doubleday, replays some of the top stories of the day that took place 10, 20, 50, 75, or 100 years ago in each installment of his brilliant “Olde Woodstock” feature. It’s amazing and quite reassuring that people here were reading this same paper all those years ago simply to find out what’s happening.

Just as you are today.

All this time, citizens – informed by the Standard — were able to fully participate in their local democracy as our area progressed to the state it’s in today. What a huge responsibility it must have been, and still is today, to produce this newspaper each week. To prepare a quality news report to help readers experience and enjoy day-to-day life here and make good decisions for their community.

It’s the honor of a lifetime to be entrusted with this responsibility. The Standard has a small crew of talented, fair-minded, and underpaid journalists doggedly pursuing their mission week in and week out — trying to produce an interesting local news report that will inform, educate, and entertain the people who live here. It’s a “weekly miracle.” We start with a blank page each Wednesday afternoon, and we work tirelessly to pursue stories and produce the very best finished publication we can by the following Wednesday, so that it will be in your mailbox or at the store for you on Thursday.

In the century and a three-quarters that this paper has existed, this is our time, and our team is attempting to make a proud contribution to its legacy.

Ours certainly isn’t the easiest time to be a journalist in the Standard’s and our community’s history. This is a time of transition, when traditional forms of funding for local journalism have waned. Now, we have not only to strive to produce an excellent news report each week, but we also have to hold our breath that we’ll even be able to stay afloat.

An average of more than two newspapers fold in the U.S. each week (3,200 have vanished in the past twenty years!), leaving their communities without this kind of “glue” – without the common experience of reading in print or online about issues that affect them and their neighbors and a comprehensive set of facts for all to know about what’s happening in their local area each week.

Making matters worse, hundreds of other towns throughout the nation now only have a “ghost newspaper” that is so financially compromised it can barely cover any local news in its meager news product.

Some people – perhaps taking a page from the playbook being used at the national level – might prefer that ours was a weaker, sleepier paper and that they could exert some kind of pressure to compromise the Standard’s coverage.

But they’re mistaken. It hasn’t worked in 172 years, and we won’t let it happen now. Count on it.

We’ve had many complex (and interesting!) local stories to cover just in this past year — news that people here are counting on us to follow and explain. From the Woodstock Foundation lawsuit, to school policy, budget and reorganization issues, to Peace Field Farm, to the water company purchase, to short-term rental ordinances, to the police chief demotion, to the proposed cell phone tower and farm outlet store in Hartland, to the ECFiber case, to the ongoing housing and child care shortages, to the impact of federal funding cuts on local organizations. And we’ve had many milestones and achievements to celebrate, from our football state championship team, to our local priest’s 50^th anniversary of his ordination, to the resurgence of Bookstock, to local artists and authors who released their latest works, to this year’s graduates, to a pair of brothers who achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, to the dedication and resilience shown by those remarkable protesters in Woodstock. Even the announcement of plans for a new performing arts center, and the sighting of low-flying military planes over Woodstock. Those stories aren’t easy or inexpensive to cover, but like the journalists at the Standard who were our predecessors throughout those many, many years, it’s our solemn responsibility to inform the public about the public’s business, the very best we can.

Indeed, we can, primarily because we now have the support of hundreds of residents and readers who truly understand and value what quality local journalism does — and has always done — for our community here. They respond to our annual appeal each year. They keep us afloat. They keep us encouraged. They harden our resolve to try ever harder to serve this community and this local democracy. We count on all of you.

Oftentimes, I’ve asked individual donors, “What can we possibly do to thank you for your generosity?” And, to a person, they always say, “Just keep putting out a darn good newspaper.”

In appreciation for you, our friends, the Standard has only one single objective and guiding light going forward: to keep trying to put out a better and better paper each week in service to this community.

You can count on us.

As we begin this year’s annual appeal, we are deeply appreciative of any financial help you can give us. Our mission is quite urgent, of course, and Phil Camp and I would be very grateful for an opportunity to meet with you to talk more about what’s needed and our plans. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at dcotter@thevermontstandard.com or (802) 457-1313.

We sincerely hope you’ll join us in our mission by contributing to this year’s 2025 annual appeal.

Also, if you have a family foundation, please consider adding the Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation (EIN: 93-3287932) to the worthwhile causes you regularly support.

The Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation is a public charity so your gift will be fully tax-deductible.

Your donation will be utilized in the form of project grants to support the Vermont Standard’s mission to inform, connect, and educate our community on issues of public importance.

If you’re willing to make a tax-deductible donation to our 2025 Annual Appeal, please send a check to PO Box 88, Woodstock, VT 05091, or go to our Vermont Standard THIS WEEK website at www.thevermontstandard.com to make a contribution with your credit card. Be sure to make your check out to the “Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation.”

By Dan Cotter, publisher

A huge sigh of relief and a fist pump were my first reactions, as well as a gaze skyward as I mouthed the words “thank you!” The tears welling up in my older friend’s eyes were his response when I told him.

Then we shared a long, hard hug.

After lots of research and preparation, and then six months of waiting for the application to be processed, Phil Camp and I recently learned that the IRS has approved the Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation’s application for tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) and deemed the Foundation to be a public charity.

The approval wasn’t in much doubt, really. But now it’s official.

The Foundation was established last August and it is primarily dedicated to preserving the Vermont Standard and its role in informing citizens and supporting democracy in our area well into the future. The Foundation has a board made up of local residents who care deeply about our community and the value local journalism provides. Phil and I are on the board too. Together, we’re working to keep the 171-year-old Vermont Standard going while taking steps to position the paper’s print and digital journalism for long-term sustainability.

Recognizing the critical role the Standard plays in informing and connecting our community, this Foundation wants to avoid letting our area become a “news desert,” as has happened in hundreds of other places throughout the US in recent years. Newspapers like the Standard are currently dying off at a pace of 2.5 per week. Nor do we want to end up like the hundreds of cities and towns where profit-seeking corporations that have no devotion to the public welfare have acquired their local paper and stripped it of its resources, to the point that it is only a pathetic shadow of its former self and incapable of doing its job.

Providing accurate, credible, reliable news and information to its audience is a local news organization’s primary role. A functioning democracy requires an informed, engaged public. The Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation’s board members, advisors and friends will help Phil and I in our mission to raise enough money to keep quality journalism flowing here.

So, I’m glad to report that any donation you’ve made to the Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation to support the Standard’s mission to inform, connect, and educate our community on issues of public importance is indeed tax-deductible dating back to the inception of the Foundation in late August 2023, as all donations will be going forward.

At 88 years old, Phil feels a real sense of urgency about making sure that our community will always have local journalism – especially given the 40+ years he’s dedicated to leading the paper and his unrivaled love for Woodstock and its surrounding towns. We know we’re in a race against the clock. But now, with the Foundation’s charity status and your tax deduction confirmed, we hope there will be even more support from donors and family foundations that will help us accomplish this very important mission.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your encouragement and generosity. If you would like to contribute to our Annual Appeal, please send us a check at PO Box 88, Woodstock, VT 05091, or go to our Vermont Standard THIS WEEK website at https://thevermontstandard.com/annual-appeal/ to make a contribution with your credit card. Please be sure to make your check out to the “Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation.”

“View From Here”

By Sandy Gilmour, Woodstock resident

If you are reading this column right now, that’s good news for the community. It means you probably paid for this paper, hard copy or online, maybe even made a donation to it, and value its contribution to our lives in Woodstock and surrounding areas. We are so fortunate to have the Vermont Standard week in and week out. For years, small-town dailies and weeklies have been closing their doors, leaving communities without a soul. Papers like the Standard are dying off at the rate of two per week across America. 

Such towns are called “news deserts.” Imagine weeks, months and years going by with no professional reporting on selectboards, trustees, school boards, taxes and roads. Zero stories about public school events, sports, student accomplishments, obituaries, gardening tips, neighborly cooking advice, local history, and no reports from towns from Brownsville to Pomfret. 

We would know next to nothing about the interminable Peace Field Farm restaurant delay, the Ottauquechee Trail head fiasco, the high-stakes Woodstock Foundation controversy and the fatal shooting off Central Street, including the bravery of Woodstock Police Sgt. Joe Swanson. In my view, these stories have been really well reported. 

To not get these stories delivered to us every week would be a news desert right in verdant Woodstock, for sure, a gaping hole left to be filled by rumor and mis- and dis-information, the precursors of community dissolution. So we are blessed indeed to have had the Vermont Standard around — nonstop — since 1853, and owned by beloved Woodstocker Phil Camp, now 87, since 1981. 

But as Mr. Camp has pointed out many times over the years, the paper’s solvency hangs on a thread and now more than ever. In hundreds of towns across America, owners, beleaguered by losing subscribers and advertising to social media, simply folded or sold out to hedge funds and private equity firms, whose investors are bereft of community values. Not Phil Camp. He has always said, “I never sold out. I’m never giving up.” He made up for past deficits (difference between expenses, like staff, and income from subscriptions and ads) out of company savings from better times, week after week. He stayed with it after being flooded out by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 and being burned out by the Central Street fire of 2018 (taking out his camera and snapping photos of the flames and rubble).

The paper was in dire straits when COVID hit, saved by the forgiven federal PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loans through 2021, when the largesse ended. Then beginning in January 2022, the community stepped up, responding to a fundraising appeal. I was rather stunned to learn from the Standard’s publisher, Dan Cotter, that the paper’s annual shortfall of $150,000-$200,000 is being covered by donations from local Woodstock residents. There are many (and appreciated) donations in the $50-$100-$200 range, but really heavy lifting is being done by donors of means who, Mr. Cotter says, highly value the contribution local journalism makes to communities. Several of these more-than-generous and anonymous donors contribute $20-25,000 and more — each — and, Mr. Cotter says, without any hint of trying to influence coverage. Without them, surely there would be no Vermont Standard in the mailbox or online, just the unreliable grapevine. At the same time, the paper is moving to create other revenue streams, including an online advertising app for Woodstock happenings and a magazine, in addition to improving thevermontstandard.com website for go-to news. 

Still, the operation is bare bones. It seems to me a miracle the paper “hits the streets” without fail every Thursday with some pretty good and important stories that we need to know about, and many features that are good to know about. And there are just two, count them, two, full-time staffers who report stories: the seasoned and prolific Tom Ayres, and Tess Hunter, who is also the managing editor. Ms. Hunter says reporter staffing is the big issue; she has on hand freelance contract reporters that can be assigned to stories if they are available and if they want to spend the evening at yet another unexciting if important selectboard meeting. “It’s a constant juggling act,” Ms. Hunter told me, “between finding the right person for the story and just getting people to say ‘yes.’” Still, she is committed, saying, “Without us making the attempt, there would be no common base of understanding and little sense of the community spirit of the area or the hard news happening within it.”

Volunteer contributors are crucial; regular community writers like Jennifer Falvey (insightful musings on life) and Kurt Stauder (pointed political observations) are popular. Mary Lee Camp’s business column is relentlessly informative. 

Other key staff are listed in the box below — lean and spare!

Publisher and editorial content director Dan Cotter, 64, hired by Mr. Camp in 2018 after years of informal consulting for the Standard, is not a household name in Woodstock, though he is hands-on every issue. He owns a condo in the area and is here about half the month, returning to his home and wife in Chicago for the remainder. He has decades in the industry as an executive and consultant, was head of the New England Newspaper and Press Association, and takes a no-nonsense hard line on newspaper independence and objectivity. It’s an unusual situation but Mr. Camp, still the president of the company, has total confidence in Mr. Cotter and has turned over the Vermont Standard, its operation, assets and its future, to his close friend. Mr. Camp has indeed not “given up,” but hopes to ensure his dear newspaper’s future with this arrangement. 

So where does the Standard go now? Around the country, journalists are reinventing newspapers and online reporting. The most promising seems to be the non-profit model, where deductible contributions from community-minded supporters can be made even as the publication accepts subscription fees and what advertising there is left. There are indications that the Standard is moving in this direction, and the sooner the better, in my view. When I pressed Publisher Cotter on the issue, he responded with this very encouraging comment: 

“In the past couple of years, members of the community have literally kept the Standard alive with their donations — and a handful of them have given very substantial sums, even without the benefit of a tax break. That’s how much they value the role our local journalism plays in the quality of life in our area. We are working now to put the paper on a path to where donors could indeed have a tax benefit. For it is essential to our democracy and our own survival that we have the financial support we need from the community to maintain a news organization — modest as it is — that’s capable of producing good local journalism that adequately informs our citizens.”

I can’t imagine Woodstock without the Vermont Standard. The new business model provides great hope the paper will not only survive but as a Woodstock-based non-profit, continue to expand coverage to benefit all of us in this great community. 

Note: This (unpaid) column originated with me alone! 

Sandy Gilmour is a retired NBC News correspondent who lives in Woodstock.

Throughout the country newspapers are in a fight for their lives.          Here too.

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