Archive - Jul 2009
July 23rd
MIDDLEBURY — The Addison County Parent/Child Center’s programs helping young parents have long been replicated in similar centers throughout Vermont and the nation.
Now the center — celebrating its 30th birthday — may see some of its techniques exported to South Korea, a nation struggling to even acknowledge, let alone lend a hand to, unwed mothers.
MIDDLEBURY—A group of elderly women mingled in the late afternoon sunlight, all giggling heartily behind hands raised to cover their mouths.
They were engaging in something called “naughty laughter,” in which they playfully scolded each other while laughing.
It was an exercise in the second of six laughter yoga classes held this summer at Middlebury Commons Senior Housing.
July 22nd
A weekly blog about everything from farming food to cooking it
Last week my friends in Burlington invited me to the Vermont Brewers Festival. I didn’t know much about it and I had my doubts about the safety of an open yard full of kegs and beer-lovers, not to mention the $25 entry fee. But Ricky, who has been brewing beer for the past two years, assured me that it would be worth it. I’ve learned to trust him in all matters that concern beer, so I closed my eyes and clicked “submit payment” on the online ticketing site.
July 21st
In the face of dismal prices for the state’s non-organic dairy farmers, New Haven’s state Rep. Christopher Bray says the ‘Farm to Plate’ legislation passed this past legislative session may be the most important bill approved in the past decade that has to do with food or agriculture. Why is Bray so optimistic about legislation the average Vermonter has never heard of? Because the initiative encourages Vermont’s local food production to grow from what is now just 3 percent of the food consumed in the state to 20 percent in the next decade.
July 20th
ADDISON COUNTY — The Vermont Scenery Preservation Council (VSPC) has recommended that key stretches of roads in four Addison County communities be included in the Lake Champlain Byway network, a designation that could bring more tourists and new federal aid for physical improvements to those areas.
The VSPC has specifically recommended that Route 7 in Ferrisburgh; Route 30 in Middlebury; Route 30 in Cornwall; and Route 73 and Mt. Independence Road in Orwell all be given a “Byway” designation, which carries national recognition.
RIPTON — The town of Ripton will soon welcome a new face to its selectboard for the first time in almost a quarter-century.
The unusual vacancy is being created by Selectman Bill Ford’s resignation, which takes effect on Sept. 1. That date that will usher in a new era in Ripton municipal government, but also mark the demise of a longstanding triumvirate, the members of which have served together as the town’s legislative body since 1986. Ford, Laurie Cox and Ron Wimett all joined the Ripton selectboard at the same time.
BRISTOL — A father-daughter sock hop? No thanks, say one Bristol dad and his daughter.
Tim and Molly Eaton, 50 and 18, respectively, prefer to do their bonding at 230 miles an hour, 8,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean.
That’s how the two experienced a day in the life of a fighter pilot, through a program called Air Combat U.S.A. The program let the pair — both flight enthusiasts — pilot SIAI Marchetti SF-260 jets through air combat maneuvers with the assistance of trained fighter pilots.
NEW HAVEN — Naomi Wimberley-Hartman and her four-legged dance partner had never performed together before. Nevertheless, the pair spring through serpentines and circles in intricate movements, each footfall perfectly in sync with one another.
It is only the second day of rehearsal, but the dancers — one human and one a horse — move like professionals.
And they should. The two are members of the New Haven-based Equine Dance Company, which for several years has put on shows combining human and equine dancing.
