Seven Days, September 9, 2020 by Seven Days

LESSON PLANS

Teachers prep for a strange year

V ER MON T’S INDE P ENDE NT V OI C E SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020 VOL.25 NO.50 SEVENDAYSVT.COM

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VERMONTERS Fleeing COVID-19, newcomers find temporary — or permanent — refuge in the Green Mountains BY CHEL SEA EDGAR, COU RTNEY L AMDIN & S AS H A GO L D S TE IN, PAGE 2 4

IMPERFECT STORM

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New poetry from Scudder Parker

SKINNY LOVE

NORTHERN COMFORT Southerner seeks solace in Vermont PA G E 32

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VT resto fights food insecurity

ART HOP GUIDE

See what’s new inside

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WEEK IN REVIEW SEPTEMBER 2-9, 2020

FILE: JAMES BUCK

COMPILED BY SASHA GOLDSTEIN, MATTHEW ROY & ANDREA SUOZZO

emoji that COOKIE MONSTER

A thief made off with dozens of cookies and other items during a weekend burglary at a Grand Isle baked-goods stand. Follow the crumbs…

That’s the number of votes by which Sen. Chris Pearson (P/D-Chittenden) defeated June Heston in the Chittenden Senate district’s Democratic primary as confirmed by a recount — 17 fewer than originally tallied and reported.

TOPFIVE

MOST POPULAR ITEMS ON SEVENDAYSVT.COM

PEEP THE VEEP

For the third year in a row, Vice President Mike Pence took a Labor Day weekend trip to Lake Hortonia. Did he abide by Vermont’s quarantine rules?

DEPARTING SHOTS

Interim police chief Jennifer Morrison at a protest this summer

Jennifer Morrison told officials this week that she won’t return to work as Burlington’s interim police chief, citing frustrations that city councilors “are more interested in social activism than good governance.” Morrison, who has been out since June, outlined the reasons behind her decision in a letter to Mayor Miro Weinberger on Sunday, about a month before she was to return from an unpaid leave to care for her husband, who received a stem-cell transplant this summer. “This journey has proved uncertain, prone to dramatic shifts, and exhausting,” Morrison wrote. “It would be easy to just walk away by saying that our medical situation doesn’t allow me to return, but that would not be the whole truth.” Morrison wrote that the council’s decision in June to reduce Burlington police staffing by 30 percent through attrition solidified her decision. Hundreds of racial justice advocates called for the cuts in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by police in Minneapolis. The activists demanded that Burlington instead fund social services and other programs that help people of color. Morrison has also criticized city councilors on social media. “No thought or expertise went into the decisions in BTV,” Morrison commented in a since-deleted Facebook

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802nice

SASHA GOLDSTEIN

At Curbside Connected last month

post. Councilors “have no expertise in public safety - only aggressive social activism platforms spoon fed by national organizations.” City Council President Max Tracy (P-Ward 2) said Morrison’s decision was probably for the best, since her letter indicates “she’s not prepared to work with the city council” to carry out reforms. “The letter doesn’t seem to recognize the crucial context of the impact systemic racism is having on people of color in our community,” Tracy said. “I don’t know how you look at the last several years in the city and see what’s been going on at BPD and don’t think that something has to change.” Morrison’s decision comes as the city faces unprecedented pressure to fire three Burlington cops accused of violent actions. Demonstrators have literally camped out in Battery Park — next to police headquarters — for nearly two weeks. Weinberger has threatened to have police ticket protesters if they don’t break camp. Deputy Chief Jon Murad, who has served as acting chief in Morrison’s absence, will continue in that role until the city names a permanent chief, according to Weinberger. The search is expected to begin in April 2021. Read Courtney Lamdin’s full story, and Morrison’s letter, on sevendaysvt.com.

SHARE THE ROAD

A new agreement will allow Vermonters with a driver’s license to also get one in Taiwan, without taking a written or road test. Great, if we can ever travel again.

AIR SCARE

Two passengers survived a small plane crash last week at the Morrisville-Stowe State Airport. The single-engine Cessna did not.

1. “Police Arrest Man Who Carried AR-15 Near BTV Protests” by Derek Brouwer. Police arrested a Winooski man for violating his conditions of release by standing with a rifle near Burlington protesters in Battery Park. 2. “Burlington Protests Intensify With March to Mayor’s Home” by Derek Brouwer. Last Friday evening racial justice protesters took their demonstration to the home of Mayor Miro Weinberger. 3. “Burlington Police Commissioner Hughes Resigns in Frustration” by Courtney Lamdin. Mark Hughes said he quit the citizen-led board because it is powerless and ineffective. 4. “Board Approves Burton’s Plan to Bring Higher Ground to Burlington” by Courtney Lamdin. Last week the South Burlington music venue came one step closer to finding a new home. 5. “A Student’s Arrest in St. Albans Fuels Debate Over Police in Schools” by Derek Brouwer. A school resource officer used a slur against a teen with a developmental disability.

tweet of the week @ShadowMayorBTV Thinking how if I ever get seven days tweet of the week I’m deleting my account FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SEVENDAYSVT OUR TWEEPLE: SEVENDAYSVT.COM/TWITTER

WHAT’S KIND IN VERMONT

WINDOW TO THE WORLD

Shortly after the coronavirus hit in March, Vermont began releasing nonviolent inmates from prison in an attempt to stop the spread of the disease in the crowded facilities. That meant that many of Joanne Nelson’s clients were back on the streets, often without adequate supplies, food or even housing. Nelson is director of the justice and mentoring programs at Mercy Connections, which helps women who are or have been incarcerated. With food shelves and other social service organizations overwhelmed by the economic impact of the pandemic, Nelson and the volunteers at the Burlington nonprofit came up with a way to meet their clients’ basic needs. Every

Wednesday, they open the front window of the organization’s offices on South Champlain Street and run a free pop-up bodega. There’s food, hand sanitizer, masks, deodorant, toothbrushes, even prepaid cellphones and fresh flowers and art kits. Most importantly, Nelson said, there’s conversation and, yes, connections. “When they come, they feel more human; they feel engaged,” Nelson said. “They might initially feel embarrassed, but maybe not. And when they get the food, we know it’s helping their nutrition and they can make their budgets last. And then we’re finding out about people living in cars, which is nothing new, but it’s a higher number during COVID.” Nelson launched Curbside Connected on July 1 and served about 25 people that day. While it’s intended for those who use Mercy’s

services, which include educational programs and entrepreneurship training, Nelson said the organization won’t turn anyone away. About 67 incarcerated or formerly incarcerated women are in the mentorship program. Word has spread, and the event now serves about 40 people each week. But the offerings have increased, too. Nelson said the organization is expecting to secure about $49,000 in federal CARES Act dollars that it can use for the bodega and a weekly food-share program for about a dozen former inmates. “So many of our participants … are saying, ‘I was afraid to leave my apartment. I came out, and now I feel so much better,’” Nelson said. “The isolation-buster component of these programs is really important.” SASHA GOLDSTEIN

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

HOPPY BIRTHDAY. / Pamela Polston, Paula Routly  Paula Routly   Cathy Resmer  

Don Eggert, Pamela Polston, Colby Roberts

NEWS & POLITICS  Matthew Roy   Sasha Goldstein   Candace Page   Derek Brouwer, Colin Flanders,

Paul Heintz, Courtney Lamdin, Kevin McCallum

ARTS & LIFE  Pamela Polston   Margot Harrison   Dan Bolles, Elizabeth M. Seyler   Jordan Adams   Kristen Ravin    Carolyn Fox   Jordan Barry, Chelsea Edgar,

FEEDback READER REACTION TO RECENT ARTICLES

CORRECTION

The photo illustrating last week’s WTF column was not of an emerald ash borer. This is what the invasive insect looks like.

Margaret Grayson, Melissa Pasanen, Ken Picard, Sally Pollak  Carolyn Fox, Elizabeth M. Seyler   Katherine Isaacs, Marisa Keller D I G I TA L & V I D E O   Andrea Suozzo    Bryan Parmelee    Eva Sollberger   James Buck DESIGN   Don Eggert   Rev. Diane Sullivan   John James  Jeff Baron, Kirsten Thompson SALES & MARKETING    Colby Roberts    Michael Bradshaw   Robyn Birgisson,

Michelle Brown, Logan Pintka

 &   Corey Grenier  &   Katie Hodges A D M I N I S T R AT I O N   Marcy Carton    Matt Weiner   Jeff Baron CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Luke Baynes, Justin Boland, Alex Brown, Chris Farnsworth, Rick Kisonak, Jacqueline Lawler, Amy Lilly, Bryan Parmelee, Jim Schley, Julia Shipley, Molly Zapp CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS Luke Awtry, Harry Bliss, James Buck, Rob Donnelly, Luke Eastman, Caleb Kenna, Sean Metcalf, Matt Mignanelli, Marc Nadel, Tim Newcomb, Oliver Parini, Sarah Priestap, Kim Scafuro, Michael Tonn, Jeb Wallace-Brodeur C I R C U L AT I O N : 3 5 , 0 0 0 Seven Days is published by Da Capo Publishing Inc. every Wednesday. It is distributed free of charge in greater Burlington, Middlebury, Montpelier, Northeast Kingdom, Stowe, the Mad River Valley, Rutland, St. Albans, St. Johnsbury, White River Junction and Plattsburgh, N.Y.

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SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

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COURTESY OF DEBBIE MILLER/U.S. FOREST SERVICE/BUGWOOD.ORG

THIS BUGS ME

Having earned a college degree with an emphasis in entomology, I wanted you to know that the photo of the insect in your most recent WTF column [“Why Does the Electric Bill Have an Emerald Ash Borer Charge?” September 2] is actually not of that insect. The ash borer is a beetle of the Buprestidae family. The photo is actually of a tiger beetle — family Carabidae, subfamily Cicindelinae. Tiger beetles are active predators and found in sunny areas with porous, sandy soils. Mark Waskow

BARRE

SCAMMING ST. ALBANS?

[Re “A Student’s Arrest in St. Albans Fuels Debate Over Public Schools,” September 2]: Bravo, Seven Days. The parents and taxpayers have a right to know what goes on in our schools. Unfortunately, the only thing the city of St. Albans accomplished here was educating every kid in the state that all you have to do to get a big payoff is verbally abuse a public official until they lose their cool. Jim Bremer

SOUTH BURLINGTON

HIGHER GROUND ZERO

[Re Off Message: “Board Approves Burton’s Plan to Bring Higher Ground to Burlington,” September 1]: Reading about the Development Review Board approving the permit for Higher Ground, I noticed it said: “The company had agreed to hire flaggers if traffic volumes proved unmanageable after the first 10 events.” The DRB has added 20 conditions to be met — what are they? Why would we wait to see how things are after 10 shows? It also says members of the public

WEEK IN REVIEW

TIM NEWCOMB

one else volunteers. I started one long ago; maybe it’s time to finish it. Tell me where you see murals: donpeabody@ aya.yale.edu. Don Peabody & Lianna Tennal

VERGENNES

MORAN ON MORAN

[Re Off Message: “Burlington to Officially Break Ground on Moran Plant,” August 18; “Burlington Officials Celebrate as Work Begins on Moran Plant,” August 19]: I loved seeing the FRAME project come to be and am glad that Mayor Miro Weinberger — who said it will “transform what has been up until now an eyesore into an iconic landmark” — will now be able to be relieved. Funny, I think the hole in the middle of downtown is a much bigger offender. Not to mention the fenced-off Memorial Auditorium. Bigger fish to fry, Mayor. Bigger fish to fry. can “weigh in” after six months on how things are going. If the neighbors find the club and the traffic too much, and it’s a common problem for them and for local police, has the DRB left those loopholes in the agreement? I’ve seen the one-lane bridge at Queen City Park Road, and I’ve heard many complaints about traffic from the residents of Home Avenue. It is just over the line from South Burlington, so they are powerless, and the Burlington police are usually busy a mile or two north. I suggest we allow South Burlington to set conditions for this project, since in practice it will be the one that must deal with the problems. How could the Burlington police take this on? Can a deal be made? Or should we wait to see how the first 10 shows go? If traffic piles up on Home Avenue and the one-lane bridge is regularly overwhelmed, should we wait six months? How do people in those neighborhoods feel about this development? Charlie Messing

BURLINGTON

WELCOME TO VERMONT

Paula Routly’s “College Try” letter [From the Publisher, August 19] is exemplary thinking above exemplary writing. A fundamental of native Vermonters’ culture that she has assimilated is: “Vermonters work with you, not for you.” That is also the essence of fellow native Vermonter Gov. Phil Scott’s pandemic program. Its exemplary success attests to Vermont’s uniqueness. Howard Fairman

PUTNEY

Sean Moran

MORE MURALS

Hooray for the Burlington City Council’s Parks, Arts and Culture Committee [“Committee Agrees Artist Should Touch Up Her Downtown Mural,” August 17]. And thank you, Gina Carrera, for modeling some stand-up-for-your-rights behavior. My wife, Lianna, and I always appreciated Carrera’s art as we encountered it about town. It’s good to hear restoration will occur. While the Burlington City Council is at it, how about mandating the return of some happiness to the deadly dull walls of the Marketplace Garage, too? We were shocked and offended when Carrera’s lighthearted, fantastical denizens of the deep were wiped off those walls without so much as a fare-thee-well. Art is so common in Burlington, we often don’t even see it. That’s especially true of murals: There’s one on Center Street — by Rachel Nevitt and Spectrum Youth & Family Services — on the backside of Simon’s Downtown Quick Stop; there’s artfully applied paintwork on the back of the Handy’s Service Center garage at the corner of Bank and South Winooski; there’s a fabulous face — flanked by matching tsunamis? — on a blocky brick building at Pine and Locust; and there’s a waterfront scene on the Lyman Building by Perkins Pier. Not to mention the movable “murals” of the train yard. There’s more around town that deserves preservation. How about it, Burlington? Has anyone done an inventory? Burlington City Arts? I’ll do it if no

SHELBURNE

PROHIBITION TIME?

[Re “Tipples To-Go,” July 21]: Nobody wants to address the elephant in the room regarding COVID-19 hot spots: public consumption of alcohol. The reason people want to drink socially is to relax, to lower inhibitions and to talk loudly in a noisy environment. That is directly counter to social distancing. The thing state governors, presidents and premiers worldwide are afraid to say is that we need a form of prohibition until a vaccine makes it moot. I’ll wager that they don’t even want to get caught on video uttering that word. It does seem unfair that owners of businesses that depend on social drinking should bear the negative consequences, but it is the virus driving reality, not policy. Dick Mills

SOUTH BURLINGTON

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contents SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020 VOL.25 NO.50

COLUMNS

SECTIONS

34 43 50 52 77

19 40 48 52 54 57

Bottom Line Side Dishes Album Reviews Movie Review Ask the Reverend

FOOD

Life Lines Food + Drink Music + Nightlife Movies Classes Classifieds + Puzzles 72 Fun Stuff 76 Personals

The Skinny With planned growth on hold, the Skinny Pancake doubles down on strengthening local food systems

PAGE 40

ART HOP GUIDE See what’s new inside

STUCK IN VERMONT

VERMONTERS

Online Thursday

PAGE 2 4

COVER DESIGN REV. DIANE SULLIVAN

NEWS & POLITICS 11

ARTS NEWS 20

FEATURES 24

From the Publisher

Pastoral Pastimes

The Afro-Green Future

Test Case

Manchester “outbreak” is still a riddle as use of rapid COVID-19 tests spreads

Mission Impossible?

Teachers express concern, uncertainty as high-stakes school year begins

Safe as Lightning by Scudder Parker

Getting the Words Out Both Sides Now

Opera Company of Middlebury to record a micro-opera with a social justice theme

In July, the pandemic prompted Joanna Burgess and her husband, Noah Sussman, to move from a 695-square-foot Manhattan apartment to one in Derby that’s twice as big — and costs almost a third less.

SUPPORTED BY:

An ex-urban Southerner finds safety, solace and family history in Vermont

Dog Day

Vermonting: An island in the sun and pup-friendly fun in St. Albans

Unreality Bites

The Glare by Margot Harrison

Through the Cracks

We have

Find a new job in the classifieds section on page 65 and online at sevendaysvt.com/jobs.

A brief survey of overlooked albums

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8/24/20 2:38 PM

and Stayin’ Alive!

Seven Days staff went to the edge — of the Winooski River — to document the paper’s pandemic, er, silver anniversary. A quarter century in, the group is masked but unabashed! So, who are all these people?

FRONT ROW, FROM LEFT: Cathy Resmer, James Buck SECOND ROW, FROM LEFT: Elizabeth Seyler, Pamela Polston, Don Eggert, Michael Bradshaw, Paula Routly, Chelsea Edgar THIRD ROW, FROM LEFT: Jeff Baron, Diane Sullivan, Andrea Suozzo, Robyn Birgisson, Mookie, Dan Bolles, Carolyn Fox, Jordan Barry, Margaret Grayson, Sasha Goldstein, Sally Pollak, Alison Novak, Courtney Lamdin, Kevin McCallum BACK ROW, FROM LEFT: Kirsten Thompson, Corey Grenier, Jordan Adams, John James, Matt Weiner, Bryan Parmelee, Margot Harrison, Marcy Carton, Rizzo, Kaitlin Montgomery, Logan Pintka, Moxie, Matthew Roy, Katie Hodges, Michelle Brown, Colin Flanders, Ken Picard, Derek Brouwer MISSING: Paul Heintz, Candace Page, Kristen Ravin, Eva Sollberger, Colby Roberts And endless gratitude to our trusty delivery technicians: Harry Applegate, Monica Ashworth, Joe and Pat Bouffard, Colin Clary, Elana Coppola-Dyer, Donna Delmoora, Matt Hagen, Nat Michael, Bill Mullins, Dan Nesbitt, Dan Thayer PHOTO: James Buck

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

FROM THE PUBLISHER

I used to say that the six weeks leading up to the first issue of Seven Days, on September 6, 1995, represented the hardest stretch of my life. Now, mid-pandemic, I’m not so sure. The challenge of starting this labor-intensive local media company was assembling the pieces within a compressed amount of time: funding, office space, people, sales, production and distribution. The order of the steps was important — each one built on the one before — but the process wasn’t as simple as crossing things off a list. It was like building an orchestra, the parts of which were meant to swell into a decentsounding symphony. But the musicians had never played together. Neither Pamela Polston nor I had ever held a baton. And we were attempting to perform on a set date that had been widely publicized. Adding to the pressure: recognizing faces in the audience. That is, we were spending other people’s money and hiring employees without knowing how long we could afford to pay them. A few folks didn’t like the music, including my then-husband, but other spectators filled their empty seats. Pretty soon we needed a bigger concert hall. The digital archive on our website includes the contents of every Seven Days since the inaugural issue. Reviewing 25 years of cover images recalls the weekly struggle behind each one of them: finding a dozen or so good story ideas, convincing people to report and photograph them, making the result readable and visually appealing. And, of course, selling enough advertising to pay for it all. On top of those fundamental publishing challenges were so many others over the years: staffing up, quality control, collections, getting ad agencies to take us seriously. Circa 2000, we got caught up in the world wide web. While it facilitated fact-finding and made Seven Days accessible to readers everywhere, the internet threatened our business model in every possible way. Craigslist, Match.com, indeed, cars.com and others targeted our classifieds, personals, employment and retail advertising. Heeding the warning “If you’re not on the web, you don’t exist,” we pushed ourselves to keep up with the digital arms race, feverishly adapting our original content to be deliverable on multiple platforms. Today we’re breaking news at sevendaysvt.com, as well as showcasing videos we’ve produced,

linking to public records databases we’ve built, and promoting virtual job fairs and home-buying seminars we’ve organized. It’s hard to imagine what we’d do without all this connectivity — especially since it’s enabled us to continue producing a finely crafted newspaper while working remotely. COVID-19 has made just about everything else about our work much more difficult, from protecting the people who cover the news and distribute the paper to managing a precipitous drop in advertising revenue related to events and food-service businesses. As in the fall of 1995, we face an existential challenge — only now with so much more to lose. Our talented and dedicated staff — pictured on the rocks by the bridge that connects Burlington and Winooski — is producing some of the best newspapers in our company’s history. Since 2010, we’ve helped 16 of them become owners, ensuring that they’re invested in the future of our shared enterprise. Government loans and grants have supplemented our ad revenue, helping to keep us all employed. So, too, Interested in becoming a Super Reader? have donations from our Look for the “Give Now” buttons at the top of 1,950 Super Readers. sevendaysvt.com. Or send a check with your Total reader contributions address and contact info to: during the pandemic have SEVEN DAYS, C/O SUPER READERS reached almost $150,000, P.O. BOX 1164 with recurring donations BURLINGTON, VT 05402-1164 generating more than For more information on making a financial $2,000 a week — roughly contribution to Seven Days, please contact the equivalent of two Corey Grenier: reporter salaries. The VOICEMAIL: 802-865-1020, EXT. 36 snail-mail checks and EMAIL: SUPERREADERS@SEVENDAYSVT.COM accompanying love notes have been huge motivators for all of us. For a quarter of a century, we have managed to produce and distribute a weekly newspaper that aspires to magazine quality, to be “the New Yorker of the north,” as a contest judge once described Seven Days — except it’s free. Please help us sustain this community resource by becoming a Super Reader. We’re in for another 25 years if you are.

Paula Routly

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

news

MORE INSIDE

PROTESTERS MARCH ON MAYOR MIRO PAGE 17

ENVIRONMENT

POLICE COMMISSION MEMBER QUITS PAGE 17

FILE: CHRISTINE GLADE

HEALTH

Main Street in Manchester

Test Case

Manchester “outbreak” is still a riddle as the use of rapid COVID-19 tests spreads B Y DER EK B R O UWER & ANDREA SUOZZO

n early July, southern Vermont was rocked by reports of a dramatic outbreak of COVID-19. One in five residents who walked into a Manchester urgent care clinic between July 10 and 14 tested positive for the virus — 40 times the statewide rate. Such a spike could quickly overwhelm a small town. But this one flattened as suddenly as it appeared. More than a thousand people rushed to emergency test sites in the area; only one more individual tested positive. Nearly two months later, the initial cluster of positive tests still has no clear explanation. How could that be? The Vermont Department of Health suspected an error with the rapid antigen test used by the Manchester Medical Center, which differed from the “gold standard” PCR test used by the state. Only four of 64 patients with positive antigen tests were confirmed through the latter test, which involves sending samples to a lab that can detect the virus’ genetic material. 12

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

The health department’s hypothesis was the only one that made sense, but the implications of so many “false positives” were potentially enormous. Billed as new, nimbler weapons in the fight against

STATE HEALTH OFFICIALS BELIEVE THEY’VE BEEN ABLE TO REFUTE QUIDEL’S INSINUATION ABOUT

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS WITH VERMONT’S COVID-19 TESTS.

COVID-19, antigen tests were just being rolled out nationwide, and the Manchester case raised doubts about whether they were as reliable as claimed. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was spending millions to put

these new tests in nursing homes across the country. It was important to diagnose the problem. Instead, investigations involving state, federal and corporate entities have only further clouded the picture. Quidel, the publicly traded medical diagnostics company that developed and sells the rapid antigen test equipment, insists its tests were correct. It has huge profits at stake. The State of Vermont also contends that its own tests were correct — and offered new evidence last week to that end. Quidel has meanwhile sought to ease anxious investors who sent its stock price soaring early in the summer. The company issued a press release on August 20 defending the positive antigen results in Vermont and instead pointed a finger at the state lab’s PCR tests. After inspecting the Manchester Medical Center, analyzing its testing data and reviewing unspecified “data points” across 33 other states, TEST CASE

» P.14

Global Warming Solutions Bill Appears Headed Toward Veto Fight B Y K EV IN M C C A LLU M

The Vermont House is expected to pass the latest version of the Global Warming Solutions Act this week, setting up a probable veto fight. A last-ditch effort by Gov. Phil Scott to convince lawmakers not to give citizens the right to sue the state if it misses its greenhouse gas emissions targets appears to have failed. That means the bill, H.688, would be sent to Scott’s desk for a signature that looks unlikely. Scott has said he supports the intent of the law, but he has also steadfastly opposed key provisions, including the right to sue. He reiterated several such concerns in a letter to legislative leaders on August 12. Environmental Conservation Commissioner Peter Walke noted that the Senate never responded to the letter and House leaders merely replied to the administration that they weren’t interested in the governor’s points. “As we’re getting toward the end, he made one final attempt to bridge that gap, and he was ignored by one body and given a tepid response from the other,” Walke said. Scott rarely signals how he would act on unfinished legislation, but his spokesperson came pretty close last week. “The Governor has offered a path forward if the Legislature wants to work together to pass this bill,” Rebecca Kelley wrote in an email. Lawmakers appear to have the twothirds votes in each chamber necessary for an override. The House version of the bill passed 105-37 in February, and the similar Senate version passed 23-5 in June. The House now needs to concur with the Senate changes, after which the bill would go straight to the governor’s desk. Scott would have five days from receipt to either sign or veto it. The bill would require the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025 and even more in the following 25 years. It would create a 23-member Vermont Climate Council responsible for approving the plan that the Agency of Natural Resources would be charged with implementing. Backers are hoping Scott will see its broad support as a sign that it’s time for the state to back up its goals with action. Johanna Miller, director of the energy and climate program at the Vermont Natural Resources Council, said she has appreciated the governor’s leadership in the COVID-19 pandemic. “I would have wished he would have stood up to recognize the need and opportunity to respond to a different crisis — the climate,” Miller said. “I hope he will.” Contact: kevin@sevendaysvt.com

Mission Impossible?

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viral meme popular with Vermont to reopen than others, according toUntitled-1 16t-shoplocal-guy.indd 1 1 4/24/1216t-vcam-weekly.indd 5/12/20 3:56 PM 3:32 1 9/8/20 9:07 AM teachers is making the rounds. Don Tinney, president of the VermontLifted from the sitcom National Education Association. Last “Schitt’s Creek,” the 46-second clip week, his organization — the largest features the character Moira, labeled union in the state, with 13,000 members as the “U.S. Department of Education,” — released a reopening report guiding her adult son David, who is card, grading the state a D-plus on overall preparalabeled “teachers,” through an WE SE RVICE A enchilada recipe. tion for a safe start. The COND IR ITIONIN G! “Next step is to fold in grade was based on a survey the cheese,” Moira tells given to local teachers’ union David. leaders, who weighed in on “What does that mean? testing and tracking, staffing, 17 pt. Super-Service What does ‘fold in the and building ventilation. Oil Change cheese’ mean?” David The lack of both a statewide 1691 Shelburne Rd., S. Burlington 951-0290 | Susie Wilson Rd., Essex Junction 879-2707 asks. strategy and adequate state resources Expires 9/20/20 7days “You fold it in,” Moira responds. means that health and safety measures “I understand that, but how do you vary widely, Tinney wrote in a letter 8H-oilngo090920.indd 1 9/3/20 10:31 AM fold it?” David asks. accompanying the release of the report “David, I cannot show you every- card. “That is unacceptable since, regard1633 WILLISTON RD RESERVATIONS ONLINE SOUTH BURLINGTON thing,” Moira says, shaking her head. less of where in Vermont you live or go to AT GUILDTAVERN.COM (802) 497-1207 “You just, here’s what you do. You just school, safety is not, cannot and will not fold it in.” be negotiable,” he wrote. The lighthearted example of inept Gov. Phil Scott shuttered Vermont leadership hit home for educators, many schools in March as the coronavirus of whom feel rudderless as they embark pandemic took hold, and students this week on an unprecattended classes virtually for edented school year with a the remainder of the school high-stakes mission. They year. Officials announced must educate and nurture in June that schools would reopen this fall, though students who have not set foot in a school building for Scott postponed the start to almost six months, while also September 8, about a week making sure those students later than is customary. keep masks on for hours at a Scott, Health Commistime, stay socially distanced sioner Mark Levine and and wash their hands Education Secretary Dan frequently. French have consistently Those guidelines and advocated for schools to more are outlined in a reopen for in-person learnSTE PHANIE MILLER 33-page document, “A Strong ing this fall, citing Vermont’s and Healthy Start: Safety and low level of COVID-19, the Health Guidance for Vermont Schools,” successful reopening of childcare centers that the Vermont Agency of Education and the negative impact that being out of and Department of Health released school has on children’s well-being. this summer. But each district has had Yet at a September 2 press conference to create a customized proposal for its discussing the report card, Vermont-NEA community, leading to a patchwork of members described troubling circumplans — and varying degrees of confi- stances ahead of an unpredictable year. dence among staff. Schools throughout “The shortcuts that are being the state will offer a mix of in-person, taken right now are dangerous and remote and hybrid learning options. Some schools are more prepared MISSION IMPOSSIBLE? » P.16

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news Quidel president and CEO Douglas Bryant said the company found no problems with its Sofia-branded products or how the Manchester Medical Center was using them. “We conducted a very thorough investigation for this unique complaint in Vermont and believe that it was highly likely that our Sofia results were true positives and that the subsequent PCR method used to re-test was at risk of providing inaccurate results,” he said in the release. The company refused to elaborate on the statement, which questioned the integrity of the testing system in a state that has prided itself on having the lowest coronavirus case rate in the country. If the state lab turned out to be the problem, as the press release alleged, Vermont’s numbers would require far more scrutiny. Vermont officials have countered that narrative. The usually nonconfrontational Health Commissioner Mark Levine responded the following day, calling Quidel’s assertion about the state lab “inappropriate” because Quidel had not actually reviewed the PCR tests. But Levine did reveal that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration had sided with Quidel in concluding there was no problem with the company’s testing equipment. In the weeks since, state health officials believe they’ve been able to refute Quidel’s insinuation about potential problems with Vermont’s COVID-19 tests. Quidel’s oblique swipe at the PCR tests alludes to concerns about equipment used by Vermont’s public health laboratory. On August 17, just days before Quidel’s press release, the FDA issued a warning letter about widely used testing instruments produced by a company called Thermo Fisher Scientific. The warning stemmed from a problem uncovered over the summer in Connecticut, where more than 90 eldercare residents had false positives. Levine countered: The chief problem the FDA described was about a procedure that is not used at the state’s lab. The FDA letter also urged labs to install a software update to reduce the risk of false negative results — the erroneous outcome Quidel was suggesting may have occurred in Manchester. The state lab installed that update on August 1 — weeks after the Manchester tests were initially processed, according to a health department spokesperson. On September 1, lab officials were able to reprocess data from the Manchester samples using the updated software, at the 14

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

antigen test but tested negative on subsequent PCR tests. A Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention spokesperson told Seven Days that Maine’s state lab does not use Thermo Fisher’s testing equipment, ruling that out as a potential cause. “The company has stated to Maine CDC that its representatives are investigating,” Robert Long said in an email. “Apparently, one of the challenges they have encountered is that the summer camp is now closed, so communicating with the parties involved in the July 18-19 testing has been difficult.” Quidel’s most high-profile false positive, however, involved Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, whose positive antigen result came just before he was scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump. Microbiologists processing tests for COVID-19 at the While experts say one-off Vermont Department of Health Laboratory in Colchester problems such as DeWine’s are an inevitable consequence of mass testing with any method, a on Quidel’s internal investigation, that no recall was necessary and that it was large cluster of disputed cases at a single continuing to evaluate. The spokesper- testing site, as happened in Vermont and son also said that Vermont findings were Maine, suggests that a laboratory error “independent” of the issues that prompted of some kind is a likelier explanation. the Thermo Fisher warning. (The state no Provided with a written summary of longer considers them “false positives,” Vermont case facts, Dr. Timothy Brewer, Levine said at an August press conference, a professor of medicine and epidemiology but it does not include them in the state’s at the University of California, Los Angeofficial tally of COVID-19 cases, which is les, who specializes in infectious diseases, limited to cases confirmed through PCR.) said Vermont’s public health laboratory The fireside chat highlighted the “seems more likely to be correct.” intense financial pressure Quidel faces In July, antigen tests for COVID-19 as a key player in COVID-19 testing. The were scarcely used in Vermont, and there company began exploring COVID-19 tests were no state-issued guidelines for how as early as January, at the urging of FDA and when they should be used. officials, the New York Times recently That is beginning to change. Quidel is reported. It became the first antigen test one of two companies awarded federal maker to win FDA authorization, in May. Health and Human Services contracts By August, its stock had more than tripled worth tens of millions of dollars to send in value. rapid antigen tests to nursing homes But the day Bryant was speaking at throughout the country, including in the investor-geared event, Quidel’s stock Vermont. On September 2, the Vermont tumbled more than 20 percent upon the Department of Health issued an informanews that the FDA had cleared for produc- tional update to all health care providers tion an even cheaper, easier antigen test by that listed the features and risks of antigen Abbott Laboratories. tests, including the risk of “false positive Bryant spun the news as a potential results when disease prevalence is low.” boon, arguing that the increased compe- More specific guidelines are forthcoming, tition would help dispel misconceptions a spokesperson said. that antigen tests aren’t as reliable as PCR Despite the lingering confusion, Levine tests. has sought to reassure residents about “We’ve got this perspective in public the reliability of both tests, when used health that PCR is always right,” he said, correctly. summin g up his answer to the question “While we wish we had more concluabout Vermont. “And that’s not always sive answers,” he said, “we are looking true.” ahead to see how we can best utilize availUnmentioned in company statements is able tools.” a similar case in Maine, where 19 campers tested positive in mid-July using Quidel’s Contact: derek@sevendaysvt.com FILE: OLIVER PARINI

Test Case « P.12

request of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The results did not change, the health department said. In other words, the theory Quidel’s CEO put forth was wrong. Further, Levine said in a statement to Seven Days, the state’s separate epidemiological investigation found that “there was no outbreak situation in Manchester in July.” The disputed results highlight scientific and regulatory processes that, due to the pandemic, are being negotiated in the public eye. The conflict has not gone unnoticed by Quidel’s investors. CEO Bryant was asked about the Vermont results during an August 27 “fireside chat” with an industry analyst. In defending the company, Bryant emphasized that the feds had its back. He noted that the CDC convened a meeting between Quidel, the health department, the FDA, the CDC and Manchester Medical Center, which emails obtained by Seven Days confirm took place on August 18 via Skype. At the end of the meeting, Bryant said, the feds determined that the health department should not have described the Manchester antigen results as false positives. “In fact, the Vermont medical center now is in the process of reaching back out to those patients and apologizing and saying, ‘We are sorry, [and] that you were indeed positive,’” he said. The FDA initially declined to comment, but a spokesperson later said that the agency had concluded, based in part

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news Mission Impossible? « P.13 unacceptable,” Leanne Harple said of her district, Orleans Southwest Supervisory Union. Harple teaches language arts at Hazen Union High School in Hardwick. In one school, Harple said, an isolation area for sick students was being set up in the same room as a food preparation station, with just a plastic sheet separating the two areas. She said she worries about a shortage of personal protective equipment, how she would keep students socially distanced during a fire drill, how hallways and bathrooms would be monitored, and how students would connect with each other. “We were told that during lunch … [students] won’t be allowed to talk because they will be unmasked,” she said. “Worst of all, we can’t smile at them. There quite literally will be no smiles in school this year.” Also in short supply: school nurses. A Vermont-NEA survey completed this summer by 3,285 members found that 70 percent were concerned about their school’s capacity to maintain sufficient nursing staff. That’s a concern even in the best of times, according to Soph Hall, a nurse at Miller’s Run School in Sheffield and president of the Vermont State School Nurses’ Association. “We’re just spread too thin,” Hall said at last week’s press conference. “We will do the best we can — that’s what we do — but we need the support to be able to do that.” Hall said the Agency of Education provided school nurses with personal protective equipment in late August, but the face shields don’t fit snugly against the face, and the quality of the masks and gloves didn’t meet her expectations. Other educators 16

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

worry about additional staffing shortages as teachers take time because of sickness, an obligation to self-quarantine or childcare issues. Meanwhile, some substitutes likely won’t work this year because of their age or health concerns, said Eric Hutchins, a teacher at Lamoille Union High School in Hyde Park. “I think there will be days we’ll have to close school for in-person learning due to lack of staff,” he said in an interview. Harple, the Hardwick teacher, said she’d been told that only two substitute teachers will cover that district’s seven schools. Nicole Awwad, an academic resource teacher at Springfield High School, noted that the Springfield School District “has been in crisis with subs for some time now.” Vermont schools comprise “a very fragile system,” she said, “and subs are one piece of the system that could make the rest of our plans crumble.”

WE REALLY NEED THE UNWAVERING SUPPORT OF OUR COMMUNITIES AND OUR GOVERNING BODIES. BIBBA K AH N

Beverly Taft, a school counselor at Randolph Union Middle and High School, said in an interview that teachers and other school staff “are used to putting their needs secondary or tertiary to everybody else’s needs” and “don’t push back a lot. We nod and persevere.” In the Orange Southwest School District, where Taft works, the school board approved a memorandum of understanding in August aimed at creating a collaborative and supportive working environment during the pandemic. Taft said she feels “fortunate,” as many districts around the state do not have such an agreement. The memo calls for a number of safety measures, including closure of a school building for 14 days if there is a positive COVID-19 case, fully remote faculty meetings, the guarantee of appropriate cleaning and sanitizing materials, and an official report to faculty and staff on the school buildings’ ventilation systems. The document also calls for the district to accommodate remote work for school workers who have a doctor’s note verifying that they are at high risk for severe illness from COVID-19. If it is essential that the staff member’s work be in-person — in the case of custodial staff or food service workers, for example — the district will

attempt to shift those duties to times in the day when the school building is empty or when the work can be done without contact with others. The agreement shows that “the people signing our paychecks are listening to what we need,” said Tevye Kelman, a high school social studies teacher in Randolph. Even with the best-laid plans, though, there are plenty of intangibles for which teachers and administrators can’t prepare. Stephanie Miller, a fifth-grade teacher at Malletts Bay School in Colchester, worries about meeting her students’ social and emotional needs while also covering the curriculum required this year. Since her district has adopted a hybrid model — in which she will have one group of students Monday and Tuesday and a different group on Thursday and Friday and be responsible for both groups’ instruction on remote learning days — she said she’ll essentially have “nine days of work in a five-day workweek.” Teachers are “highly flexible human beings,” said Miller, but expecting teachers to cover as much material as when students were attending in-person school five days a week is setting them up for failure and burnout. “Nobody wants to do a job they feel like they can’t complete and do well,” she said. Miller said she would feel more secure if K-12 teachers and students were being tested for COVID-19 prior to returning to school buildings, a practice implemented by the University of Vermont and local colleges. The first few weeks could set the tone for how the semester will go. Vermont’s 2020 Teacher of the Year, Bibba Kahn, who teaches French and Spanish at Main Street Middle School in Montpelier, said leaders in her district — Montpelier Roxbury — have been transparent in their communication about reopening and that teachers, administrators and the school board have been able to work well together. She said she feels “in a good place” when it comes to returning to work. Still, Kahn said she’s concerned that some students — those who benefit from one-on-one instruction or moving around the classroom, for example — will be challenged by the stringent health and safety protocols in place this year. She also knows that not all teachers feel as supported and confident about the systems being put in place by their districts as she does. “I have seen my colleagues innovating and adapting … because they care deeply for students,” she said. “We really need the unwavering support of our communities and our governing bodies. We are showing up, and we need your support.” Contact: alison@kidsvt.com

PHOTOS: JAMES BUCK

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Burlington Police Commission Member Hughes Resigns in Frustration B Y C OU R T N EY L A M DIN

Racial justice activist Mark Hughes resigned from the Burlington Police Commission last Thursday, citing frustration that the citizen-led board is powerless and ineffective. Hughes spoke about his decision during a massive rally in front of city hall, part of the series of rallies that have gone on for weeks. Hughes said Mayor Miro Weinberger was ignoring the protests, which are led by the group the Black Perspective. “The mayor has shown no political will or intestinal fortitude to act unilaterally…”

Protesters in front of Mayor Miro Weinberger’s house

LAW ENFORCEMENT Marching from the mayor’s house

Burlington Protests Intensify With March to Mayor’s Home

Mark Hughes

BY D E RE K B R O UW E R

A swelling sea of racial justice protesters marched to Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger’s doorstop last Friday evening, an escalation of the daily demonstrations that began on August 25. They blocked portions of Main Street during their march and laid in the street in front of the mayor’s personal residence while a speaker recited the names of Black Americans killed by police. They displayed the names of the dead on cardboard signs, each scrawled in dripping red strokes. Dozens of marchers held up black-lettered signs that spelled the names of three Burlington police officers whom the protesters are demanding be fired. It made for a stark spectacle during the dinner hour, as orange-vested volunteers stepped across Main Street and rerouted vehicles without police assistance. Protesters, many college-age, walked from the University of Vermont campus to Summit Street, where the mayor lives. It was the second time this summer that Black Lives Matter protesters have stood outside Weinberger’s house. Friday’s event was far larger than the first. Zanevia Wilcox held up a megaphone and began a chant, aided by booming tenor drums. “What do we want?” she yelled. “Justice!” the crowd responded. “When do we want it?” “Now!”

“If we don’t get it?” “Shut it down!” The windows were dark inside Weinberger’s home, and no cars were visible in the driveway. But shortly before the march began, his office sent a lengthy letter to protest organizers, who have set up an overnight encampment in Battery Park next to the police station. The mayor wrote that, while he supports protesters’ First Amendment rights, he is concerned for their safety, since violence has occurred at some protests in other cities. Weinberger wrote that the city may begin ticketing protesters who continue to camp overnight. The city may also cite noise violations to prevent further complaints about late-night noise near the encampment. The mayor urged organizers to seek permits for their demonstrations and allow

“trained professionals” to conduct traffic control if they plan to block roads. Outside the mayor’s house, spoken-word poet Rajnii Eddins read aloud a poem he’s recited at innumerable rallies in recent months. On his verbal cue, the protesters dropped to the pavement. Four rows of bodies stretched the entire block. Protesters then marched down Main Street to city hall, where other speakers responded to Weinberger’s line-item concerns. They then continued up the Church Street Marketplace, as they have every night. City officials have long resisted calls to fire the three police officers whom protesters have targeted, on the grounds that they were already disciplined for conduct that dates as far back as 2018. Contact: derek@sevendaysvt.com

Hughes wrote in a resignation letter he released on Thursday. “The flat out dismissal of their demands is hypocritical as we declare racism as a public health emergency.” Hughes was appointed to the police commission in June 2019 as controversies over use of force roiled the city. Hughes joined the citizen-led body to “restore community trust to the department,” he said at the time. Hughes has proven an influential voice in the fight for racial justice in Burlington following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. As coordinator of the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance, he successfully led the push to cut the police force earlier this summer. In his resignation letter, Hughes wrote that the commission is ineffective because the city attorney and police union undermine its ability “to provide adequate oversight.” Hughes also wrote that the city’s handling of officer discipline must be considered in a broader context. “I am concerned that [the protesters’] asks are not being considered in light of the 401-year-old problem of racism, the current racial reckoning of a nation or the commitment to change in the city of Burlington,” Hughes said. Contact: courtney@sevendaysvt.com SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

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OBITUARIES, VOWS, CELEBRATIONS

A. Clement Holden

OBITUARIES

Judy Wizowaty

JANUARY 12, 1930SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 BURLINGTON, VT. Judy Wizowaty, née Vaughan, died peacefully in her sleep on September 3, 2020, after 90 years of a rich and full life. Endlessly curious and a true intellectual, in her last afternoon she read aloud her most recent lecture for the Friends in Council to her daughter, enthusiastically explaining details of theology and iconography. Judy was born on January 12, 1930, in Memphis, Tenn., and grew up in Cambridge, Mass. At 16, she entered Wellesley College, where she majored

in philosophy and excelled at playing bridge; her first job was as bridge editor of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. She married Jerry Wizowaty in 1952 and moved to New York City, where she worked for the Children’s Book Council. Soon they moved to Cincinnati, and Judy found work at the Cincinnati Enquirer and had her first two children, Suzi and Eric. Jerry’s work then took them to Dallas (where their third child, Gigi, was born), then Houston, Lausanne, Paris, Madrid and eventually back to Houston. While in Europe, Judy developed a passion for art and a broad and deep knowledge, which she used to create original and imaginative art lectures at St. John’s School in Houston. When her youngest graduated from high school, Judy entered a PhD program in art history at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Wizowaty’s dissertation on the Adam and Eve iconography on sculptured stones in Anglo-Saxon England ran more than 900 pages in two volumes. Though Judy enjoyed her time in Austin, especially

friends and tennis, she and Jerry moved to Vermont in 2004 because of the weather and the politics. She enjoyed her view of Lake Champlain every day. All her life, Judy loved good food, white wine, stimulating conversation with dear friends and especially music. She played the piano until age 85, favoring Bach, Mozart and Shostakovich, and she was a devoted fan of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival. She was warm and affectionate and interested in other people. But most of all, she loved learning. She was an excellent writer and spent long hours reading and researching. Judy leaves behind her two daughters, Suzi (spouse Joan Robinson) in Shelburne and Gigi (spouse Charlie Clements), and two grandchildren, Eric and Jesse, in California. She was predeceased by her son in 1975 and her husband in 2005. A celebration of her life will take place sometime in the future. In lieu of flowers, contributions are invited to the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival or Constellations Chamber Concerts in Washington, D.C.

IN MEMORIAM Toni Stone

SEPTEMBER 28, 1944-AUGUST 26, 2020 FAIRFAX, VT. Toni A. (Acker) Stone of Fairfax, Vt., passed away peacefully at home on August 26, 2020. She was born on September 28, 1944, to Antonio and Helen Federico of South Boston, Mass. She is survived by her husband, Steve Overton; daughter Noelle; grandson Antonio; and brother Michael.

Mark your family’s milestones in lifelines. sevendaysvt.com/lifelines

JUNE 3, 1923AUGUST 22, 2020 BURLINGTON, VT.

A. Clement Holden, 97, of Burlington, Vt., formerly of Ottawa and Montréal, has died after a long and happy life. Clem was born June 3, 1923, in Burlington, the fourth of eight children of Harry and Charlotte (Clement) Holden. Clem graduated from the University of Vermont in 1945 after military service in World War II. He had a 43-year career in human resources, beginning in aviation in the New York City area and completing his career as a negotiator with the Treasury Board of Canada in Ottawa, dealing with many collective agreements and unions. In 1954, he settled in Montréal with his bride, Sylvia Heininger, of Burlington. Clem was employment manager at Canadair (now Bombardier) in Montréal before moving to Ottawa to join Parks Canada as personnel adviser. Clem and Sylvia raised two sons: Jeffrey, a forester, and Alfred, a journalist. The family traveled to Vermont frequently to visit the senior Holdens, relatives and friends and to enjoy the Heininger summer camp at Coates Island, Lake Champlain. In retirement, Clem and Sylvia returned to Vermont to be with his mother-in-law, Erna Heininger, and enjoy sailing, skiing, hiking and canoeing. Clem patrolled trails at the Ottawa Ski Club and was later a charter “old goat” — seniors who maintain cross-country trails at Bolton Mountain in Vermont. He liked to travel with Sylvia to Western Canada to see in-laws Erika and Alan Sawyer in Vancouver, sail on schooners, or do backcountry skiing. They flew to Japan to attend son Jeff’s wedding to Kaori Yamada in Sapporo. Clem remained a taciturn Yankee. Though not religious, he said, “God bless our dishwasher.” He maintained that “Butter is the secret to long

life,” also crediting ice cream, bacon, Swiss Army knives, maple syrup, doughnuts from Dick Mazza’s store and reading newspapers. In the 2010s, hearing a friend tell of the ceremonial burning in 1929 of Burlington’s last streetcar, Clem added, “I was there.” At home, Clem spent liberally on copper and slate roofs and a concrete driveway. He pushed hand mowers. The family drove cheap cars. About his work in management, Holden joked, “I don’t get ulcers; I give them.” He said, more seriously, “Anyone who doesn’t like unions shouldn’t be working in labor relations.” At Treasury Board, he got settlements with Canada’s sometimes cantankerous postal unions. Once, he was delivering the Glebe Report, a community newspaper, to a National Capital Commission official. The union negotiators, commiserating in a restaurant off Rideau Street, spotted Clem on the sidewalk. One of them popped his head out and invited Clem to join them at their booth, and they hammered out a deal. At Chase Aircraft in Trenton, N.J., early in his career, Clem hired many of the engineers who developed

the C-123 Provider, a longlived military transport with an unusual glider variant. When he was a “cub” at Pan American Airways in New York, Clem sat at the meeting table with the iconic founder, Juan Trippe. Lately he was seen on his hands and knees, pulling dandelions in front of the homestead. On August 22, Clem walked into the emergency room at the University of Vermont Medical Center with back pain and was told, “This [ruptured aneurysm, in his aorta] is a fatal event.” He replied, in vintage Clem, “At my age, I have no problem with that.” With family, in a room with a view of Lake Champlain, Clem died that afternoon. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Sylvia Heininger; brother-in-law Oskar Heininger of Framingham, Mass.; son Jeffrey and his wife, Kaori, and their children Amy, 18, and Thoma, 13, of Federal Way., Wash.; son Alfred and his spouse, Michel Laverdiere, of Toronto; and nieces and nephews. Few contemporaries remain, and Clem was the last survivor among siblings Katherine, Elizabeth, Harry, William, John, Thomas and Richard. Due to COVID-19, a celebration will be held later. Donations in Clem’s memory may be made to Friends of Bolton Valley Nordic and Backcountry, c/o Hope Crifo, 55 East Bear Swamp Rd., Montpelier, VT, 05602 (bit. ly/2EtbXw3); Catamount Trail Association, 1 Mill St., Suite 350, Burlington, VT 05401 (bit.ly/2Qh7RK6); or the Green Mountain Club, 4711 Waterbury-Stowe Rd., Waterbury Center, VT 05477 (bit.ly/3gpNFQP).

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

arts news

Pastoral Pastimes Safe as Lightning by Scudder Parker B Y B E NJA MI N A LESH IRE

of small-town parades, “shitkicker” boots, milking or hunting — a way of life that Parker records and celebrates in an affectionate, contemplative and readable style. The term “pastoral” has come to loosely refer to any celebration of the natural world, but it originated as an ancient lyric form specifically concerned with shepherds. These days, pastorals are rarely written by poets with actual experience working with livestock, so Parker’s perspective has a satisfying authenticity — not to mention that he served as a minister. (The word “pastor” has the same origin). Parker is at his best while homing in on specific subjects of rural life, as in his three-part ode to the blade in a wood chipper, “Body of Work.” Part of it reads:

Parker’s publisher, Rootstock Publishing, is a hybrid partnership company, meaning authors pay the press to print their work; the fee is $3,900 for inclusion in their poetry series, curated by Montpelier poet SAMANTHA KOLBER. But with gushing blurbs from U.S. Sen. PATRICK LEAHY, former governor MADELEINE KUNIN and two former Vermont poet laureates, it may have been a sound decision for Parker, since hybrid publishers compensate authors at a significantly higher rate than traditional presses. The language in Safe as Lightning is crystal clear; no cryptic metaphors to unravel, no lyrical acrobatics or contortions. But nothing in Parker’s bucolic Vermont seems to be in danger or out of place: no dairies going out of business, no opioid epidemic, no undocumented immigrants, no global warming threatening the maple industry. The final lines of the book declare:

THE BEST LINES IN SAFE AS LIGHTNING COME WITH SUDDEN FLASHES OF

LYRICISM AND DARKNESS.

“

here is nothing tidy about this volume,” SCUDDER PARKER warns in the introduction to his poetry debut, Safe as Lightning. This is a humble beginning for a book that collects a rich lifetime’s worth of ruminations, memories and experiences living in rural Vermont: Parker’s family moved to North Danville when he was a child to try their hands at dairy farming. Winner of the 1995 Ralph Nading Hill Jr. Vermont Writers’ Prize from Vermont Life, Parker has been writing throughout his life but more so in the last three

BOOKS

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

Night after night in my sleep, I could hear the blade’s scream, the whine and groan of the engine in its rhythm through the wood. I felt again how I sat heavy with work, unable to tell the difference between satisfaction and exhaustion, my mind empty with gloating, my hands resting in work’s shape. years since shifting fully into retirement, according to his website. Prior to that, he served four terms in the Vermont Senate and spent decades as a Protestant minister and activist — a background that finds its way into some of his poems. Mostly, though, Safe as Lightning is rooted in the pastoral tradition. The book is a veritable taxonomy of local flora and fauna that populate the mostly free-verse, personal-narrative poems with lists of birds, trees and flowers. At the same time, there’s a refreshing, nonacademic quality to the poems’ content and execution. Open any cutting-edge, urban literary magazine, and you’d be hardpressed to find realistic poetic depictions

Another poem that stands out is “First Love,” which depicts two teenage boys exploring each other’s bodies, albeit chastely: “Your gentle investigation of my body / sweetened me; was the first time I let myself / feel cherished.” The best lines in Safe as Lightning come with sudden flashes of lyricism and darkness: “anger shows up at my doorstep / like an orphan.” Many of these lines are musical, and occasionally Parker works in form, including an excellent villanelle (“No Doubt”), the challenging rhyming structure that Dylan Thomas employed for “Do not go gentle into that good night.”

We sit in autumn sun as the storm comes on, and weather, grief, and love proceed unsupervised. This sentiment is comfortingly universal, but it’s hard not to read it as resignation in the face of global tumult and eco-collapse. Safe as Lightning, though, is also an authentic, unpretentious expression of rural Vermont, brimming with gratitude and wonder, warmth and optimism. Many readers will likely recognize themselves and find solace in its pages (or at least nostalgia for simpler times), but the natural world and the people who live there might need more than praise.

INFO Safe as Lightning, by Scudder Parker, Rootstock Publishing, 115 pages. $15.95. scudderparker.net

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POETRY

Getting the Words Out Good news can be hard to come by these days, but if you’re an emerging poet — or eager to emerge — here’s a welcome opportunity: The Johnson-based SUNDOG POETRY CENTER has just announced a brand-new First or Second Book Award for poetry. And there’s a reason for that slightly awkward-sounding name. “Sometimes a first book is heavily collaborative,” explains NEIL SHEPARD, a veteran poet, the founder of Green Mountains Review and a Sundog board member. “The second is usually post-MFA — really the first book. That’s still relatively an emerging poet.” In other words, writers who vie for this award might already have an extant book or chapbook, or they might just have a bursting-with-promise manuscript. Either way, the winning entry will be designed, printed and distributed by Sundog collaborator GREEN WRITERS PRESS in Brattleboro. TAMRA HIGGINS and MARY JANE DICKERSON founded Sundog in 2014 with the mission to “promote poetry for the enrichment of our cultural lives,” according to its website. The nonprofit has fulfilled that promise with publications, workshops, retreats, readings and other events. For the most part, Shepard points out, these ventures have featured established poets. For example, when Sundog began collaborating with Green Writers Press, his own book Vermont Exit Ramps II was the first to be published. But, after Sundog and the press released the 2019 volume Vermont Poets and Their Craft, edited by Shepard and Higgins, “we decided to do something for emerging poets,” Shepard says. The competition is open only to Vermonters, defined as residents of the state a minimum of six months of the year. The submission deadline is October 31 and must include proof of residency and a $20 application fee. Manuscripts should be 48 to 64 pages long. Shepard notes that he and other board members — Dickerson, former Vermont poet laureate CHARD DENIORD, REBECCA STARKS and BILL DRISLANE — and managing director SARAH AUDSLEY will “each choose two or three manuscripts by the end of November and send them to our final judge, MARY RUEFLE.” Vermont’s current poet laureate, Ruefle will make her decision by December 1. The winner will receive $500 and 50 copies of the published book. Eyes on the prize, poets. In related news, Sundog/Green Writers Press-affiliated poet STEPHEN CRAMER is launching — in person! — the recently published Turn It Up! Music in Poetry From Jazz to Hip-Hop on Thursday, September 10, at 7 p.m. at Halvorson’s Upstreet Café in Burlington. The anthology, which Cramer edited, includes some of his own verse among poems that evoke the likes of Miles Davis, Nirvana and Public Enemy. Sundog is presenting the limited-audience, free-but-ticketed event. Face masks are required.

PAM EL A PO LS TO N

INFO Learn more about the First or Second Book Award at www.sundogpoetry.org. Find the Turn It Up! event on Facebook.

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arts news

Both Sides Now

Opera Company of Middlebury to record a micro-opera with a social justice theme COURTESY OF OPERA COMPANY OF MIDDLEBURY

B Y A M Y LI LLY

CLASSICAL MUSIC

“East and West Shaking Hands at Laying of Last Rail” by Andrew J. Russell, 1869

ike all music organizations these days, OPERA COMPANY OF MIDDLEBURY has entirely remade its current season. But this small opera company’s new plan doesn’t just observe the pandemic-era moratorium on singers projecting aerosolized droplets toward older audiences. It also contributes to the country’s conversation about, and increasing awareness of, systemic racism. OCM has postponed its planned 17th-season production of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide — based on a French satirical novel from 1759 — to take on contemporary composer Michael Ching’s “Completing the Picture.” A video of the company’s production of the work will stream for free on its website starting in November. The 10-minute opera, sung by a quartet with piano accompaniment, takes as its subject the nearly 20,000 Chinese workers who built the western end of the Transcontinental Railroad. Between 1863 and 1869, these industrious workers tunneled and chopped their way through mountains and desert using only hand tools to lay hundreds of miles of track — and for significantly less pay than their white counterparts earned. When the eastern and western ends of the railroad met on May 10, 1869, the 22

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

PEOPLE ARE REALIZING THAT, MORE THAN EVER,

YOU HAVE TO SUPPORT THE THINGS YOU LOVE. D O UG AND E R S O N

Chinese workers were excluded from the photos that recorded the historic Golden Spike Ceremony that day. Of a hundred people who fill the frame of the most famous of these images — Andrew J. Russell’s “East and West Shaking Hands at Laying of Last Rail” — not a single one is Chinese. Ching composed his micro-opera, commissioned last year by Utah Opera for the 150th anniversary of the railroad’s completion, around Russell’s photograph. “Completing the Picture,” which premiered in June 2019, is written for schoolchildren and includes spoken dialogue between the songs and a rap at the end. OCM artistic director and set designer DOUG ANDERSON is devising an adult-friendly adaptation of the work that gets rid of all that “overly explanatory” material, as he

put it. The video, professionally produced with the help of videographer TIM JOY, will instead be “90 percent” historical photographs and footage, Anderson said. He has secured a multiracial cast of singers who have all sung with the company previously: Japanese American soprano Emily Michiko Jensen, Cuban American mezzo-soprano Olga Perez Flora, white American tenor James Flora and African American baritone Leroy Davis. “I’m really turning it into a Ken Burns documentary,” Anderson said, adding, “I talked to Michael Ching and he is so excited.” For the production, OCM conductor MICHAEL SAKIR made a video of himself conducting the piece silently while hearing it in his head. He sent that to East Montpelier-based pianist MARY JANE AUSTIN, who is learning the score and will record herself playing the accompaniment while watching Sakir’s conducting. Her recording will then go out to the four singers, who will record themselves at home singing to the accompaniment. OCM’s production team, headed by MARY LONGEY, will do the mixing. Austin said she has marked her score with clues from Sakir’s silent conducting video regarding tempi and singers’ cutoffs. “Normally, as a pianist, you want to be able to react to what a singer is doing, like

when they take a slightly longer breath,” she noted. “That can’t happen [in this case]. However, this piece lends itself better than others would to this kind of project: It’s very straightforward rhythmically, aside from a couple of slight slowdowns.” She added, “I wouldn’t want to do Puccini this way.” Austin knows the four singers from their previous performances with OCM, so she is also accommodating their voices in her mental notes. “I’m trying to provide the most preemptively sensitive accompaniment I can. It’s kind of crazy,” she said. She’ll record her performance using her iPhone and a Shure MV88 microphone — a device that’s now on backorder, she said, because almost all musicians’ work has gone virtual. While virtual music projects are “not ideal,” Austin deems OCM’s video “a really smart choice” because of its length, a plus for musicians and audiences alike. And, she said, it allows musicians to do what they do and be paid for it. “It’s a long time to hash through” without work, she noted. Anderson said that other small opera companies are doing virtual recitals, recycling videos of old productions and experimenting with limited outdoor performances. In nearby Brandon, BARN OPERA is making audio recordings of full operas using a method similar to OCM’s. In-person performances aren’t in the near future for OCM; according to its own poll, the company’s fans won’t come to a reopened TOWN HALL THEATER, where the company performs, until there’s a vaccine. “Surprisingly,” Anderson said, “our donations have remained at a very good level. People are realizing that, more than ever, you have to support the things you love.” Meanwhile, the company is putting its heart into “Completing the Picture.” “We’re really going to fuss over every frame,” Anderson said. “And we’re also seeing this as a trial run for what might be opera of the next several years. Maybe there are longer productions to be done in this way. “When we can reopen,” he added, “it’s going to be a real celebration, let me tell you.” Contact: lilly@sevendaysvt.com

INFO Learn more at ocmvermont.org.

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THE NEW VERMONTERS Fleeing COVID-19, newcomers find temporary — or permanent — refuge in the Green Mountains B Y CHEL SEA ED GAR, COU RTN E Y L AMDIN & S AS H A GO L D S TE IN

ermont has always appealed to certain kinds of escapists — the homesteaders, the reclusive artists, the doomsday preppers, the celebrities who don’t want to be photographed while buying half-and-half. Still, for several decades, Vermont’s demographic trends have told a fairly consistent story: Economic prospects are bleh, young people are leaving, and everybody is getting older. Vermont’s population last grew substantially between 1960 and 1980, the heyday of the back-tothe-land movement that drew young city dwellers to the woods in search of meaning and morels. But now, as the COVID-19 pandemic wears on and Vermont makes national headlines for its containment of the virus, its stock as a refuge has been rising. Realtors across the state say they’re selling homes at warp speed, sometimes sight unseen. In the slope-side towns of southern Vermont, school enrollments are spiking. Dating 24

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

apps are suddenly filled with people who are “visiting the area from [insert name of major metropolitan area] to see if I want to move here in a few months” or “chillin here for the rest of the pandemic, hmu.” (Note: actual Tinder bios.) With few hard statistics to draw from — fill out the 2020 Census, people! — it’s too early to measure the influx. But in March, U.S. Postal Service data show, requests to forward mail to Vermont addresses doubled from the previous year — a possible consequence of wealthy people decamping from Boston and New York City to shelter in place at their vacation homes in Manchester or Stowe. But as Seven Days’ reporting shows, the wave of pandemic newcomers is much more diverse than that set. Disenchanted with the Missouri governor’s response to the pandemic, a family left the Show Me state for Burlington last month, seeking safer pastures. A Massachusetts family is using an inheritance

to leave a crowded public housing unit and buy a house in Brattleboro. A Brandeis University student got stranded in Vergennes over spring break and became a leader in the city’s efforts to fight racism. If the back-to-the-land boomlet is any indication, people seem to be drawn to Vermont in times of social and political crises; those were also the days of the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement. Each of the stories in this package says something about the state of Vermont, not all of which is flattering. And a lot remains to be seen: How many of these new arrivals will stick around? Will some of the telecommuters eventually join Vermont’s workforce? What does this mean for rural communities and a housing market that’s already unaffordable for many? Will Vermont embrace a younger, more diverse population? If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that nothing is certain.

C.E.

Show Me Public Health Standards Lydia Perrigo, 12, could easily pass for a native Vermonter. She knows that the proper name for soft-serve ice cream is creemee, and she named her pet hamster Maple. She spends her free time riding on the Burlington bike path and swimming in Lake Champlain. No one would guess that Lydia and her parents, Alan Reichard, 42, and Alexis Hildebrand, 38, moved to Burlington just a month ago in search of a place safer from COVID-19 than Missouri. When the pandemic hit the family’s hometown of Columbia in early March, the mayor issued a stay-at-home order and closed schools and businesses to slow the spread.

From left: Alexis Hildebrand, Lydia Perrigo and Alan Reichard

WHERE WE ENDED UP IS JUST

BETTER THAN WE COULD HAVE HOPED FOR. A L A N R EI C H A R D

But Missouri had no statewide mandates to wear masks or to physically distance from others. As the number of cases grew — reaching 1,000 in just three weeks — Reichard worried their city’s bubble would burst. He feared it would only worsen when 40,000 college students moved back later in the year. At the end of March, a German friend told Reichard that news media there were depicting Missouri Gov. Mike Parson as the poster child for a failed coronavirus response. “That’s when I turned to my wife and said, ‘That’s it. We’ve fought the good fight here, but we’ve got to get out of Missouri,’” he said. The family had been planning a move and had even considered relocating to

Europe until the pandemic quashed that hope. Reichard, a fifth-grade teacher, figured he could get a job almost anywhere. Hildebrand, who works for a company that sells textbooks to colleges online, had been working remotely for months. The Green Mountains made the family’s list of possible destinations because Reichard had worked at Mount Snow in Dover 15 years ago. He’d visited the Burlington waterfront back then and remembered that Vermonters were a friendly bunch. The irony that his family fled one college town for another is not lost on Reichard, but he thinks the testing protocols at the state’s colleges and universities are solid. He appreciates the state mask mandate, too. The family loaded up a gigantic U-Haul truck on July 31 and set out on the

1,300-mile trip. They donned matching T-shirts featuring the Burney Sisters — Lydia’s favorite band — and took loads of silly selfies when they stopped along the way. Twenty-two hours later, they arrived at their Ledgewood condo in the South End. “Where we ended up is just better than we could have hoped for,” Reichard said. “We’re right next to the water. Lydia’s got bike paths to ride. We’ve got a park to go hike around in,” he added, referring to Red Rocks Park. The family unpacked and settled into their new home during their two-week quarantine. They used Instacart for grocery delivery and registered for Burlington’s Supportive Quarantine Program, which provides new residents and returning

students with a care package of face masks, a gift certificate to a local restaurant and a library card. Now that their 14-day isolation is complete, the family has been exploring their new state. They’ve hiked Mount Mansfield, walked to the Switchback Brewery and used their gift card at the Skinny Pancake. Lydia has already had her fair share of creemees. “We’ll continue to do as the locals do until we feel like we’ve become local ourselves,” Reichard said. Meantime, his pronunciation of “Adirondacks” — rhyming with “clocks” — could use some work. It’s a dead giveaway. C .L.

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Climate, Then COVID-19, Steered Arizona Couple to Underhill

FILE: ZACK STEPHENS

Downtown Brattleboro

‘They Don’t Want Us Here’ Kat was reluctant to admit that escaping the coronavirus is one reason she’s moving to Vermont later this month. That’s why she wanted Seven Days to use only her first name: She worried that her future neighbors would shun her if they learned she moved from Massachusetts, which has the highest COVID-19 case count in New England. “You read what locals are saying, and they don’t want us here,” Kat said. “I wouldn’t want to get there and, when things get better, try to establish [myself ] and be known for it.” Starting over is what is bringing 27-year-old Kat to Vermont in the first place. She lost her father to cancer in February, just before the pandemic began. In April, a longtime family friend and attorney who offered to help sort out her father’s estate contracted COVID-19. Within two weeks, he was dead, and the coronavirus became all the more real. Kat stopped grocery shopping in person and signed up for a delivery service. The family — Kat, her mother, brother and 2-year-old son — agreed to hunker down and abide by Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker’s stay-at-home order. Then Kat got sick herself. She was diagnosed with a blood circulation disorder that makes it difficult for her to stand for long periods or to climb the 26

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

stairs in the family’s small public housing apartment. Kat’s health was the tipping point. The family needed to get out. “There’s been too much loss. We kind of wanted a new start, and we wanted somewhere safer,” Kat said. “I think the biggest part is, we don’t want to lose anyone else.” “After my dad died … it doesn’t feel like there’s anything left for us here,” she added. Kat’s father left enough money to make a move possible. She started looking at listings in her hometown, Natick,

WE DON’T WANT TO HURT ANYONE. K AT

Mass., but the median home value of more than $600,000 priced her out of the market. She broadened her search to other states and virtually toured three homes, including one in Brattleboro that’s two hours from both her grandparents’ home in Massachusetts and extended family in central Vermont. Even better, it’s single-story and near a hospital in case Kat has any health complications. At $191,000, the home was within the family’s price range. When the deal closes on September 11, Kat will be leaving the only place she’s ever known for a place she’s never been.

She’s seen photos of the house and read the inspection report but hasn’t been there in person. Her mom and brother have found remote jobs, but Kat, who lost her retail job when the pandemic hit, hasn’t yet found work. A self-described worrier, Kat is surprising herself with the move. “If it wasn’t for those few things happening all together at once, [I don’t think] that I would be doing this,” she said. “It’s a leap of faith. That’s really what it is.” Moving during a pandemic creates its own type of worry. Vermont’s case counts look manageable now, but that could change — and Kat worries that natives could blame newcomers. Posts in a Brattleboro community Facebook group seem to confirm her fears. “I live in a town of less [than] 900 people and we aren’t very happy about outsiders coming here believe me,” one woman wrote. Another posted, “In a very small area, it can be scary, considering this virus can kill.” Still others complained that out-of-staters are buying up all the housing stock and driving up home prices. Having read those comments, Kat can’t help but feel like she’s intruding. She says she’d feel the same if the roles were reversed. But at the same time, after losing her father and friend, Kat said her family will be more careful than most to keep their physical distance. She said, “We don’t want to hurt anyone.” C .L.

For three years, Shane Unger and Nina Iarkova have lived in Peoria, Ariz., a tony suburb with every conceivable big-box store, about 20 miles northwest of downtown Phoenix. Peoria’s main attractions are Lake Pleasant, a 10,000acre man-made reservoir, and the Peoria Sports Complex, the spring training facility of the San Diego Padres and the Seattle Mariners. The kitchen window of Unger and Iarkova’s apartment offers sweeping views of its parking lot. Long before the pandemic, the couple dreamed of moving to Vermont. They had vacationed in the Green Mountain State — they’re particularly fond of the craft brewery scene — and found an ethos that resonated with them. “We’re both very environmentally conscious, and we really appreciate Vermont’s environmental laws, especially the composting law,” said Unger, 37, who works in information security for a financial company. “We try to never throw away food scraps, but it’s difficult, as apartment dwellers.” Twenty-eight-year-old Iarkova, a web developer for a payroll software firm, has lived in the Phoenix area since she was 12. “We’re ready to be around like-minded people,” she said, referring to the lack of ecological awareness that she observes in Phoenix. For the past four years, Phoenix has attracted more new residents than any other city in the country. This population boom has contributed to some of the worst air pollution in any U.S. metropolis. August was Phoenix’s hottest month on record, with an average high temperature of 110.7 degrees. Climate scientists have warned that the city could face a water crisis within the decade; recently, Unger said, he read an article in a Phoenix paper about a new housing complex whose developers couldn’t guarantee that buyers would have access to water for their homes for the next 100 years. “This just isn’t a sustainable place for anyone,” Unger said. As the world continues to warm and ecological disasters become more intense and frequent, Vermont, with its relatively cool weather and abundant water supply, seems poised to become a destination for climate migrants. Elena Mihaly, an attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation, and Kate McCarthy, director of the Sustainable Communities Program at the Vermont Natural Resources Council, have spent the

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past few years analyzing climate migration trends. In the summer 2020 issue of the quarterly Vermont Environmental Report, Mihaly pointed to the influx of new residents during the pandemic as a harbinger of what’s to come. “The rate of homes being bought online by out of staters is a good indication of how eager people are to access land in Vermont and benefit from the state’s natural resources and open space,” she noted.

WE’RE CONSCIOUS OF THE FACT THAT WE’RE GOING TO BE

SEEN AS OUTSIDERS FOR A LITTLE WHILE. S H A N E UNG ER

In a sense, Unger and Iarkova are climate migrants for whom COVID-19 was a catalyst. In March, when their jobs went remote, they started looking for properties in Vermont. They wanted privacy but not total seclusion, proximity to Burlington International Airport, enough land for a garden, and an in-law apartment for Unger’s mother, who decided to move with them from Santa Monica, Calif. A family friend of Unger’s connected the couple with David Parsons, a real estate agent in Chittenden County, who gave them virtual tours of about half a dozen houses in the Burlington area. All of the homes were snapped up by other buyers, sometimes just

hours after Unger and Iarkova had seen them. (At one point, they made an offer on a house in Shelburne above asking price; two days later, the property went to someone whose bid was even higher.) At last, in late June, they found a fourbedroom house on 11 acres in Underhill with a finished in-law suite in the basement. For $639,900, it became theirs; their move-in date, said Iarkova, will be sometime in mid-September. “We’re really excited,” said Unger. “We talk constantly about our plans for the house, what we’d like to do with the land.” The previous owners cut more than a mile of hiking and mountain biking paths through the woods surrounding the property, and Unger and Iarkova joke about painting a map and naming each section of the trail — “you know, ‘Nina’s Gulch,’ or ‘Shane’s Crossing,’” said Unger. But their excitement, he added, is tinged with guilt: “A lot of people are getting evicted, losing their homes, and we’re fortunate enough to buy a home. Our reality isn’t other people’s realities.” They’re also hyper-aware of the stigma that may come with being part of a pandemic-induced urban exodus, and they want their community to know that they plan to stay for the long haul. “We’re conscious of the fact that we’re going to be seen as outsiders for a little while,” said Unger. “That’s a challenge that we’re going to have to overcome.” C.E.

THE NEW VERMONTERS

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3/24/20 9/1/20 12:57 4:49 PM PM

STAY SAFE, STAY ACTIVE The Seven Days team has reenvisioned our weekly Notes On the Weekend newsletter to include creative, constructive and fun ways to spend your time from a safe social distance. From drive-in movies to delicious recipes to day trips, there is something for everyone asking, “NOW what?”

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SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

7/14/20 5:36 PM

Jon Andrus

An Epidemiologist’s Sanctum

Jon Andrus begins each day with a morning meditation. For 10 minutes before his coffee and shower, he sits in bed and gazes out the window at Lake Champlain. He thinks of his family. Though he hasn’t seen them for weeks, they still connect on the phone and online. He silently appreciates that he has a safe place to ride out the coronavirus. And then he gets to work. Andrus is a part-time college professor and epidemiologist with more than three decades of experience in public health. He teaches global vaccinology, a topic that could not be more relevant as nations race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Andrus came to Vermont in March to celebrate his 67th birthday, and he hasn’t left. He and his wife, Susan, had just returned to their Burlington condo after a ski trip at Trapp Family Lodge when they learned that coronavirus cases were climbing across the country. Andrus has an underlying heart condition and was wary of flying home to Washington, D.C. “We had this serious discussion: ‘Should I go back? Should I fly back with you, or should I stay?’” he recalled. “It was 28

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

clear that things were starting to take off very rapidly.” Andrus’ employer, George Washington University, shut down in-person classes and allowed him to teach remotely. A two-week intensive course that Andrus normally teaches in person at the University of Colorado each fall will also be conducted virtually. His wife, however, had to return to her job as a real estate agent in Washington. Business has been booming during the pandemic. Andrus has kept busy. He records twohour lectures for his students to listen to before their class convenes on Zoom, when he leads a two-hour discussion on global health. Nearly every session is focused on the coronavirus, so Andrus spends his prep time monitoring vaccine trials. He’s also done numerous spots in the national media, often dissecting President Donald Trump’s pandemic response. He told Newsweek, for instance, that the administration should have mandated masks and stricter social-distancing protocols early on. “We’re having 1,000 deaths a day in the United States. That’s inexcusable,” Andrus said in an interview with Seven Days, noting that the U.S. hasn’t learned

to a resurgence in the very diseases that people like Andrus worked to eliminate. Global health “is not going to fare well unless we course-correct very soon,” Andrus said. “The epidemiology of transmission of these diseases — you can’t politicize that. It requires a public health response, and they are not doing that.” By contrast, Andrus thinks Vermont has handled the pandemic well. He lauded the state’s use of contact tracers and insistence on physical distancing as practical and science-based approaches to stemming the spread. Seven Days asked him whether Gov. Phil Scott should have mandated masks sooner. Perhaps, Andrus said, but he noted that even Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, questioned the efficacy of wearing masks at the pandemic’s start. Pop-up testing sites are effective, too, Andrus said, recounting how he stopped by Burlington’s J.J. Flynn Elementary School a few weeks ago for a nose swab. It came back negative — not surprising, since Andrus has mostly been alone for six months. Andrus fell in love with Vermont when he and Susan took a bicycle tour in 2008. Seven years later, they bought their condo in the New North End, just steps from the bike path. Now, Andrus doesn’t think he’ll ever return to Washington, save for grabbing some books and photo albums he left behind. “I see myself, more and more, retiring here,” Andrus said. “The COVID stay has been a blessing in disguise.” When he’s not at the virtual podium, Andrus has been exploring the state by foot, bicycle and foldable kayak. He’s made his first trips to Lake Willoughby, Mount Pisgah and the Marshfield Dam Reservoir. He’s started painting again and has taken up yoga. After years of putting the world’s health first, Andrus is finally looking inward. “There are days when I feel very depressed and sorry for myself,” he said. “But at the end of the day, if I was to be isolated and alone any place, this is a nice place to be.” JAMES BUCK

THE NEW VERMONTERS « P.27

from countries such as Canada, which is faring relatively well during the pandemic. “That’s very unfortunate and breaks all the guiding principles of good public health practice,” he said. Andrus would know: He worked for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 22 years and was part of a team that eradicated polio in the Americas in 1991. He also served as

AT THE END OF THE DAY, IF I WAS TO BE ISOLATED AND ALONE ANY PLACE,

THIS IS A NICE PLACE TO BE. J O N AND R US

chief of the Pan American Health Organization’s immunization unit, where he focused on measles and rubella, and he later became that organization’s deputy director. Today, Andrus serves on several advisory groups for the World Health Organization. Trump announced in May that he intends to pull the U.S. out of WHO, a decision that experts warn could lead

C .L.

In early March, 21-year-old Brandeis University senior Rose Archer left campus to spend spring break with her boyfriend, who had just moved to Vergennes to start a job at Kria Botanicals in South Burlington. Then the pandemic struck, and Brandeis canceled in-person classes, leaving her stranded in Vergennes with nothing but a duffel bag. Archer, who grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Newark, N.J., had some trepidation about being stuck in small-town Vermont. Both she and her partner, Jamel Miller, are Black; at times, she struggled with being one of very few Black people in the community, particularly after George Floyd’s killing in May by Minneapolis police sparked nationwide protests. Archer wanted to get involved in the fight against racism, but she feared that any activism would make her even more visible in a place where she already felt uncomfortably conspicuous. “I had no idea if anyone would stand by me,” she said. “Every time I walk out my door, people do a double take. There are so few people here who look like me. I was worried about making myself a target.” Archer and Miller live in a studio apartment above Shear Cuts on Main Street with a view of the city green from their kitchen windows. One day, in June, Archer looked outside and saw 50 or so people gathered in the park, frozen in varying postures of deep introspection. (“Honestly, it looked culty AF,” she said.) Later, she learned that the gathering was a silent vigil in honor of Floyd organized by Lizbeth Ryan, the director of a nonprofit resale shop in downtown Vergennes. “It was astonishing to me to see that so many people cared,” said Archer. Not long after the vigil, Archer spotted a high-school-age girl standing alone on the northwest corner of the green one morning, holding a Black Lives Matter sign. An older white man began harassing her — “saying, you know, ‘All lives matter, you’re being racist, blah blah blah,’” Archer recalled. After the man had walked away, Archer went down to the corner with her own Black Lives Matter sign and stood with her. Ryan, who happened to be at her shop across the street, saw Archer and came out to ask if she’d be willing to speak at a future vigil. At first, Archer was hesitant — the perils of speaking out against anything in a small town, especially one whose

CALEB KENNA

She Could Help Vergennes — If She Could Afford to Stay

Jamel Miller and Rose Archer

THERE ARE SO FEW PEOPLE HERE WHO LOOK LIKE ME. I WAS WORRIED ABOUT MAKING MYSELF A TARGET. ROSE ARC H E R

population is 98 percent white, weren’t lost on her — but, ultimately, she agreed. “These are people who really, really care, who are asking for guidance in how to address systemic racism within their own community,” she said. “I don’t have the answers, but I do know the right questions.

I’m always going to be Black, and I don’t have to speak about it, but I also have a voice and the chance to make it heard.” A few weeks later, nearly 150 people listened as Archer sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” often referred to as the Black national anthem, at an event on the city green. Soon after, she began leading antiracism workshops, which consistently drew 40 to 60 participants. For the past couple of months, Vergennes has been mired in a political imbroglio around race and policing. The former mayor, Jeff Fritz, who had advocated for a police oversight board, announced his resignation during a public council session, in July, over a

series of texts he’d exchanged with the city manager. Three aldermen quickly followed suit. The city council is no longer functional, and a special election has been called for later this month. Archer watched all of this unfold with bafflement. She was supposed to speak before the council on the issue of racial equity the week after Fritz’s resignation, but the aldermen’s resignations prevented a quorum, and the meeting was canceled. In spite of this dustup, Archer has begun to feel that she’s found a home in Vergennes — a place where she can make a difference on an individual scale, where she knows she could help change the social infrastructure that has maintained the white status quo. Since plans for the oversight committee have been stalled in the absence of a functioning government, Archer has helped design a mission statement and a website for Vergennes Forward, a citizen group focused on government accountability and equity and inclusion in the community. Danforth Pewter and a teacher at Vergennes Union High School have requested her anti-racism workshop; as a matter of principle, Archer requests donations instead of charging a fee, because she doesn’t want cost to be a barrier. Several people, she said, have suggested that she run for mayor. In other words, she has no shortage of work, but she can’t find a job that pays enough to afford the cost of living in Vergennes. Her plans to work in the Flynn’s teaching artist program were scuttled by COVID-19; her partner, who was laid off this spring, has been scraping by on unemployment. Neither of them sees a financially sustainable future in Vermont. “Finding a job here is damn near impossible,” she said. Resources and support systems for people of color don’t exist in Vergennes, she noted. “It’s not that Vermont is a bad place, but there’s just no community for us out here,” she said. “Hair is a big deal. There’s no salon here where people know how to cut Black hair. And that’s just one small thing.” Miller and Archer will move out of their apartment at the end of September — Archer will return to her family’s place in Newark, and Miller will go back home to Long Island. But Archer isn’t ready to leave Vergennes behind. She plans to continue holding her anti-racism workshops for Vergennes residents and Vermont businesses via Zoom. “I want to make a mark here,” she said, “and to show other people of color that they can make a mark here, too.” C .E .

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Her Little-Town Blues Are Melting Away When the coronavirus pandemic quieted New York City in March, Maureen Cross quickly made up her mind: She’d move to Vermont, where she had attended college and spent more than two decades of her adult life. “It was like, well, if I’m here and nothing I like to do is available — I go to the museums all the time, and the theater — what am I doing here?” Cross said. “And I thought, I’ll go back to Burlington! I’ll go hiking all the time, and I’ll get something for the same amount of money, and I’ll get a three-bedroom and have my own office and a driveway and a huge kitchen and a washing machine and a dishwasher.” So, on June 1, Cross traded her rentstabilized studio on Manhattan’s Upper West Side for an apartment in Burlington’s Old North End. The 64-year-old is single and worked remotely as a certified public accountant even pre-COVID-19, making the move fairly seamless. Her new Park Street place had all the amenities she

desired, and she could easily stroll to Lake Champlain with her two Siberian huskies. But the honeymoon didn’t last. Cross says she felt unsafe venturing out in the Old North End after 10 p.m., a marked difference from her comfort on the streets of New York. She experienced some friction with neighbors who shared her driveway. And she missed the diversity of people, cultures and food she’d left behind. Cross also felt like dogs were unwelcome in Burlington’s green spaces. She said she got yelled at for letting them off-leash. “I’ve never seen so many ‘no dog’ signs in my life,” Cross complained. The experience was a far cry from her years at Burlington’s now-closed Trinity College in the 1970s, she said. After graduation, she spent a decade in Boston before returning to the Burlington area for 18 years. She moved to New York City in 2006 and has been there ever since, but for a five-year stint in San Francisco.

She had thought her familiarity with Vermont, and the friends and family she has in the area, would make the transition easier. “I just didn’t end up seeing them. It just felt like it was a weird time to come back,” Cross said. “I’d invite people over, and they

I’M GOING TO CREATE A CAMPAIGN THAT SAYS, “I LEFT NEW YORK, AND NOW I KNOW IT’S IRREPLACEABLE.

I’M HOME AGAIN.” MAUR E E N C R O S S

just seemed afraid. I don’t know if it was because I was from New York City or — I don’t know. I didn’t connect with people in the way that I did when I lived there before.” She’d have liked to cross the international border to visit the nearest

metropolis, Montréal, but it remained closed. Cross visited New York City just three weeks after leaving and realized she missed it. She began looking for an apartment there and set a goal for herself: to return in time for the late-August reopening of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she’s a member and visits frequently. The moving company she used was shocked when Cross called them again to pack her up and bring the stuff back to Gotham. By August 23, she was headed south. “When I drove down the Hudson River Parkway, just seeing all the people on the bike path, I just felt like I hadn’t seen people in so long,” Cross said. “I was just happy, and happy to just get back into my regular routine.” Once home, Cross recounted her misadventure to the West Side Rag, an online news outlet. The story went viral, an antidote for resolute urbanites to the tales of those who had happily left them behind.

Brandon Conrad and Donna Lloyd are used to a nomadic lifestyle. The couple met while teaching in Seoul, South Korea, in 2010, and in the last decade they’ve also taught in Albania and Oregon. They lived most recently in British Columbia but after years of globe-trotting decided they were ready to settle down closer to family. The teachers homed in on Vermont, whose mountains and lakes seemed the perfect fit for the adventurous pair. The state is just a day’s car ride to Lloyd’s mother in Ontario and a quick flight to Conrad’s family in Florida. They submitted job applications and landed several interviews before taking off on a trip to Ontario to await the news. Lloyd’s mom wasn’t thrilled to hear that her 38-year-old daughter was considering a move to the United States during a deadly pandemic. The country is home to 4 percent of the world’s population but a staggering 25 percent of all COVID-19 cases. Why would they want to leave Canada? her mother wondered. Didn’t they watch the news? So every day, Conrad, who is 43, turned his morning coffee date with his mother-inlaw into a sales pitch. He trotted out charts and graphs showing that Vermont’s case counts were much lower than the rest of the country’s, and Ontario’s, too. Vermont is no Texas or New York City, Conrad told her. The matriarch was soon convinced that Lloyd wouldn’t be marching to her death by crossing the border. She came around just 30

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

DAVID SHAW

Distance Learning

Brandon Conrad and Donna Lloyd with their dog, Hesse

look at the Golden Gate Bridge and go, ‘Whatever.’ It didn’t have any effect on me. I look at the Bow Bridge in Central Park and go, ‘Ohhhhh,’ or the brownstones — I missed the architecture.” In Burlington, “there was only Maureen Cross so much variety of places I could walk to. It just stopped affecting me. Whereas here, I never stop thinking that it’s so pretty.” Her story was picked up by the UK’s Daily Mail website last week, and Cross has since given interviews to local Fox Also eye-catching: Cross’ description and NBC affiliates, plus “Inside Edition.” of Lake Champlain and the Green Moun- She joked that she and comedian Jerry tains as “a little sterile, like a postcard.” Seinfeld, who recently wrote a New York She laughed when asked about that Times op-ed about the resiliency of the description during a phone interview city in the face of the pandemic, will team with Seven Days. up to deliver a simple message: “See? New “Here, it feels more interactive,” Cross York does not die.” said. “I look at the Hudson, I look over at “Then,” Cross said, “for the mayor New Jersey, I go to Randall’s Island — it and the governor, I’m going to create a just feels more alive. Maybe there was a campaign that says, ‘I left New York, and now I know it’s irreplaceable. I’m home better way to phrase it. “It’s like a visceral thing,” she contin- again.’” S.G. ued. “When I lived in San Francisco, I’d

in time: Conrad got a job on August 3, and the couple laid plans to move to Brattleboro. They had a bit more than a month to relocate across the continent and hadn’t started packing. “When we gave her a hug and said bye ... it was knowing that we’re going to go to a place that’s taking care of business, that isn’t inundated with people that are anti-maskers or people that are reckless in their behavior,” Conrad said. “We kind of realized, Are we ever going to have this opportunity again?” he added.

WE KIND OF REALIZED,

ARE WE EVER GOING TO HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY AGAIN? B R A N D ON CONRAD

Lloyd and Conrad caught a plane back to British Columbia, stuffed their belongings into their Subaru Legacy wagon and set off. They camped along the way, choosing remote spots to selfisolate, and half expected agents to take their temperature at the border. (They didn’t.) They crossed without difficulty — Conrad is a U.S. citizen, and Lloyd holds a green card. The couple arrived in Vermont in midAugust, a few weeks before their lease

began. They decided to quarantine at an Airbnb campsite in Strafford, a tiny Orange County town. Their host fed them fresh produce and homemade soup. It tasted like manna after the PopCorners, crackers and other nonperishables they’d subsisted on during their road trip. Lloyd and Conrad finally settled into their apartment on Saturday, three days before school started. Conrad is teaching high schoolers at the Windham Regional Career Center in Brattleboro, while Lloyd is telecommuting to Newport to teach kindergartners at the opposite end of the state. She’s one of four K-4 teachers who is working remotely for the district this year, she said. Lloyd’s mom — perhaps in a last-ditch ploy to stall her daughter’s move — had warned that teaching from home would be boring. “Won’t you miss having real conversations with your colleagues and students?” her mother had asked. Lloyd had scoffed at the question but now sees how isolating it can be to move during a pandemic. She wanted to join a book club but realized none are convening in person. Conrad looked forward to dining out with new friends but soon recognized that Vermont’s warm days, which allow for safe socializing outside, are quickly passing by. “It’s just going to be different,” Lloyd conceded. But, she added, “We’re positive we’re gonna like it here.” C.L.

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9/7/20 9:01 AM

AFRO-GREEN

ike millions of other New Yorkers, I was moving about our city like a fastpaced germ. M id-March, days before the shutdown, we were elbow to elbow, cough to cough, sneezing and God-blessing each other in trepidation on stuffed trains that busily buzzed us back and forth. Gooey bulbs of snot shot through the noses of children at my day job as a teaching artist, making me uncomfortable. I got home ready to rest in my husband’s arms. Then, as if he were reading a script from some apocalyptic flick, he declared: “We have to leave here tomorrow on a plane to Atlanta.” Tomorrow? My knees left first. Panic, fear and confusion seemed to be driving us both. Swiping the iPhone that day served up images of scared-looking people delayed at airports, packed body to body. I was unraveling. The unnerving plan developed. It meant we would be packing immediately to make it for the plane, managing my elderly in-laws, who were visiting New York City; my young niece and nephew; my cat, Mikey; and all of my fears. Any of us could be incubating the virus. Couldn’t we drive instead of fly? I don’t want to inadvertently kill anyone or catch anything on the tiny enclosed monster of an airplane. Thoughts spun like the chamber of a gun. My husband needed to dutifully carry his folks back to their own home in Atlanta and, well, my mind collapsed at all that. The Uber taking him away was like a piece of the Earth cleaving itself from the mainland. I was left alone on the shore of a sci-fi movie, heading into a real dystopia, dealing with the haste of Zion. After landing down South, my husband urged me with new realities and geek wisdom: “During a zombie apocalypse, you must flee highly populated areas. If you get sick and they close the island’s entry, no one will be able to come and get you.” ❋ Vermont was always a dream — a mysterious northern “kingdom” where my cousins, aunt and uncle lived, far away from New Orleans, where our people are from and where I was born and raised. In 1977, the year Star Wars came out, they moved to Vermont. Uncle Herbert and Aunt Lucille were a son and a daughter of 32

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a treasure and a passport not to be ignored, as my aunt and uncle reminded me. While attending Saint Michael’s College, I lived at their home. Aunt Lucille and Uncle Herbert had no hazmat suits to protect them from the missteps and misunderstandings that came from being the new and rare Black An ex-urban Southerner finds safety, solace family in Vermont during the 1970s. But and family history in Vermont the fresh air, promise and neighborly kindnesses belonged to anyone who could find BY ME L ANIE MAR IA GO O D R E AUX their way to the kingdom. They weren’t the only Blacks escapthe Deep South and also an ultramodern, My aunt would call New Orleans on a ing to this paradise, real or fictional. In I brave-as-heck couple. They were primed, clunky rotary phone to talk to my father, Am Legend, Will Smith plays a virologist full of promise and nerve, Black and her brother, and report the new things in New York City fighting off nocturnal bold like Afros and Isley mutants when a virus Brothers songs. wipes out mankind. The Uncle Herbert was only people safe from its Dr. Herbert Leary Jr. at IBM emboldened by his PhD, horrors live in Vermont. his sweet love, and the On Shonda Rhimes’ TV bravery of conquering this series “Scandal,” Kerry new frontier. He worked Washington’s character, as a polymer chemist at Olivia Pope, is the “fixer” IBM in Essex Junction, for the president of the United States. The two manipulating molecular of them are secret lovers and escape to a house in Vermont.

FUTURE

ary Jr. Dr. Herbert Le ary and Lucille Le

structures and inventing computing hardware. His world was hyper-alien compared to the stereotypical expectations of a southern Black man just 10 years past the civil rights movement. Uncle Herbert might as well have been shot from a rocket ship onto some new moon. He was a real-life Lieutenant Uhura on the USS Enterprise, a lone Black person working on the precipice of technological and racial innovation. Unafraid of racial obscurity, he founded a new experience for his Black family on a hilltop in Vermont.

❋

she’d discovered about living in this predominantly white world. “There’s not many Black people up here” was the common start of any explanation of Vermont to southern Black folks. It preceded talks about snow. Both of my cousins went to boarding schools. As their southern family, we were befuddled by what northern Blacks were really like. Whenever they came down South, we noted their grade of manners and northern accents with profound awe and mystery. ❋ After my father died, Aunt Lucille moved my grandmother from New Orleans to Essex Junction. My grandmother had raised her two kids on her own in the French Quarter, and she once worked as a maid for a wealthy white family in New Orleans. I came here, to Vermont, at the same time. Like my grandmother, I was swollen with grief over my father’s death, but I still needed a college degree. It was

I was proud of my badassed escape from New York to Vermont. I was an artist with a working credit card with money enough to rent the last available car in the lot. Mine was a white Volkswagen Bug that zoomed along the highways, balancing my load of groceries and medical supplies. Smooshed together in my harried packing were my coffee maker, $300 in cash, dumplings, three cartons of bodega eggs I wouldn’t leave behind, and my 20-pound cat in a carry-on bag. Mikey was my lone copilot in the front seat. We were like Chewie and Han Solo in the Millennium Falcon, swerving northward through the hills. I fell asleep on the road twice. Our getaway Beetle tilted with speed on the curves, balancing itself on two wheels and screeching, redeemed by the split-second moments of me waking up before running into an oncoming truck. I narrowly missed being that tragedy and was instead borne once more unto my aunt’s house. Mikey threw up from car sickness but, other than that, was pretty chill. ❋ Uncle Herbert died many years ago, and my glamorous Aunt Lucille, whom I loved so much, passed away a couple of

LUKE AWTRY

years ago. Her house was supposed to be packed up and sold, but my cousins held off on the sale. “Go to Auntie’s,” my cousin Kim had offered. Left behind was a fully stocked Enterprise-D: a colony ship ready to receive its next generation of Black inhabitants. I got in with the garage door opener that my aunt’s friend had left on a doorknob in a plastic bag. The door cranked open to the ranch house that I had thought I would never see again. Grandmother’s rocking chair from New Orleans was still there. There were photos of cousin Herbert riding his horse, Godfrey, leaping over a white fence, and cousin Kim and Auntie Lucille shaking hands with President Obama, smiling in perpetuity from picture frames on the mantel. When I got to the kitchen, I dropped my purse and released the deepest breath I have ever been known to breathe. I sobbed and sobbed, freed now from all the buttons and business of New York, rescued by my aunt’s beautiful bunker in Vermont. I heaved with relief and wailed in thanksgiving to the ancestors who granted me this safety and protection. And none of my eggs had cracked. The next thing I spotted was a small, yellowing school photo of my sister in pigtails, which my mother had mailed here from New Orleans 40 years before. It had been left on the orange laminate kitchen counter that my aunt picked out with keen ’70s groove and smooth taste. Surrounding me were vines of cornucopia that donned

Hear Goodreaux read her story at sevendaysvt.com/ afro-green-future.

Melanie Maria Goodreaux and Tim Fielder

this same chair and had probably found comfort from the same towering trees. For a while, I wept each sunrise on that chair. I prayed the rosary every day with my mother on the phone in New Orleans. I did yoga on the deck beneath the sun. I grew tomatoes, basil and lettuce for the first time ever.

LEFT BEHIND WAS A FULLY STOCKED ENTERPRISE-D: A COLONY SHIP READY TO RECEIVE ITS NEXT GENERATION OF BLACK INHABITANTS.

the kitchen walls, an orange and pea-green wallpaper harvest. It was a sight for sore eyes, a gift from my generous cousins, who unlocked this Essex Junction door for me to be safe. Just safe. I was home. k I did many things to survive this new isolation. I chopped chicken sausage and peeled shrimp I had carried from New York to make a gumbo. I poured out pralines on the foil my aunt never used before dying, mailing the candy to my husband, walking two miles to the post office because I didn’t have access to a car anymore. I sobbed on the mint-green velour chair and found comfort from the Douglas firs outside. A trio of them loomed over the house like three great-aunts standing tall, camouflaged as evergreens. I thought about how my grandmother had sat in

I fried chicken with my friend Shawn on Zoom. I bought an air fryer and stopped cooking with oil. I found a picture of myself at age 10 beneath the bed where I slept. I binged on Pop-Tarts delivered by my friend Marie who worked at Hannaford. I wept for my aunt many times, and for the company of my husband who was far away. I found my auntie’s old bike hung upside down in the garage — a rusty red Free Spirit bicycle from the Sears catalog. I had received the same model for Christmas when I was 10. I untangled my old bones and pushed the pedals with all the might of my fortysomething thighs. I rode the bike through Essex Junction, the wind blowing through my graying hair. I felt 10 years old again, thrilled by speeding down the suburban hills, passing rows of houses and signs written by

neighbors to cheer everyone up. One read: “Be Kind, Be Safe, Be Your Best.” My favorite was the “BLACK LIVES MATTER” sign on the concrete wall of the highway, where a neighbor had outlined the statement in powdery blue chalk and restores it every time rain fades the words. Although I made myself stronger through the loneliness, the house and its contents were my sanctity and my good friend. I was still somehow ashamed of being alone. k My aunt is not here. This is her fireplace, her carpet, her strands of red hair left behind in a comb in a drawer. These are her regal Black children forever painted in plaid outfits and left on the easel for a permanent showing. This is her painting of stylish Black couples dancing at a jazz party in the 1920s. This is her collection of Toni Morrison books. This is her road that once led to IBM. This is her house that sits above the Winooski River. But this has been my home during one of the most important transitions of my life. My husband returned to me on the last day of July. He flew in on the plane wearing a respirator mask that made him look like Darth Vader. I sprayed him with alcohol right at the curb, and I kissed him after four and a half months. I rushed us to my aunt’s house in a hooptie I’d finally bought to get around town, ready to make him feel at home with a dinner of crab cakes cooked in my new air fryer and with tomatoes I’d grown myself.

I marvel at this refuge and think Uncle Herbert would be impressed by today’s inventions, employed in the mothership he founded with my aunt. All I have to do is say, “Hey, Google, play ‘Voyage to Atlantis,’” and my love and I can enjoy the same soulful songs Uncle Herbert and Auntie jammed to in the ’70s on the record player console downstairs. Uncle Herbert would smile about my husband, a graphic novelist and visual Afrofuturist, who imagines Black people in new worlds. A man like himself. Auntie would be tickled by the pandemic love nest I’ve created, akin to Olivia Pope’s Vermont dream. The difference is that mine is a real utopia in the midst of some actual cataclysm. Sometimes I cry at the supermarket when I talk, muffled through a mask, to a sales clerk. I think of the people who have died alone, and of my empty apartment in New York City. With our refrigerator filled to the brim, I’m grounded by listening to the Isley Brothers with my husband. The uncertainty facing me, and so many others, is daunting. Where will I work next? How long will we have to dodge the virus? Will the sanctity of social order be preserved? Will our Black sons and daughters be able to walk down the block without getting shot? I hope my husband and I can take root here, sturdy and new and growing like my tomato plants in good earth; steady in the serene scene of Kryptonian-colored mountains and facing the Afrofuture in Vermont. SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

BOTTOM LINE BY KEN PICARD

Yes, I Cannabis C How COVID-19 helped a Northeast Kingdom CBD company get rolling

astleton native Arantha Farrow was just 4 years old when her father, a Black man from Zimbabwe, applied for a green card to stay in the U.S. with his family. But when immigration officials saw that he’d once been detained for an eighth of an ounce of marijuana, an incident Farrow describes as racial profiling, he was instead deported. Farrow and her younger brother, who was 2 at the time, wouldn’t see him again for another 20 years. Nearly a quarter century later, Vermont’s prohibition on cannabis has ended. Today, Farrow is the owner of Caledonia Cannabis, a company she founded in 2018 to provide high-quality cannabidiol (CBD) products grown by organic farms in the Northeast Kingdom. “One thing that’s beautiful about working with cannabis in this way is that it can allow people to live off the land in a smallscale permaculture and have success doing so,” she said. The survival of Caledonia Cannabis was anything but assured when the pandemic hit. But now, due in part to COVID-19, it’s on a roll. Farrow, 28, grew up with her mother’s family in a Castleton church-turned 34

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

-art-studio created by her late grandfather, Patrick Farrow, a famous metalworker and sculptor and brother of actress Mia Farrow. Arantha Farrow did some farming when she was younger, then worked on cannabis farms on the West Coast, where she learned more about the plant’s therapeutic properties. About four years ago, she moved into a cabin near Hardwick with her mother and brother and became part of Vermont’s budding hemp industry. In 2019, just as her CBD business was getting off the ground, Farrow was hired by an out-of-state investor, who had no previous experience in the cannabis industry, to be his project manager on a 50-acre hemp farm in the Northeast Kingdom. But after the investor purchased the wrong type of drying equipment, production bottlenecked, and Farrow scrambled to find barns to hang and dry their plants. The investor ultimately lost money on the enterprise, and Farrow and other hemp farmers were never paid for their efforts. Farrow had planned to use that money to travel to Zimbabwe to see her father again. Stung by that experience, she vowed to work only with small Vermont producers. “I believe that there’s inherently a

higher quality of anything that’s grown on a small scale,” Farrow explained. To that end, she joined with about 10 NEK growers to sell their plants under one brand. After the 2019 fiasco, she moved to New York City to explore the market for Vermont-branded cannabis goods, such as the full-spectrum CBD tincture she makes. She was negotiating bulk-sales deals when the pandemic virtually ended all commercial activity in the city. When things “really started to get funky,” Farrow said, she grabbed her belongings, jumped on a train and fled back to Vermont. But the situation wasn’t much better for her business back in the Green Mountain State, as a national shortage of ethanol temporarily halted her CBD tincture production. And as a sole proprietor with no employees, Farrow didn’t qualify for any state or federal COVID-19 relief funds. For a while it looked like Caledonia Cannabis might get snuffed out. Then, at the end of April, Farrow saw an old trolley for sale on Craigslist. A New Hampshire man had been planning to use it for group tours when the pandemic hit. “I didn’t realize I was looking for it,”

JEB WALLACE-BRODEUR

Arantha Farrow in her “Cannaboose” trolley in Hardwick

she said, “but it was kind of a COVID solution for what I had going on.” Farrow doesn’t know the history behind the vehicle, which is essentially an old streetcar body welded onto a modern bus frame. But she immediately fell in love with it “and spent a few days trying to rapidly justify how it made sense for my business.” Ultimately, it did. Farrow bought it, painted it white, removed the seats and turned it into a mobile retail outlet. She now takes her “Cannaboose” to vending sites such as Church Street Marketplace and the Burlington Farmers Market, where she can sell her products right out of a window. Or customers can come inside and browse her wares, which include pre-rolled CBD joints, teas and loose flowers. When the pandemic subsides, she plans to put the seats back in and offer guided cannabis farm tours in the Northeast Kingdom. The crisis has also helped Caledonia Cannabis, she noted, as consumers have become even more invested in maintaining their health and well-being. Though U.S. Food & Drug Administration regulations prevent Farrow from making unproven claims about her CBD products, she describes cannabis as an “adaptogenic” plant that can help the body cope with stress and normalize bodily functions. “We are in a huge crisis right now, in so many ways, and the collective is feeling anxious and overwhelmed,” she added, “so CBD can be super supportive.” Caledonia Cannabis is supportive in another way: In addition to selling CBD products, Farrow sells handmade goods by Zimbabwean artisans she met through her father, who still lives there. For Farrow, who grew up in Vermont “being a nonwhite-passing person, and also having a complex for not having access to that culture,” selling those goods has been a way for her to reconnect with her roots, benefit the people of Zimbabwe and, in a “full-circle kind of way,” she said, give new meaning to her father’s deportation. “If I make money in this venture, it will go directly to Africa,” she added, “so I can help equalize a world that is so dangerously out of balance.” Contact: ken@sevendaysvt.com

INFO Bottom Line is a series on how Vermont businesses are faring during the pandemic. Got a tip? Email bottomline@sevendaysvt.com.

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PEOPLE acluvt.org 1T-ACLU090920.indd 1

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

9/8/20 1:20 PM

VERMONTING

BY DAN BOLLES

Dog Day

An island in the sun and pup-friendly fun in St. Albans

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

HELLO, VERMONTING Even as Vermont opens up from the pandemic shutdown, Gov. Phil Scott still encourages residents to stay home as much as possible. And so this summer is a good time to explore our home state. Its diminutive size makes a multitude of short trips accessible, whether for a few hours, an overnight or a longer getaway. This series, running weekly through mid-October, presents curated excursions in every corner of Vermont, based on the experiences of Seven Days reporters. The idea is to patronize the state’s restaurants, retailers, attractions and outdoor adventures — after all, we want them to still be there when the pandemic is finally over. Happy traveling, and stay safe.

The Island Runner

on my lap. While that made for a less-than-comfortable ride for me, Mook’s aversion to the noise seemed to charm the two women on the other end of the open-air top deck. The only other passengers up top, they wore face masks for the duration of the trip. Upon reaching Burton Island, we disembarked quickly, much to Mook’s relief. Some passengers lugged coolers, tents and tubs of gear onto complimentary carts to mule to campsites, but we, as unencumbered daytrippers, simply strolled over to the park office for a map. A friendly staffer gave us a brief orientation, explaining that it would take two to Dan and Mookie two and a half hours to circumnavon the ferry igate the 253-acre island. Aiming to catch the 1:30 p.m. boat back to the mainland, we had about three hours, a comfortable buffer. Mookie and I headed north along a wide multiuse trail that runs through the campground section of the park. Most of the lean-to and tent sites were empty, though I was later told many would be full by the end of the day, the start of the holiday weekend. Still, I noted a pleasant hum of activity as staffers turned over campsites, and the even more pleasant aroma of breakfast campfires. From there we picked up the North Shore Trail, one of the island’s four pedestrian nature paths. As we trekked farther, campsite chatter was replaced by the sound of waves lapping against the rocky shoreline just feet away. There are numerous spots to duck off the trail and onto quiet beaches with stunning views of North Hero and, in the distance, New York State. We stopped briefly at Eagle Bay, a secluded crescent beach that could have been our ultimate destination for the day if we’d had more time — and if the temps had edged a few more degrees above the low 70s. Instead, we pressed on to the West Shore Trail, which hugs the shoreline until it reaches the spectacularly scenic Southern Tip and joins the Southern Tip Trail. That path leads to the island’s four paddler campsites, which are part of the Lake Champlain Paddlers’ Trail, a lake-wide network of sites reserved for canoeists and kayakers. More private and rustic than the lean-to area, these are my choice for lodging if we return for a longer stay — provided Capt. Mookie doesn’t capsize our canoe. Next, we made our way to the Island Farm Nature Trail, a winding remnant of the island’s agricultural heyday in the early 1900s. With its low vegetation and PHOTOS: DAN BOLLES

ne way or another, pandemic or not, I’ve been determined to ride a cute ferry to a cool island this summer. You see, every summer for the past several years, my girlfriend and I and a core group of friends have vacationed together on Block Island. Thirteen miles off the southern coast of my native Rhode Island — and much smaller and usually less crowded than Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard — the “Bermuda of the North” is perhaps my favorite place on the planet. My memories of and affection for the island tend to be triggered most acutely when I board the ferry at Point Judith. I might be at my giddiest when leaning on the railing of the Block Island or Anna C, sipping a Bloody Mary from a plastic cup and gazing out at the sun-dazzled sound. The pandemic torpedoed those summer vacation plans, of course. While that’s the least significant casualty of the coronavirus, it doesn’t mean I haven’t dreamt of bodysurfing at Mansion Beach, mudslides at the Oar and that lumbering ferry as it pulls into Old Harbor. So I couldn’t help but grin as the Island Runner pulled into the harbor at KILL KARE STATE PARK last Friday morning. That’s the cute-as-a-button ferry that whisks passengers to and from BURTON ISLAND STATE PARK in Lake Champlain. With just days to spare before the end of summer, I was going to get my ferry ride to a cool little island after all. My girlfriend was stuck at work, so my traveling companion for the day was our dog, Mookie Petts. (Yes, he’s named for the former Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts, since traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sore subject.) Over my 30-odd years living in Vermont, I’d never checked out Burton Island, and I was eager to go. Since I was bringing Mookie, I decided to craft this St. Albans-area Vermonting around dog-friendly destinations. That meant skipping certain shops and restaurants — catch you next time, ELOQUENT PAGE bookshop and FROZEN OGRE toy store. Overall, though, it was fairly easy to accommodate my furry friend. If it hadn’t been, we could have spent the entire day or more on Burton Island. If I can ever get Mookie on a ferry again, we just might. Rattled by the rumble of the ferry engine, Mookie — who, at a year old, is basically a 60-pound puppy — spent the entire 10-minute sail curled in a ball and shaking

The Island Farm Nature Trail at Burton Island State Park

The Taylor Park gardens and fountain

Lunch on the beach at Burton Island State Park

IN THE AREA

• • • • • • • • •

14TH STAR BREWING, 14thstarbrewing.com BURTON ISLAND STATE PARK, vtstateparks.com/burton.html THE ELOQUENT PAGE, theeloquentpage.com THE FROZEN OGRE, thefrozenogre.com GROENNFELL MEADERY, groennfell.com HOSS’S DOGG HOUSE, Facebook KILL KARE STATE PARK, vtstateparks.com/killkare.html TATRO’S SOUP & SANDWICH, Facebook TWIGGS AMERICAN GASTROPUB, twiggsvt.com

abundance of wildflowers, this section of Burton Island reminded me of Rodman’s Hollow, a nature trail on Block Island. A deserted beach just off-trail presented an ace lakeside spot for lunch — a delicious Cajun chicken wrap I’d picked up that morning at TATRO’S SOUP & SANDWICH in downtown St. Albans. We wrapped up our hike with about 45 minutes to spare. To kill time, we poked around the park’s off-leash area and then wandered by the marina. There, Mookie met a new friend: a very lifelike canine statue standing sentinel over rows of empty boat slips. The pooch was so realistic — down to a feathery tail that billowed in the breeze — that

Mookie introduced himself by sniffing its posterior and was rather confused not to receive a sniff in return. I soon learned the statue represented a coyote, one of several strategically placed around the island in an attempt to deter passing Canadian geese from, as a staffer told me, “shitting all over the place.” We easily caught the 1:30 boat and landed at Kill Kare, where a throng of Labor Day campers awaited. One of my favorite pastimes is driving Vermont’s lakeside roads. So, rather than head directly back to St. Albans, we took a spin up Route 36 along Maquam Bay, past stately year-round homes and cozy summer lake houses. Along the way, we dropped in on a yard sale, where the homeowners wanted a bit more money for a kitschy drawing of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy as their “Star Trek” characters than I was willing to pay. They did, however, offer a few tips for the remainder of our trip: Stroll the gardens in TAYLOR PARK, grab a beer at 14TH STAR BREWING and have dinner at TWIGGS AMERICAN GASTROPUB. First we made a pit stop at GROENNFELL MEADERY to chat up head brewer Rick Klein, aka Ricky the Meadmaker. The meadery is only open to the public on Saturdays, when you can buy cases of mead at half price during the pandemic. Then we parked on Main Street and ambled through Taylor Park, the resplendent centerpiece of St. Albans’ ongoing downtown revitalization. Small, colorful flower gardens and a recently restored 1887 fountain known locally as “the Ladies” anchor the vibrant and eclectic main drag. Just a couple of blocks away, we found veteran-owned 14th Star in a strip mall along Main Street. I thought I’d given up drinking in parking lots after college, but the pandemic has made everyone reevaluate things. 14th Star boasts a large and welcoming beer garden in its spacious lot. More importantly, it sells a fine array of beers. While some are brewed in more conventional styles, such as the pitch-perfect amber Valor Ale, others exhibit outside-the-mash-tun thinking, such as Game Changer, an ale brewed with orange zest and a Gatoradelike orange sports drink. With the hint of fall in the air, I opted for a dry Irish stout, relishing the smooth balance of malty sweetness and hop bitterness. Mookie gladly lapped up a bowl of water and accepted enthusiastic scratches from basically everyone who walked past our table. For dinner, we snagged a sidewalk table at Twiggs, where the bustling outdoor “patio” now occupies roughly half of the block opposite Taylor Park. It afforded excellent people watching, both of our fellow diners and of those enjoying the park — such as the fella practicing

Mookie and the coyote at Burton Island State Park

juggling pins on the green. The juicy bacon-and-bluecheese burger wasn’t bad, either. Mookie enjoyed yet another bowl of water, several of my fries and more adoring attention from passersby. For dessert, there was really only one choice: HOSS’S DOGG HOUSE, the snack bar just off the Rail City’s main drag on Lake Street. Still full from dinner, I ordered what I thought was a sensible small maple creemee with chocolate sprinkles. In hindsight, I should have taken the hint from the teenager behind the counter when she tried to clarify my order: “You said a baby, right?” I don’t know if she was attempting to goad me into ordering the “Hoss” — which, at one size above a “large,” I could only assume resembled a bazooka. But the “small” she handed me through the window was about as big as her forearm. “Enjoy,” she said with a smirk. And I did. Contact: dan@sevendaysvt.com

The “small” maple creemee at Hoss’s Dogg House

Find more information on Vermont day trips and adventures from the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing at vermontvacation.com/staytripper. SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

Unreality Bites Book review: The Glare, by Margot Harrison B Y W I L L I A M AL EXA NDER MATTHEW THORSEN

argot Harrison’s second contemporary YA thriller, The Glare, is informed by creepypasta — an unsettling genre of internet folklore — and accidentally intensified by current events and screen-dependent life in quarantine. The novel’s narrator is Hedda, a teenager whose parents represent opposing extremes of the screen time debate. Her mother is a technophobic purist who has homeschooled Hedda on an isolated ranch since she was 6 years old. Her father, by contrast, is an emotionally distant and distracted software developer whose young son from a second marriage spends almost every waking moment staring at a tablet. Hedda tries to strike a balance between these two parental extremes; she is cautiously curious about the technological world that her mother rejected and successfully lobbies to visit her father in California for the first time in a decade. Hedda’s return to the land of ubiquitous cellphones and flat-screen billboards is a compelling fish-out-of-water story, sympathetic and finely calibrated. She strives to balance her hunger for connection with her wariness of the glowing screens that mediate so many aspects of adolescent life. Her childhood nickname for their hypnotic blue light is “the Glare,” which she remembers with the fascination and vague horror of a once-addicted 6-year-old. Now she’s ready to outgrow those old fears, attend the local high school and reconnect with childhood friends. Then Hedda rediscovers a video game called the Glare, which includes images and scenes of action that seem stolen from her own nightmares. Augmented-reality elements of the game also link to her new phone, a gift from her father, which prompts her to play with Pavlovian nudges. This manipulation becomes increasingly unsettling as the novel dives into the haunted video game subgenre of creepypasta urban legends; readers will flinch if they happen to receive a realworld text message in mid-chapter. It’s probably best to keep phones switched off and stashed in a drawer while enjoying this novel. Other accidental intrusions add new and fascinating layers to The Glare. Much of the nation now shares the self-imposed isolation of Hedda’s mother, awkwardly

Margot Harrison

BOOKS

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

HEDDA IS FORCED TO NAVIGATE CONFLICTING VERSIONS

OF THE REAL AND VIRTUAL WORLDS TO SURVIVE. combined with the constant, immersive, screen-based connectivity of her father. Screen time limits for kids have practically vanished as homeschooling curricula merge with Zoom-based videoconferencing and FaceTime playdates. Many

of us are currently navigating new kinds of augmented reality as screens feed both our fears and our need for connection. We’re all Hedda now. Another surreal echo of our transformed world comes when Hedda describes memories of a Glare-possessed babysitter injecting drain cleaner into her own eyes. This terrifying scene of selfharm has nothing to do with COVID-19 or the president’s recent and toxic treatment suggestion, but the parallel contributes to the novel’s exploration of our vulnerabilities to online manipulation — and to our

FROM THE GLARE

Something’s moving in the closet. The sound hovers on the edge of awareness, like tree branches rubbing in the wind. I sit upright in the pearly-blue Pacific dawn, staring at the half-open door. I woke several times in the middle of the night, thinking I heard the Glarebox ringing like our phone at home, but it wasn’t, of course. I rise, the hardwood cold on my bare soles. The closet is dead still now. I lift the sheets to check the phone, but it’s a silent, shiny brick. I kneel to explore the narrow crawl space at the back of the closet, where I find a shoehorn, vacuum cleaner hoses, and — something soft. A Raggedy Ann doll in a dirty-white pinafore. Found you. For ten years she’s waited alone in the dark for me. I lift my abandoned doll into the light, remembering her soft weight, her heedless thread smile — and freeze. Her button eyes are gone, leaving only snips of thread. A chill goes through me, and I almost drop her. Did I do that? Maybe it was just wear and tear. Her face has a dark patch around the mouth where I used to feed her (or try to), and I certainly don’t remember cutting her eyes off. But the more I stare at her, the more I think I was trying to do to Raggedy Ann what the babysitter did to herself. To shield her from seeing something terrible.

current lack of consensus reality. Likewise, Hedda is forced to navigate conflicting versions of the real and virtual worlds to survive. Fans of thrillers, internet folklore, haunted technology, The Ring (an American remake of a Japanese horror movie based on a novel by Kôji Suzuki), and anything else that dramatizes the enticements and anxieties of screen-mediated life will likely find The Glare as appealing as it is unnerving. Disclosure: Margot Harrison is the associate editor of Seven Days.

INFO The Glare, by Margot Harrison, Little, Brown, 336 pages. $17.99.

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The Skinny With planned growth on hold, the Skinny Pancake doubles down on strengthening local food systems B Y S A LLY POL L AK

enjy Adler turned 39 on Friday, March 13. It was an ominous time. Six days earlier, the state of Vermont announced its first case of the coronavirus. Three days after Adler’s birthday, Gov. Phil Scott ordered all restaurants in the state to stop offering in-house dining, effective the next day, to curb the spread of the virus. These events presented a particular challenge for Adler, who is cofounder, co-owner and CEO of the Skinny Pancake. He and his brother, Jonny, started the business in 2003, when Adler was a music major at Middlebury College on summer vacation. The Skinny Pancake grew from a crêpe cart on the Church Street Marketplace to a local restaurant group that in mid-March this year had 10 permanent or seasonal locations and a staff of about 235 people. On the night of his 39th birthday, Adler took time for dinner with his family — lamb chops, salad, potatoes and red wine. He knew the days and weeks ahead would bring substantial change to the restaurant industry. At the Skinny Pancake, a remarkable transformation occurred over the next two weeks. The restaurant group closed its locations to all business, including takeout, and launched an initiative from its Winooski commissary kitchen, ShiftMeals, to provide food for suddenly unemployed and otherwise vulnerable Vermonters. “It was an easy first step,” Adler said. “We just started producing food.” The welfare of restaurant workers particularly concerned him. “We had 234 people who were counting on paychecks, and we needed to help them answer what comes next,” Adler said. As the company offered free meals outside its crêperie on Lake Street in Burlington, it was losing money. In the last two weeks of March, the Skinny Pancake lost $340,000, Adler said. Since then, the business lost roughly $118,000 a month through July, for a pandemic-induced

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deficit of about $815,000. Adler is still confident the company has sufficient cash reserves to sustain itself until next summer, he said, due to state and federal grants and loans, including a U.S. Paycheck Protection Program loan of $1.2 million. This year was meant to be one of growth for the Skinny Pancake. Adler’s business plan — which he expects to pursue in 2021 or 2022 — calls for opening three restaurants a year as the company expands out of state. The goal is to develop and strengthen local food systems in other areas of the Northeast. Instead, the Skinny Pancake is addressing the “affordability crisis,” in Adler’s words. Building on the instantly founded ShiftMeals and partnering with other organizations, the company has established a variety of ways to help Vermonters who are facing food insecurity. ShiftMeals now encompasses three programs, including the original endeavor, which served 59,992 free meals from late March through August 28, according to director Jean Hamilton. The meal program serves as a model and behind-the-scenes organizer for the $5 million governmentfunded Everyone Eats program, which enlists restaurants around the state to provide meals to Vermonters in need. Another ShiftMeals initiative, called the BIPOC Food Sovereignty Program, is producing a six-part webinar series, “A Force to Be Reckoned With: Womxn in VT’s Food System,” that starts on September 10. The third component of ShiftMeals, GrowTeam, is an agricultural project composed of six farms and gardens around the state, from Newport to Vershire, where people grow food for themselves and others. Each GrowTeam site was established and planted in the spring by a team of employees in collaboration with a partner organization. Since the end of June, the GrowTeam farms have been run by a crew of volunteers and a paid garden coordinator. They share the harvest and grow food for

Benjy Adler and Sammy LeVine at the Intervale community gardens

community members and organizations, including Feeding Chittenden in Burlington and Capstone Community Action in Barre. “It’s beautiful,” Adler said recently at a GrowTeam garden in Burlington. A partnership with the Vermont Community Garden Network, the site is adjacent to the Tommy Thompson Community Garden at the Intervale. “I was so blown away,” he said, looking across the field of vegetables, dotted

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with sunflowers and zinnias. “How come it’s not always like this?” He was talking about GrowTeam’s model of growing food in a collective garden rather than the standard community garden composed of individual plots. There’s nothing wrong with the usual method, Adler continued. “But there’s a lot right with people working together on growing food,” he said. He enumerated some of the benefits, including increasing production capacity and crop

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TRAVEL THE WORLD diversity to take advantage of economies of scale. “And you’re on a team,” Adler said. “Which is a really great thing, especially these days.” GrowTeam had to be organized and operational in four to six weeks to get seeds and vegetables starts in the ground. Adler recalled calling up farmers at night, after their field work was done, to figure out viable approaches. “We needed to get to yes without resistance,” he said. Adler and ShiftMeals director Hamilton have been friends since Middlebury College, where he was the first person she met.

IN ONE BITE.

Hamilton was setting up her dorm room, playing the Grateful Dead’s Reckoning, when Adler walked by and told her it was his favorite album, she recalled. (A fan of the Dead, Adler joked with his friends about naming their original cart the Crêpeful Dead.) “Something that I have always loved about Benjy is his pursuit of truth,” Hamilton said. “He’s such a curious and inquisitive person. He fiercely wrestles with ideas. And I think it’s served him and our community really well.” Some two decades after that initial THE SKINNY

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ShiftMeals outside the Skinny Pancake in Burlington in May

A CRÊPERIE OPENS IN THE TIME OF COVID-19 The Stowe Skinny Pancake, which opened in July, is at 454 Mountain Road, in an off-road space between a movie theater and a tattoo studio. The crêperie has outlets in Burlington, Montpelier and Quechee; at Burlington International Airport; and at ski resorts. With a planned opening date in mid-April, the newest Skinny Pancake was the first on track to open on time, according to co-owner Benjy Adler. Then the pandemic happened. The opening, timed to coincide with moving employees from the branch at Stowe Mountain Resort to the restaurant at the base of the mountain, was delayed by three months. “Benjy Pancake” chronicled the process in a blog post on skinnypancake.com titled “How to Open a Restaurant in the Middle of a Pandemic.” In it, he wrote:

FILE: JAMES BUCK

The first thing we do when we bring a new team together is go around in a circle and have everyone introduce themselves, their position with The Skinny Pancake and perhaps something about their personal life or passion that they want to share. Now that process happens muffled behind face masks, hiding everyone’s genuine smiles. Last week, when I went to the Skinny Pancake in Stowe, I’m pretty sure I could sense the smile of the masked man who took our contact information and seated us at a corner table. He explained the restaurant’s system: Enter by one door, place orders at the counter and exit by a second door. Food would be delivered to our table on the patio. We were inside the restaurant — which looked great during my two-minute scan — long enough to order a Korean barbecue crêpe, sweet potato fries, a kale Caesar salad and spinachartichoke dip. I detoured from the prescribed route to read the beer taps at the bar and order a couple of pints: von Trapp Brewery’s Golden Helles and Zero Gravity Craft Brewery’s Little Wolf. Then it was back to our table outdoors, where our beers arrived moments after we did, and a gloved staffer served the food soon after. The salad put the phrase “Eat More Kale” to the test; you couldn’t possibly. The fries were crispy and pretty. For personal safety, my friend and I refrained from double-dipping into the cheesy spinach-artichoke dip, each scooping some onto our own plate. My only regret is that the unclaimed portion ended up closer to my friend than to me, and he got more of it. Still, I ate enough to determine that the dip, a longtime family favorite from the menu’s “Munchies” section, lives up to its Burlington counterpart. In uncertain times, there’s something comforting about familiar sites and sensations: the shape of a Skinny Pancake crêpe, the pesto mayo that comes with the fries, the first sip of a local lager on a late-summer day in Stowe. We appreciated all of it at the Skinny’s newest location, lingering after our last sip of beer was gone.

The Skinny « P.41

S.P. SALLY POLLAK

Lunch at the Skinny Pancake in Stowe

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

meeting in the dorm, which Hamilton called “formative,” the two found themselves working together on ShiftMeals. “We looked at the situation and [recognized that] we have so many powerful resources in our facilities and on our team,” Adler said. “We’re not just going to put everyone on the sidelines and watch a crisis unfold.” The work is a natural extension of the Skinny Pancake’s core mission to support the local food system. Before the pandemic, the company spent more than $1 million on local food per year, he said. “We’ve always said that the local food movement has resiliency,” Adler said. “If ever we were going to demonstrate resiliency, this is the time to do it. We were going to need self-reliant, self-sufficient solutions.” At A Center for Grassroots Organizing in Marshfield, a youth group called the Northstar Collective runs the GrowTeam garden. Eliana Moorhead, 17, of Montpelier has worked at the one-acre Marshfield farm since the spring — breaking ground, preparing the soil and planting seeds. The high school senior, who started as a paid worker earning $15 an hour, said she knew nothing about farming before this experience. “It’s been the best thing ever,” she said. “We have a lot of conversations, beyond agriculture itself.” The group talks about land ownership, reparation and sustainability, she said. Decisions are made by consensus, and the young farmers take the lead. “Even though there were adults [on-site], they made sure that our voices were just as powerful as theirs,” Moorhead said. A priority is growing food for migrant farmworkers, she said. Northstar Collective also grows crops for the Abenaki Land Link Project.

“We definitely take home food for ourselves, but we make sure that we maximize what’s given to other people,” Moorhead said. On September 3, members of the collective harvested tomatoes, scallions, leeks, potatoes, cabbage and squash. “The amount of what we have is really amazing, and we hope to give it to as many people as we can,” Moorhead said. “That’s why we need more [harvest] volunteers, too. It’s tough to see produce ready to go and not always be able to give it to everyone.” Moorhead applauds the Skinny Pancake for starting the GrowTeam initiative. “They’re just a restaurant,” she said. “If you have the power to change that … into other ways of providing for people in a foundational way, I think that’s really special.” The ShiftMeals work has a variety of funding sources, Hamilton said, including grants from the Vermont Community Foundation and the High Meadows Fund. A virtual Hug Your Farmer benefit concert in June, featuring Dave Matthews and Grace Potter, raised more than $25,000. Seventh Generation, Lawson’s Finest Liquids, the Skinny Pancake, the WaterWheel Foundation and the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation have donated to the program, according to Hamilton. The Intervale Center is a fiscal partner, and ShiftMeals has a contract with the Vermont Foodbank to produce meals. High Mowing Organic Seeds in Wolcott donated seeds for the GrowTeams. When that project started, Hamilton said, she and program manager Sammy LeVine “were like a special delivery team,” driving around Vermont to pick up and THE SKINNY

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Admiral Steve's Chicken at Umami

Umami in Stowe

Bogart’s Boys CHINESE TAKEOUT OPENS IN STOWE

AARON MARTIN, chef-owner

of PLATE in Stowe, opened a second restaurant a few doors down last week: UMAMI, at 151 Main Street, Unit 5. Designed for the pandemic takeout trend, Umami is an Asian restaurant that specializes in Cantonese and Sichuan food. SILAS TANNER, Martin’s sous chef at Plate, left that position to run the kitchen at the new restaurant. Martin has wanted to renovate the space that is now Umami for some time, he said, but wasn’t sure what type of restaurant to put there. The

solution, it turned out, was working with him at Plate. Tanner was a cook at the original location of Chinese favorite A SINGLE PEBBLE, founded in Berlin by chef STEVE BOGART. “I love to eat Asian food, and I don’t know how to cook it,” Martin, 36, said. “Silas knows how to cook it. A lot of the motivation for this was to build a space for me to learn how to cook a new cuisine.” Working with Tanner is sous chef DUSTY BERARD, who trained in Bogart’s Berlin kitchen in his teen years. More recently, Berard ran a weekly Chinese pop-up dinner from KISMET in

Montpelier, where he was a cook. “Those two are working hand in hand to get this running,” said Martin, who lives in his hometown of Hyde Park. “I’m trying to learn as we go.” Umami’s menu includes a chicken dish named for Bogart, Admiral Steve’s Chicken, prepared with citrus oil, tangy sweet sauce and broccoli. Among the big dishes are black bean salmon with greens; and tofu with pork belly, chiles and wild mushrooms. Cold dishes include sesame noodles and lightly smoked cucumbers with red peppers and rice vinegar. “The food has absolutely been fantastic,” Martin said. “The boys are knocking it out of the park.” Umami is open for takeout Thursday through Monday, 5 to 9 p.m. Call 253-4177 to order.

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LION TURTLE TEA OPENS IN BURLINGTON

After nearly two years of popping up around Burlington, LION TURTLE TEA has a permanent home at 135 Pearl Street. The teahouse opened on September 1 in the space that most recently housed Papa John’s Pizza. Co-owners JACE JAMASON and TIM WILLIAMS found the spot half a block from the top of the Church Street Marketplace this spring, after a previous location didn’t work out. “Our timing was SIDE DISHES

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deliver vegetable flats from farmers who had donated plant starts. LeVine, 26, worked at the Skinny Pancake while studying statistics and food systems at the University of Vermont. She moved west after college and worked for a few years on farms there. Back in Burlington, LeVine lost her job as a server at Honey Road when the pandemic struck. She brought restaurant and farming experience to her new position managing GrowTeam. As a laid-off restaurant worker, LeVine noted, she was in the “target demographic” for the program. “Everything was happening really fast, and this team was just responding to the immediate need of the community,” LeVine said. “It was really powerful to see what can be done when you have folks ready and inspired and willing to put in some work for the direct need of their community.” The number of volunteers on the farms was 100 or so at the start of the season and is down to about 50, LeVine said, as people’s availability and schedules have changed. “In my experience, the more you connect with the earth and get in the

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The Skinny « P.42

BE NJ Y AD L E R

Benjy Adler at the Intervale community gardens

garden, the more you want to be there,” LeVine said. “And it doesn’t really feel like a hard commitment.” One volunteer is Joanna May, a music teacher from Richmond who lost her preschool teaching jobs to the pandemic in the spring. With experience in community gardening and farming — and time on her hands — May, 51,

applied to GrowTeam to help address food insecurity. She started as a paid employee in Burlington and has since moved to the Richmond site, where she volunteers for GrowTeam’s partnership with the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. The VYCC’s 10-acre farm produces food for Health Care Share, a CSA that’s free for SALLY POLLAK

HENRY HARRIS

about 400 members. May brings home a weekly allotment for her family. “I think it was a brilliant use of PPP money for the Skinny Pancake … to employ people to get the food systems back in action,” May said. “Restaurants really have the connections and the networks to keep farmers producing. There’s just no reason that we should have food waste when we have hungry people.” Adler wants the program to serve as a model for more collective farming projects to be established around the state — the foundation of what he called “reciprocal food security.” “I hope to be a pest and help foster the scaling up of the program,” he said, adding that he runs by land in Burlington that could support a 1,000-person CSA. “I do harbor a particular concern for affordability in Burlington. I’d like to be part of the solution.” As the crops grew in the spring and summer, the Skinny Pancake gradually reopened five of its restaurants. In midJuly, a new crêperie opened in Stowe, one of the three restaurants Adler had planned to open in 2020; the others were in St. Albans and Troy, N.Y. The pandemic has slowed but not deterred Adler’s mission to build his restaurant group and strengthen local food systems in the process. The crisis underscores his commitment to addressing problems “at scale.” “If a bunch of soulless, greedy corporations with crappy products can scale up and have negative impact, then who’s stepping up to the plate to counter that using all those same skill sets to scale and have a positive impact?” he said. “The pandemic just kicked our asses into fuller gear and a stronger commitment.” Contact: sally@sevendaysvt.com

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food+drink like a lion to us,” Jamason explained. Taking inspiration from the Western interpretation of the mythical creature is the co-owners’ way of clarifying that they’re interpreting what they’re serving rather than staking any claim to authenticity as white people serving East Asian cuisine. “We’re just learning and exploring the culture and sharing what we know,” Jamason said. “We’re both queer, so we know what it’s like to feel marginalized; we don’t want to make other people feel that way, but we also want to do something that we enjoy.” Lion Turtle Tea is open Tuesday through Saturday for on-site dining and takeout. Jordan Barry

Moving Home KISMET TO REOPEN IN ORIGINAL MONTPELIER LOCATION

CRYSTAL MADERIA, chefowner of KISMET, has moved her Montpelier restaurant back to its original location at 207 Barre Street, where she opened its casual café offshoot, KIZY, in early 2019. Maderia started Kismet in 2007 and operated her farm-to-table restaurant on Barre Street for four years before moving to the larger location at 52 State Street. Her State Street lease expired at the end of August, “and I made the difficult decision not to renew it,” Maderia said. “It was too expensive to do any kind of hybrid of takeout and reduced seating.”

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super unintentional,” Jamason told Seven Days. “We were able to get in here in May, so we knew the pandemic was already happening. But we’ve been working on opening for about two years, so we were like, ‘OK, let’s do this.’” Lion Turtle Tea specializes in loose-leaf tea and seasonal, “Vermontfocused” interpretations of dim sum dishes such as bao and jiaozi made with ingredients sourced from local farms. The name of the teahouse is a nod to the Chinese mythological creature Lóngguī — or Dragon Turtle. “Westerners tend to think of the Dragon Turtle as more of a lion, because the art style the dragon is created in looks more

Lion Turtle Tea

Tim Williams (left) and Jace Jamason of Lion Turtle Tea

FILE: JEB WALLACE-BRODEUR

Side Dishes « P.43

Kismet's bread pudding

The State Street space is up for lease with the restaurant fixtures and equipment, which a new operator could purchase from Maderia. Kismet will reopen in place of Kizy by the end of September with takeout and delivery of preparedmeal components for customers to reheat, assemble and plate at home. The three-course, seasonally inspired dinners will change weekly and be offered three to four days a week, along with wine and bottled cocktails. A sample menu might include Leaves and Seeds salad with honey vinaigrette; house-rubbed strip steaks topped

with braised onions and mushroom cream with a spinach-cheddar gratin; and brownbutter almond cake with caramel sauce. Available for pickup Friday and Saturday, brunch will include Kismet favorites, such as biscuits and gravy, and Portuguese baked eggs. À la carte options include the popular kale salad from Kizy’s menu in kit form and Kismet’s caramelized-onion-andcheese bread pudding. “Everyone’s going

through their own version of difficult right now,” Maderia acknowledged. Her new direction, she said, is giving her “so much healing and comfort from revisiting the classics.” Maderia has also been busy as a cofounder of the VERMONT RESTAURANT COALITION, which advocates for the restaurant industry. While the struggles are far from over, that work “has been fortifying,” Maderia said. “I have felt like our voices have been heard.”

Melissa Pasanen

CONNECT Follow us for the latest food gossip! On Twitter: Sally Pollak: @vtpollak. On Instagram: Seven Days: @7deatsvt; Jordan Barry: @jordankbarry.

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even Days has found plenty of fascinating characters tucked away in these Green Mountains and valleys over the past 25 years. On the road less traveled, which inevitably turns to dirt, we’ve turned up a tornado chaser, two Vermont Supreme Court justices and the first female football coach in NCAA Division 1 history — at Dartmouth College. Almost all of them were eager to talk about their lives and work. One exception: Republican strategist Stuart Stevens resisted Seven Days for two years before finally agreeing to be profiled. In a 2017 cover story titled “GOP Refugee,” Paul Heintz wrote 5,000 words explaining the “Trump-bashing, ad-making, novelwriting adrenaline junkie” who worked on Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign — and four other White House races. After the 2016 election, Stevens retreated to Vermont to “lick his wounds” and ponder his next moves. Three years later, his Stowe home has become a film set for powerful television ads for the Lincoln Project, in which a former Navy SEAL calls out President Donald Trump for cowardice and worse. In his new book, It Was All a Lie, Stevens describes Trump as a “traitor.” Political operatives, poets and professors. Entrepreneurs, attorneys and activists. When you read about a Vermonter in Seven Days, you get the full story of a life. Our reporters spend hours researching and interviewing their subjects, and that includes speaking to other people, friends and foes, about them. Does a person’s background and experience predict their passions? Their successes and failures? Reading about others gets at the heart of human nature and, in the hands of a good writer, reveals something about ourselves. If you appreciate Seven Days’ in-depth profiles of Vermont people and can afford to help us financially, please become a Super Reader. Your recurring donation will fund the awardwinning journalism we continue to produce during these challenging times.

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music+nightlife

Through the Cracks A brief survey of overlooked albums from 2019 B Y JOR D AN A D AMS

hose of us in print media have a tricky little problem to deal with on a regular basis: cramming all of our thoughts, observations and feelings into the limited space on the page. It’s often the bane of our existence. We have so much to say and sometimes too little space in which to say it. It’s one of the reasons so many local albums go unreviewed in the Seven Days music section. As much as we’d love to shine a light on each and every one of the eclectic works submitted to us, there are only so many slots. With that in mind, let’s take a quick look at some albums from 2019 that we didn’t have space to properly review.

Joanne Garton, The Bee’s Knees

Central Vermont fiddler Joanne Garton presents a fine assemblage of music primarily in the Scottish tradition on The Bee’s Knees. Garton tapped a number of musicians associated with the Montpelier scene for instrumental assistance, such as Colin McCaffrey, Katie Trautz and Aaron Marcus. Garton and co. string together dozens of largely old-world pieces, collecting them in festive medleys. JOANNEGARTON.BANDCAMP.COM

Kind Bud, Peace, Love & Music (Live)

Live-looping local crooner Kind Bud is sometimes referred to as a two-man band. After creating the base rhythm loop, he overdubs lead guitar. He showcases his live act in selections recorded at Pennsylvania’s Stonehenge Music Festival on Peace, Love & Music (Live). Stacked with covers, Kind Bud puts a casually cool spin on Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” and the Grateful Dead’s “Althea,” “Beat It on Down the Line” and “Wharf Rat,” among others. THEKINDBUDS.COM

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

Insider, One-Forty-One

Milton rockers Insider pack a mean wallop on their debut EP, One-Forty-One. Calling on ’90s rock excesses, the group hacks and slashes through power chords and effusive hooks, such as rambunctious opener “Over It.” The band quickly followed up the five-track suite with 2020’s full-length LP, Thousand Mile Drive. The EP acts as a scrappier introduction to the expanded sound put forth this year. FACEBOOK.COM/INSIDEROFFICIAL

Chris Powers, Chris Powers

Upper Valley rock singer-songwriter Chris Powers shows no mercy on his self-titled debut. Another yowling ’90s die-hard, Powers summons the grungiest chords and sings with a most guttural drawl. Local folk-rock legend Bow Thayer makes a special appearance on “Ends Meet,” a Southern blues-inflected stinger. FACEBOOK.COM/CPOWERSMUSIC

Reunion Road: Carol Hausner & Eleanor Ellis, Short Time to Stay Here

Folk-roots singer-songwriters Carol Hausner and Eleanor Ellis have been friends for more than three decades. Here, they team up as Reunion Road for a hefty and heartfelt collection of twangy tunes called Short Time to Stay Here. The two women’s voices blend in blissful harmonies over heartily plucked banjo and saucy streaks of fiddle. Their take on the traditional bluegrass song “You’ve Been a Friend to Me” sums up the album, both musically and conceptually. CAROLHAUSNER.COM ELEANORELLIS.COM

Nathan Byrne, To Make a Light

Waterbury’s Nathan Byrne displays pleasant acoustic guitar chops on his debut album, To Make a Light. Crisp and clean, Byrne’s contemplative lyrics sit prominently atop his sure-fingered strumming. He occasionally brings in some additional instruments courtesy of a few guests, such as a couple of evocative appearances from Rick Redington (Rick Redington & the Luv) on mandolin. REELBYRNEMEDIA.COM

Bostjan Zupancic, Kaleidotoxin

A chameleonic figure in local music, Bostjan Zupancic is always unpredictable. Russ Hayes seems to slap the moniker on whatever wild music he’s currently making — except for Prognosis Dire, an album he released earlier this year under the name Naegleria Fowleri. Kaleidotoxin is aptly named. At exactly two minutes each (except for the final track, which is just shy of the two-minute mark), its tessellated tracks diverge into rapturous metal and video game electronica, creating a dizzying, slightly unpleasant yet overall intriguing dichotomy. BOSTJANZUPANCIC.BANDCAMP.COM

GOT MUSIC NEWS? JORDAN@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

Declan Couture, Wayward

Vermont’s young singer-songwriters sure do have a thing for ’90s rock. St. Albans native Declan Couture sends out serious Goo Goo Dolls vibes on Wayward, particularly on the opening title track. The six-song EP is a fairly measured affair. Couture is cool and collected, with sudden bursts of emotion, such as the intense peaks of closer “Fire.”

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Sam Egan and the Perineal Excoriations, Junior Police Academy Fundraiser

Perhaps one of the strangest and most idiosyncratic submissions of 2019 (from a band with the year’s most thoroughly stomachturning name), Sam Egan and the Perineal Excoriations’ Junior Police Academy Fundraiser is a mind-fuck of clashing elements. Egan, a formerly Plattsburgh, N.Y.-based musician, assembles an experimental hodgepodge of lo-fi, punk-centric songs. Brash and screwy, the album is unique in its bizarre architecture and a satisfying, if puzzling, listen.

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REVEREND Hear from our sage and sassy adviser, who answers reader questions on matters large and small. What’s your problem? Send it to: asktherev@sevendaysvt.com

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Expected Guest, Upon Arrival

Ambient composer Logan Patnaude has dropped a series of releases over the past couple of years, including 2020’s Hold & Forfeit, an eight-track album that originated as part of the annual RPM Challenge. Upon8V-Asktherev090920.indd Arrival, a six-song EP, is pure mood. Reverbsoaked guitars mingle with field recordings, resulting in an interpretive sound brimming with meditative qualities.

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Thai BlueJeans Salesman, To Be Just So

Thai BlueJeans Salesman is the moniker of Windsor-based folk-rocker Tim Halteman. He dropped two records in 2019, One Thousand Miles of Mud and the quickly released follow-up To Be Just So. Halteman is one of the more unclassifiable local recording artists. He cherry-picks influences from psychedelic rock, world music, new-age electronica, folk and alternative and smashes them together in beautifully strange concoctions. SOUNDCLOUD.COM/THAI-BLUEJEANS-SALESMAN

Bishop LaVey, Light

Recently, Bishop LaVey (real name Kane Sweeney) introduced the world to Knife to a Skin Fight, the debut of his death-metal side project, OrphanWar. Aside from a proclivity for capital letters that appear mid-word, the new release bears little resemblance to Sweeney’s solo work, which he calls “doom-folk.” Light, a somber, seven-song rock album, surges with passion in string-assisted anthems that recall the glory of the mid- to late ’90s. BISHOPLAVEY.BANDCAMP.COM

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GOT MUSIC NEWS? JORDAN@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

REVIEW this Joshua Glass, Smile Off the Clock (SELF-RELEASED, CD, DIGITAL)

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Happiness is a strange sort of capital these days. You find it where you can, hold on to it tightly and quantify it beside the general upheaval of the world. It seems simple enough, but why, then, do so many people actually fear happiness? Maybe they think they don’t deserve it, or maybe they just don’t trust the feeling. With his full-length 2:19 PM debut record Smile Off the Clock, Joshua Glass presents a collection of songs that, by and large, dwell on the fear of happiness. Over 13 tracks, the Burlington-based singersongwriter introduces an assortment of damaged characters all engaging in various shitty and self-sabotaging arcs. Smile Off the Clock opens with “Megaphone,” a jaunty, piano-driven number that has a delectable early soloPaul McCartney feel to it, all handclaps and glockenspiel. The sunny tune obscures

Maple Run Band, Maple Run Band (BACK PASTURE MUSIC, CD, DIGITAL, VINYL)

Maple Run Band are a Vermont country outfit blessed with taste and chops. For this reviewer, that came as a tremendous relief. In a bleak era, when socalled “country radio” has devolved into dog-shit pop rock, this crew stays true to the original formula: honest songwriting, tight arrangements and outstanding musicianship. Maple Run’s self-titled debut is a triumph, establishing them as one of the 802’s foremost practitioners of the genre. Ever. Granted, the local competition is sparse. Lead singer and sole songwriter Trevor Crist is a Kansas transplant, but he’s been kicking around the Green Mountains for years. And if Maple Run sound like they’ve been honing their chops for decades, well, that’s partly true. A thousand years ago — in the ’90s, when

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a bitter narrator who is witnessing an ex showing off her new love around town. “Do you do you do you need a megaphone / To tell the boys and girls that you’re in love?” Glass wonders, all but smirking in disdain. Then he doubles down: “So make a toast to your perfect world and your health / You know my lunch won’t go and throw up itself.” The record plays a bit like a Charlie Kaufman film, reveling in the darkest emotional corners and exploring how we try, and often fail, to share those feelings with one another. The title track, for instance, is a fraught affair about bringing a new lover to meet the parents. A palpable sense of doom hangs over the song, which is otherwise a gentle folk-rock number. Glass has the ability as a songwriter to bring the listener directly into the messy dynamics of his characters. Here his protagonist is desperate for his lover to both feel better and feel accepted in the house in which he was born — or at least just find a way to grin and bear it. Many of Glass’ tortured characters are at least somewhat autobiographical. “I, uh, was one depressed motherfucker,” he

told Seven Days. While he takes a hard psychological look at himself and his past relationships, the record doesn’t come off like a man ripping at his beard and wailing of heartbreak. Rather, Smile Off the Clock is a nuanced and clever examination of why happiness is so hard to maintain. Some good old-fashioned love songs pop up, as well, most notably “I’ve Got Nothing to Do,” a tune about the excitement of falling in love. The song features fellow Burlington musician Andriana Chobot, who contributes some gorgeous harmonies. She’s just one of many local luminaries sprinkled throughout, including Salad Days front man Aaron Flinn, multi-instrumentalist Colin McCaffrey and guitarist Sean Witters, along with expat Rebecca Kopycinski, aka Nuda Veritas. Glass has had a long career in the local scene, playing in many others’ projects, so he’s called them in for Smile Off the Clock. As a result, the record is a wonderful advertisement for Burlington’s robust roster of musicians. It’s a sonically diverse album that never stops asking questions about our hearts and motivations. Smile Off the Clock is available on Spotify and at joshuaglassmusic.com.

Good Citizen Magazine was still a going concern — Crist was in an alt-countryrock outfit called Construction Joe. The sound here is pure Americana, ranging from up-tempo honky-tonk stomp to gloriously sparse ballads. It’s a remarkably balanced set of strong songs, perfected over many live shows. Even the sole cover song, Roger Miller’s “Engine Engine #9,” is transformed from a breezy classic into something dark and haunting. Crist, who considers John Prine a “patron saint,” sings, “The last time I cried was the day when Johnny Cash died.” Those are some mighty high influences, and Crist mostly succeeds at measuring up to them. “Queen of Labrador City” is a lovely, understated portrait that leaves you hanging on every word. “Last of the West Kansas Cowboys” pits powerful storytelling against soaring lap steel work from David Kamm (who was also in Construction Joe). Evoking Steve Earle as much as Joe Ely, “Borderline” demonstrates that Crist can rock out, too.

The rest of the band is also dynamite. Crist has a modest singing voice, but it suits the material perfectly, and his guitar work is superb and transparent. Bill Mullins’ lead guitar steals the show with melodically inventive solos. And whenever Kamm steps in, he is indeed a special guest. Maple Run’s real secret weapon, though, is multi-instrumentalist Nicole Valcour. A veteran of Vermont’s music scene — including Construction Joe and Swale — she’s flawless on the drum kit and even better on backup vocals. Having lavished so much praise on the rest of the band, I almost feel awkward saying that John Spencer holds it down with no frills, but, by God, when you’re playing bass in a country band, that’s your job. This is a seriously impressive debut. Crist has evolved into a mature, potent songwriter. Not merely a tribute or fanart pastiche, every track here is simply authentic country music. And America — or at least Vermont — is better for it. Maple Run Band is available at maplerunband.com and maplerunband. bandcamp.com.

GET YOUR MUSIC REVIEWED: SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020 9/8/20 3:32 PM

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ARE YOU A VT ARTIST OR BAND? SEND US YOUR MUSIC! DIGITAL: MUSIC@SEVENDAYSVT.COM; SNAIL MAIL: MUSIC C/O SEVEN DAYS, 255 S. CHAMPLAIN ST., SUITE 5, BURLINGTON, VT 05401

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movies I’m Thinking of Ending Things ★★★★★ MARY CYBULSKI/NETFLIX

ur streaming entertainment options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. This week, I review the latest from cult writer-director Charlie Kaufman, available only on Netflix. THE DEAL: Two

young lovers drive through the snow to observe the time-honored relationship ritual of meeting the parents. His name is Jake (Jesse Plemons); hers is Lucy (Jessie Buckley), except when it isn’t. Jake hints that his folks (Toni Collette and David Thewlis), who inhabit a desolate farmstead, might come off as a little weird. (Spoiler alert: They will, and then some.) Lucy reassures him things will be fine, but she seems detached. Meanwhile, the viewer is privy to her internal monologue, which rotates around an ominous phrase: “I’m thinking of ending things.” She’s thinking it so loudly that sometimes Jake actually hears it — or does he? For a while, Kaufman’s new movie, based on Iain Reid’s novel, plays like an offkilter psychological thriller. In this cinematic version of those puzzles captioned “What’s wrong with this picture?,” subtly off details infuse a mundane situation with growing tension. Then things get stranger … and stranger.

REVIEW

WILL YOU LIKE IT?

I can say with confidence that a lot of people won’t like I’m Thinking of Ending Things. Some may enjoy the Lynchian scenes of creepy cringe comedy in the farmhouse and find the rest a bore. Some will have issues with the final turn that Reid’s novel takes (a twist that Kaufman decenters but doesn’t remove). Some may dismiss the whole thing as intellectual masturbation. I can also say with confidence that I loved the movie and immediately wanted to see it again. Though the bleak snowscapes are evocatively shot by Lukasz Zal (Ida), I’m Thinking of Ending Things is essentially a chamber drama in which Plemons and Buckley have long conversations covering everything from celebrated intellectuals (with quotes!) to recent Twitter debates. Some critics have described it as a tour of Kaufman’s brilliant, restless mind, which suggests it’s for serious fans only. But I can’t help feeling that, by focusing 52

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

LET IT SNOW It’s cold outside and cold inside for Buckley as the narrator of Kaufman’s latest mind-bending drama.

on the erudition, people are missing the point that’s right there in the title. It’s increasingly clear as the movie progresses that Lucy’s “I’m thinking of ending things” refers to more than an impending breakup, if it wasn’t already clear from Buckley’s dark, layered, altogether stunning performance. From the first words of her voiceover, we hear a weariness that evokes long years of depression — the sense of being caught in a futile cycle and inclined to stop hoping things will ever change. What is that cycle? Whose cycle is it? Is it really futile? Will “things” be ended? Bit by bit, following Reid’s novel, the movie approaches answers to those questions. But the answers aren’t necessarily the point. This is a story about how we all

have brains full of ephemera that torment us with their meaninglessness and full of imaginings that can burst into full-blown transcendence and make our lives worth living. Sometimes it’s tough to find the transcendence through the torment of our second-guessing. But when the former briefly bursts forth at the climax, delivering a strange but powerful payoff, the movie takes its place among the best things that Kaufman has done. IF YOU LIKE THIS, TRY...

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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004; Netflix, rentable): One way to “end things” in a relationship is to hire someone to erase your ex from your brain, a fantastical possibility that

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Kaufman explored in his screenplay for this wonderful Michel Gondry drama. Synecdoche, New York (2008; Kanopy, Sundance Now, rentable): In his directorial debut, Kaufman dove deep into some of the same themes that dominate I’m Thinking of Ending Things: aging, transience, mortality. Oklahoma! (1955; rentable): Wait, what? No, really. The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical full of joyous earworms is a through line in I’m Thinking of Ending Things and a vital counterpoint to its overall darkness. At the very least, you’ll want to watch or rewatch the trippy “dream ballet” on YouTube. MARGO T HARRI S O N

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UNHINGEDHH Caren Pistorius plays a woman unlucky enough to become the target of an unstable man (Russell Crowe) after a traffic encounter in this thriller from director Derrick Borte (American Dreamer). (90 min, R; Capitol Showplace, Essex Cinemas, Sunset Drive-In)

THE BROKEN HEARTS GALLERY: A young woman recovers from a romantic split by starting a gallery devoted to memorabilia from broken relationships in this rom-com written and directed by Natalie Krinsky. Geraldine Viswanathan and Dacre Montgomery star. (Essex Cinemas, Sunset-Drive-In)

WORDS ON BATHROOM WALLSHHH A teen grapples with blooming romance and a recently diagnosed mental illness in this drama from Thor Freudenthal (Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters), starring AnnaSophia Robb, Walton Goggins and Charlie Plummer. (111 min, PG-13; Essex Cinemas)

NOW PLAYING BILL & TED FACE THE MUSICHHH1/2 The awesome dudes (Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter) from those ’80s/’90s comedies are older, but perhaps not wiser, in this belated sequel from Dean Parisot (Red 2). With Kristen Schaal. (88 min, PG-13; Capitol Showplace, Essex Cinemas, Sunset Drive-In)

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FATIMAHH1/2 Three shepherds in Portugal see visions of the Virgin Mary in this faith-based film inspired by accounts from 1917. With Alba Baptista and Harvey Keitel. Marco Pontecorvo (Letters to Juliet) directed. (113 min, PG-13; ends 9/10 at Essex Cinemas)

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ITH1/2 Half of Stephen King’s horror novel, about a gang of misfit kids fighting a monster that takes on the likeness of a creepy clown, comes to the big screen. Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor and Bill Skarsgård star. Andy Muschietti (Mama) directed. (135 min, R; reviewed by Rick Kisonak, 9/13. Sunset Drive-In)

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NOMAD: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BRUCE CHATWINHHHH1/2 Writer-director Werner Herzog explores his fascination with the travel writer in this documentary. (85 min, NR; Savoy Theater)

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THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELDHHHH Armando Iannucci (The Death of Stalin) brings us his take on Dickens’ coming-of-age classic, starring Dev Patel, Hugh Laurie and Tilda Swinton. (119 min, PG; Capitol Showplace, Essex Cinemas) TENETHHH1/2 Christopher Nolan (Interstellar) brings us a new high-concept spectacular in which John David Washington plays a mysterious agent who appears to be fighting for the very nature of time and reality. With Elizabeth Debicki, Robert Pattinson and Kenneth Branagh. (150 min, PG-13; Capitol Showplace, Essex Cinemas, Sunset Drive-In)

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THE BLUES BROTHERS (Bethel Drive-In)

DEADPOOLHHH1/2 Ryan Reynolds plays the snarky Marvel Comics anti-hero known as the “Merc With a Mouth,” who gets his own origin story in the feature directorial debut of animator Tim Miller. With Morena Baccarin and T.J. Miller. (108 min, R; ends 9/10 at Sunset Drive-In)

THE NEW MUTANTSHH In the last entry in the current X-Men film series, young mutants must use their abilities to escape from a secret facility. With Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy and Charlie Heaton. Josh Boone directed. (98 min, PG-13; Essex Cinemas, Sunset Drive-In)

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BEVERLY HILLS COP (Fairlee Drive-In)

CENTIGRADEHH Trapped in their car after a blizzard, a couple (Vincent Piazza and Genesis Rodriguez) fight to survive the cold in this thriller. Brendan Walsh directed. (98 min, NR; ends 9/10 at Essex Cinemas)

NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYSHHHH1/2 Unintended pregnancy brings two teens from rural Pennsylvania to the big city in this Sundance Film Festival award-winning drama from Eliza Hittman. Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder star. (101 min, PG-13; Savoy Theater)

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Jesse Plemons in I'm Thinking of Ending Things

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CLASS PHOTOS + MORE INFO ONLINE SEVENDAYSVT.COM/CLASSES

classes THE FOLLOWING CLASS LISTINGS ARE PAID ADVERTISEMENTS. ANNOUNCE YOUR CLASS FOR AS LITTLE AS $16.75/WEEK (INCLUDES SIX PHOTOS AND UNLIMITED DESCRIPTION ONLINE). SUBMIT YOUR CLASS AD AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTCLASS.

ACCESS

Laura Howard, 482-7194, access@ cvsdvt.org, cvsdvt.ce.eleyo.com.

150+ classes offered online or outside at CVUHS! Classes run Sept 21-Jan 31. Full descriptions at cvsdvt.ce.eleyo.com.

HEALTH, WELLNESS, HOLISTIC LIVING: Online and outside classes for all ages. Mindful Meditation, Self-Hypnosis, Massage, Reflexology, Feldenkrais, Rethinking Sugar, Chinese Medicine, Tarot Card Adventure, Chakra Workshop, Gem and Crystals, and more affordable classes to boost your health and well-being! Full descriptions online. Location: Online and at ACCESS CVU, 369 CVU Rd., Hinesburg. Info: Access CVU, Laura Howard, 482-7194, access@ cvsdvt.org, cvsdvt.ce.eleyo.com.

ARTS & CRAFTS: Online and outside classes for all ages. Watercolor With Ginny Joyner (three levels), Drawing, Sketching, Portraits, Mixed Media, Beginner Calligraphy, Flower Arranging, Embroidery, Macrame, Crochet, Jewelry, Wood Carving, Batik and Silk Painting, Wreaths, and more! Full descriptions online. Location: Online and at ACCESS CVU, Hinesburg. Info: Access CVU, Laura Howard, 482-7194, access@ cvsdvt.org, cvsdvt.ce.eleyo.com.

LANGUAGE, WRITING, AND MUSIC: Online classes for all ages. Intro to ASL, French, Spanish, and German! Ukulele, Guitar, Harmonica, Mandolin, Singing. Flash Fiction, Write and Pitch Your Book So It Will Sell!, Getting Into the Writing Habit, Memoir Workshop, SAT Bootcamp. Full descriptions online. Location: Online, Online with ACCESS CVU. Info: Access CVU, Laura Howard, 482-7194, access@cvsdvt.org, cvsdvt.ce.eleyo.com.

CUISINE & DINNER SERIES: All ages; online and outside. Ethiopian/Eritrean With Alganesh, Vietnamese With Kim Dinh, Pierogi With Luiza, Fermentation, Five Italian Specialties With Adele, Middle Eastern Mezze With Richard, Knife Skills and more. New Dinner Series outside! Buy a table and safely join us under a tent for dinner or take out. Location: Online and at ACCESS CVU, 369 CVU Rd., Hinesburg. Info: Access CVU, Laura Howard, 482-7194, access@cvsdvt.org, cvsdvt.ce.eleyo.com. GARDENING, HOMESTEADING: Recreation, animals and nature; online and outside for all ages. Birding, Canine Manners, Dog and Cat Body Language, Primitive Fire Building, Build a Custom Snowboard, Ski/Snowboard Tuning, Chainsaw Maintenance, Cars 101, Seasonal Gardens, Forest Management, Fabulous Foliage, Medicinal Plants, Beekeeping With Bill Mares! Full descriptions online. Location: Online and at ACCESS CVU, 369 CVU Rd., Hinesburg. Info: Access CVU,

PHOTOGRAPHY AND COMPUTERS: Online photography classes for all ages with Sean Beckett: Digital Photography 101, Mastering Photographic Composition, Digital Darkroom, and Photographic Critique. Online classes for all ages in computers and technology: Cybersecurity, Low-Cost CVU Computer Tech Help, Create a Webpage Using Simple Code, Database Programming and Design. Full descriptions online. Location: Online, Online with ACCESS CVU. Info: Access CVU, Laura Howard, 482-7194, access@cvsdvt.org, cvsdvt.ce.eleyo.com. SPEAKER SERIES ONLINE: Intro to Voice-Overs, Lincoln Hill’s 19th Century Black Farming Community, Shaken & Stirred: History of Cocktails, Antiracist by Ibram Kendi, Baseball Scouting 101, Royal Gardens of Spain, Vermont Architecture, the Thanksgiving Plate, Working Through Wishes, Temperance and Prohibition in the Champlain Valley, Gardens of Paris, Home Exchange, Author: Jack Mayer, and more interesting

presentations from Access! Location: Online through ACCESS CVU. Info: Access CVU, Laura Howard, 482-7194, access@cvsd vt.org, cvsdvt.ce.eleyo.com.

dance.org/event/resilientdancing-online-class-series.

YOGA, FITNESS, MINDFUL MOVEMENT: Online and outside classes for all ages. Women’s Monday Yoga Hour, Thursday Yoga With Ellen, Beginners Tai Chi Chuan, Tai Chi Chuan Continued, Woman’s Self-Defense Workshop with Master Kellie, and Intro to Kickboxing! Low cost, excellent instructors, guaranteed. Full descriptions online. Location: Online and at ACCESS CVU, 369 CVU Rd., Hinesburg. Info: Access CVU, Laura Howard, 482-7194, access@ cvsdvt.org, cvsdvt.ce.eleyo.com.

DJEMBE & TAIKO: JOIN US!: Digital classes. (No classes on-site for now.) Taiko: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Djembe: Wednesday. Kids and Parents: Tuesday and Wednesday. Private digital conga lessons by appointment. Let’s prepare for a future drum gathering outdoors! Schedule/register online. Location: Taiko Space, 208 Flynn Ave., Suite 3G, Burlington. Info: 999-4255, burlingtontaiko.org.

agriculture

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE ONLINE CLASSES: Join us for adult online French classes this fall. Session begins September 14 and offers classes for participants at all levels. Whether you are a beginner or are comfortable conversing in French, there is a class for you. Please visit aflcr.org to learn more, or contact Micheline at education@aflcr.org. Begins Sep. 14. Location: Online. Info: Alliance Française of the Lake Champlain Region, Micheline Tremblay, 881-8826, education@aflcr.org, aflcr.org.

PORK PROCESSING WORKSHOP: Learn the art of on-farm, wholeanimal processing. NOFA-VT hosts a livestreamed webinar to learn whole-animal processing, including the benefits of ethnically raised, pasture-based meats. Mary Lake covers the full process from a half pig to individual cuts, with the slaughter taking place the day before. Live Q&A session follows. Sun., Sep. 13, 9 a.m.-noon. Cost: $20/$40 for members; $44-60 for nonmembers; free of charge for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous or a person of color). Location: online three-hour livestreamed webinar, Richmond. Info: NOFA-VT, Livy Bulger, 4344122, livy@nofavt.org, nofavt.org.

dance RESILIENT DANCING ONLINE FALL DANCE CLASS SERIES: Join the Vermont Dance Alliance for 33 unique dance classes, ranging in style from E-Tango to Hip Hop & House, from Composition for Teens to Families Dancing! All classes are open level and drop-in friendly, approachable, and accessible to all. Scholarships and group rates available. Apply via info@vermontdance.org. Sep.Dec. Cost: $10/person to drop in; $200/person for unlimited class card. Location: Zoom, online. Info: VT Dance Alliance, Hanna Satterlee, 410-458-3672, info@ vermontdance.org, vermont

drumming

language

EXPERIENCED NATIVE PROFESSOR OFFERING ONLINE SPANISH CLASSES: Premier native-speaking Spanish professor Maigualida Rak is giving fun, interactive online lessons to improve comprehension and pronunciation and to achieve fluency. Audio-visual material is used. “I feel proud to say that my students have significantly improved their Spanish with my teaching approach.” -Maigualida Rak. Read reviews on Facebook at facebook. com/spanishonlinevt. Location: Online. Info: Maigualida Rak, spanishtutor.vtfla@gmail.com, facebook.com/spanishonlinevt.

Say you saw it in...

JAPANESE LANGUAGE CLASSES (FALL): The Japan America Society of Vermont (JASV) is offering a beginning Japanese language course online via Zoom. Main textbook: Japanese for Busy People I. Level 1 covers the first half of the book. Starting Mon., Oct. 5, 6:30-8 p.m. Cost: $160/ person for 10 90-minute weekly classes. Location: Zoom, online. Info: jasvlanguage@gmail.com, jasv.org/v2/language.

born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A five-time Brazilian National Champion; International World Masters Champion and IBJJF World Masters Champion. Accept no Iimitations! Location: Vermont Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, 55 Leroy Rd., Williston. Info: 598-2839, julio@bjjusa.com, vermontbjj.com.

SPANISH ZOOM CLASSES STARTING: Register now; remaining space is limited. Classes start next week. Our 14th year. Learn from a native speaker in lively small classes via online video conferencing. You’ll always be participating and speaking. Private instruction and lessons for students also available. See our website or contact us for details. Beginning week of Aug. 31. Cost: $270/10 weekly classes of 90+ min. each. Location: Spanish in Waterbury Center, Waterbury Center. Info: 585-1025, spanishparavos@gmail.com, spanishwaterburycenter.com.

CHINESE MEDICAL MASSAGE: This program teaches two forms of Chinese medical massage: Tui Na and shiatsu. We will explore oriental medicine theory and diagnosis, as well as the body’s meridian system, acupressure points, and yin-yang and fiveelement theory. Additionally, Western anatomy and physiology are taught. VSAC nondegree grants are available. FSMTBapproved program. Starts Sep. 2020. Cost: $6,000/625-hour program. Location: Elements of Healing, 21 Essex Way, Suite 109, Essex Jct.. Info: Scott Moylan, 288-8160, scott@elementsofheal ing.net, elementsofhealing.net.

martial arts VERMONT BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU: Brazilian jiujitsu is a martial arts combat style based entirely on leverage and technique. Brazilian jiujitsu self-defense curriculum is taught to Navy SEALs, CIA, FBI, military police and special forces. No training experience required. Easy-to-learn techniques that could save your life! Classes for men, women and children. Students will learn realistic bully-proofing and self-defense life skills to avoid becoming victims and help them feel safe and secure. Our sole purpose is to help empower people by giving them realistic martial arts training practices they can carry with them throughout life. IBJJF and CBJJ certified black belt sixthdegree instructor under Carlson Gracie Sr.: teaching in Vermont,

massage

yoga EVOLUTION YOGA: Come as you are and open your heart! Whether you are new to yoga or have been at it for years, you’ll find the support you need to awaken your practice. Livestream, recorded and outdoor classes. Practice with us in the park or on the Sailing Center dock, overlooking Lake Champlain and the scenic mountains. Enrich your practice with our Yoga for Life program or 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training for Health and Wellness Professionals. Single class: $015. 10-class pass: $120. $5 new student special. Flexible pricing, scholarships avail. Location: Evolution Yoga, 20 Kilburn St., Burlington. Info: 864-9642, evolutionvt.com.

CLASS PLANS MAY CHANGE DUE TO THE PANDEMIC. PLEASE CHECK WITH ORGANIZERS IN ADVANCE.

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

Be a Tourist in Your Own State!

Need inspiration for your staycation?

Start exploring at staytrippervt.com 56

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

1T-Staytripper090920.indd 1

PHOTO: NATHANAEL ASARO

Let Seven Days be your travel guide. Every month we round up mini excursions, dining destinations, lodging, tours and more into a curated itinerary for you to grab and go. Why? Because you’re on vacation — let us do the work.

9/8/20 4:07 PM

COURTESY OF KELLY SCHULZE/MOUNTAIN DOG PHOTOGRAPHY

Humane

Yahtzee AGE/SEX: 3-year-old neutered male ARRIVAL DATE: September 2, 2020 REASON HERE: He was not a good fit for his previous home. SUMMARY: Yahtzee may be the goofiest, most happy-go-lucky guy you’ll ever meet! He is always ready for a new adventure, whether it’s a walk around the neighborhood, a game of Frisbee in the park or hiking a mountain. He’s a fun-loving pup with a whole lot of enthusiasm for life, and he would love to join an active family. A little obedience training will go a long way in helping Yahtzee become his very best self — especially if there are cheese rewards involved! If a smiley, bouncy pup is what you’re looking for, schedule a meeting with Yahtzee at hsccvt.org/dogs!

housing »

Society

APARTMENTS, CONDOS & HOMES

of Chittenden County

on the road »

DID YOU KNOW?

CARS, TRUCKS, MOTORCYCLES

Changing schedules and spending less time with their people (especially after several months of being at home) can lead to increased boredom and stress in our canine companions, particularly for active pups. Try to keep your pet’s daily exercise and eating routine as consistent as possible and provide brainengaging toys or food puzzles to help them handle their alone time. Contact HSCC if you need more tips! Sponsored by:

CATS/DOGS/KIDS: Yahtzee has some experience living with another dog and has done well with other dogs here at HSCC. He has no known experience living with cats or children.

NEW STUFF ONLINE EVERY DAY! PLACE YOUR ADS 24-7 AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM.

pro services »

CHILDCARE, HEALTH/ WELLNESS, PAINTING

buy this stuff »

APPLIANCES, KID STUFF, ELECTRONICS, FURNITURE

music »

INSTRUCTION, CASTING, INSTRUMENTS FOR SALE

jobs »

NO SCAMS, ALL LOCAL, POSTINGS DAILY

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

CLASSIFIEDS on the road

housing

CARS/TRUCKS

FOR RENT

2014 VOLVO S60 T5 FOR SALE 134K miles. $9,900. 802-793-7122.

AFFORDABLE 2-BR APT. AVAIL. At Keen’s Crossing. 2-BR: $1,266/mo., heat & HW incl. Open floor plan, fully applianced kitchen, fi tness center, pet friendly, garage parking. Income restrictions apply. 802-655-1810, keenscrossing.com.

CASH FOR CARS! We buy all cars! Junk, high-end, totaled: It doesn’t matter. Get free towing & same-day cash. Newer models, too. Call 1-866-5359689. (AAN CAN)

We Pick Up & Pay For Junk Automobiles!

Route 15, Hardwick

802-472-5100

3842 Dorset Ln., Williston

802-793-9133

BASEMENT APT. DOWNTOWN $1,000/mo., $1,000 sec. dep. Avail. Sep. 1. Artsy furnished apt., coin laundry, paid utils., Wi-Fi/TV, shared outside decks, green area. Call Don at 802-233-1334. BURLINGTON Single room, Hill Section, on bus line. No cooking. Linens furnished. 862-2389. No pets.

CLASSIFIEDS KEY

sm-allmetals060811.indd 7/20/15 1 5:02 PM

appt. appointment apt. apartment BA bathroom BR bedroom DR dining room DW dishwasher HDWD hardwood HW hot water LR living room NS no smoking OBO or best offer refs. references sec. dep. security deposit W/D washer & dryer

housing ads: $25 (25 words) legals: 52¢/word buy this stuff: free online services: $12 (25 words)

KEEN’S CROSSING IS NOW LEASING! 1-BR, $1,054/mo.; 2-BR, $1,266/mo.; 3-BR, $1,397/mo. Spacious interiors, fully applianced kitchen, fi tness center, heat & HW incl. Income restrictions apply. 802-655-1810, keenscrossing.com. PINECREST AT ESSEX 9 Joshua Way, Essex Jct. Independent senior living for those 55+ years. 2-BR, 2-BA corner unit avail. Sep. 15. $1,520/mo. incl. utils & parking garage. NS/ pets. 802-872-9197 or rae@fullcirclevt.com. PINECREST AT ESSEX 9 Joshua Way, Essex Jct. Independent senior living for those 55+ years. 1-BR avail. now, $1,240/mo. incl. utils. & parking garage. NS/ pets. 802-872-9197 or rae@fullcirclevt.com.

display service ads: $25/$45 homeworks: $45 (40 words, photos, logo) fsbos: $45 (2 weeks, 30 words, photo) jobs: michelle@sevendaysvt.com, 865-1020 x21

HOUSING WANTED

OFFICE/RETAIL SPACE AT MAIN STREET LANDING on Burlington’s waterfront. Beautiful, healthy, affordable spaces for your business. Visit mainstreetlanding.com & click on space avail. Melinda, 864-7999.

SEEKING SHORT-TERM RENTAL Elderly couple looking for a sublet apartment or condo in Burlington from around Nov. 1-Apr. 1. Preferably in a building w/ an elevator & a swimming pool. Prefer 2 BRs. Call 508-636-8017.

RESPECTFUL LIVING DOWNTOWN It is a small room in a completely remodeled downtown owneroccupied building. Call Don at 802-233-1334. Laundry & all utils. incl. ROOMMATE WANTED Room in a large apt. Shared kitchen & BA. 1 block from Perkins Pier on Lake Champlain. $500/mo. + utils. Call Julie 802-865-9869.

TAROT ~ Virtual Readings ~ Divine guidance in uncertain times ErikaFarmerTarot.com

OFFICE/ COMMERCIAL

avail. Ron Collins, 802-372-4497.

Mon.-Fri., 7 a.m.-5 p.m. PST. (AAN CAN)

COMPUTER

OVER $10K IN DEBT? Be debt-free in 24-48 mos. Pay a fraction of what you owe. A+ BBB rated. Call National Debt Relief: 877-5901202. (AAN CAN)

COMPUTER ISSUES? Geeks On Site provides free diagnosis remotely 24-7 service during COVID-19. No home visit necessary. $40 off w/ coupon 86407! Restrictions apply. 866-939-0093. (AAN CAN)

Free pickup. Call for details. 855-978-0215. 8/21/20 5:46 PM (AAN CAN)

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services

COMPLETE PRIVACY, COVID SAFE Entire ground floor, Shelburne Village. 500 sq.ft., studio, BA, kitchen, A/C, in-floor radiant heat. Office or shop. $950/mo. incl. everything. Jessie: 802777-4453, ravenjess@ aol.com.

AUTO DONATE YOUR CAR TO CHARITY Receive maximum value of write-off for your taxes. Running or not! All conditions accepted.

BIZ OPPS BECOME A PUBLISHED AUTHOR! We edit, print & distribute your work internationally. We do the work; you reap the rewards! Call for a free Author’s Submission Kit: 844-511-1836. (AAN CAN)

CAREGIVING

HOUSEMATES NEED A ROOMMATE? Roommates.com will help you find your perfect match today! (AAN CAN)

print deadline: Mondays at 4:30 p.m. post ads online 24/7 at: sevendaysvt.com/classifieds questions? classifieds@sevendaysvt.com 865-1020 x10

HOME HEALTH AIDE CLASS BAYADA is offering a free class to those who want to enter the rewarding field of home health care! Contact Lauren or Lisa today at 802-8575030, or email Lauren at lduboff@bayada.com.

Buyer or Selling? Let’s make it happen.

CLOTHING ALTERATIONS

Robbi Handy Holmes • 802-951-2128 robbihandyholmes@vtregroup.com Client focused Making it happen for you!

ROOMMATE NEEDED 16t-robbihandyholmes082620.indd 1 $700/mo. heat & Wi-Fi incl. Room in new apt. Large. kitchen, LR & BR w/ walk-in closet. 1.5-BA. W/D in unit. Electricity separate. Call/text Sue: 802-324-9794.

SEWING MACHINE REPAIRS More than 50 years of experience. All makes repaired, parts for all brands, used machines

EDUCATION TRAIN ONLINE TO DO MEDICAL BILLING! Become a medical office professional online at CTI! Get trained, certified & ready to work in months. Call 866-243-5931. Mon.-Fri., 8 a.m.-6 p.m. (AAN CAN)

FINANCIAL/LEGAL AUTO INSURANCE Starting at $49/mo.! Call for your fee rate comparison to see how much you can save. Call 855-569-1909. (AAN CAN) BOY SCOUT COMPENSATION FUND Anyone who was inappropriately touched by a Scout leader deserves justice & financial compensation! Victims may be eligible for a significant cash settlement. Time to file is limited. Call now. 844-896-8216. (AAN CAN) NEED IRS RELIEF? $10K-125K+. Get fresh start or forgiveness. Call 1-877-258-2890

8/20/20 10:21 AM

Homeshares BURLINGTON

Share lovely home w/ lively woman in her 80s who enjoys walking her dog & following politics. Share some meals, walks & provide help around the house. No add’l pets. Furnished rm/private BA. $300/mo. Familiarity w/ memory loss preferred.

MONTPELIER EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 and similar Vermont statutes which make it illegal to advertise any preference, limitations, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, handicap, presence of minor children in the family or receipt of public assistance, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation or a discrimination. The newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate, which is in violation of the law. Our

readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. Any home seeker who feels he or she has encountered discrimination should contact: HUD Office of Fair Housing 10 Causeway St., Boston, MA 02222-1092 (617) 565-5309 — OR — Vermont Human Rights Commission 14-16 Baldwin St. Montpelier, VT 05633-0633 1-800-416-2010 hrc@vermont.gov

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

Professional couple interested in social justice & gardening, seeking housemate w/ limited exposure outside home due to Covid. $550/mo. plus sharing snow & yard work. Private BA. Must be cat-friendly!

HYDE PARK Share a mobile home w/ independent woman in her 80’s who loves yard sales & laughter. Looking for companionship, help w/ lifting & errands, and overnight presence. Shared BA. $400/mo.

Finding you just the right housemate for over 35 years! Call 863-5625 or visit HomeShareVermont.org for an application. Interview, refs, bg check req. EHO

SAVE BIG ON HOME INSURANCE! Compare 20 A-rated insurances companies. Get a quote within mins. Average savings of $444/year! Call 844-712-6153! Mon.-Fri., 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Central. (AAN CAN) SERIOUSLY INJURED in an auto accident? Let us fight for you! Our network has recovered millions for clients. Call today for a free consultation. 1-866-9912581. (AAN CAN) STRUGGLING W/ YOUR PRIVATE STUDENT LOAN PAYMENT? New relief programs can reduce your payments. Learn your options. Good credit not necessary. Call the Helpline: 888-670-5631. Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. ET. (AAN CAN)

HEALTH/ WELLNESS GENTLE TOUCH MASSAGE Specializing in deep tissue, reflexology, sports massage, Swedish & relaxation massage for men. Practicing massage therapy for over 14 years. Gregg, gentletouchvt.com, motman@ymail.com, 802-234-8000 (call/ text). Milton. HEARING AIDS! Buy 1 & get 1 free! High-quality rechargeable Nano hearing aids priced 90% less than competitors. Nearly invisible. 45-day money-back guarantee! 1-833-585-1117. (AAN CAN) LOOKING FOR SUPPORT GROUPS? Check out the classifieds.sevendaysvt. com then find Support Groups in the Local Scene category. MASSAGE SUPER SPECIAL! $15 off any treatment. Schedule your minivacation today! Call Angel at 802-370-9258 or James at 802-3937154. mountainlake massagetherapy.com.

SERVICES » Homeshare-temp2.indd 1

8/31/20 11:03 AM

Show and tell. Sudoku

Calcoku SEVENDAYSVT.COM/CLASSIFIEDS »

Using the enclosed math operations as a guide, fill the grid using the numbers 1 - 6 only once in each row and column.

10+

2÷

40x

3 2÷

52÷

3 2

180x

7 8 3

8 9 7

6 3 1 4

Difficulty - Medium

BY JOSH REYNOLDS

5 9

No. 653

SUDOKU

Difficulty: Hard

BY JOSH REYNOLDS

DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK: HH

Fill the grid using the numbers 1-6, only once in each row and column. The numbers in each heavily outlined “cage” must combine to produce the target number in the top corner, using the mathematical operation indicated. A onebox cage should be filled in with the target number in the top corner. A number can be repeated within a cage as long as it is not the same row or column.

Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each 9-box square contains all of the numbers one to nine. The same numbers cannot be repeated in a row or column.

crossword 3 5 4 2 6

8 3 4 9 6 2 5 7 ANSWERS ON P. 61 6 9 5 7 4 1 2 8 H = MODERATE HH = CHALLENGING HHH = HOO, BOY! 1 7 2 3 8 5 4 9 9 2 6 5 1 4 8 3 7 4 1 8 3 6 9 2 SONG SPAN ANSWERS ON P. 61 » 3 5 8 2 9 7 6 1 5 8 9 6 7 3 1 4 2 1 7 4 5 9 3 6 4 6 3 1 2 8 7 5

Extra! Extra! There’s no limit to ad length online.

Fresh. Filtered. Free.

4 1 4 8 5

24x

CALCOKU

2 4 1

11+

2÷

Open 24/7/365.

Viewfollowing and post up to Postthe & browse ads Complete the puzzle by using 6 photos per ad online. at your convenience. numbers 1-9 only once in each row, column and 3 x 3 box.

1 3 6 7 5 4 2 8 9

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buzz?

Find out what’s percolating today. Sign up to receive our house blend of local news headlines served up in one convenient email by Seven Days.

SEVENDAYSVT.COM/DAILY7 8v-daily7-coffee.indd 1

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

1/13/14 1:45 PM

BROWSE THIS WEEK’S OPEN HOUSES: sevendaysvt.com/open-houses CONTEMPORARY ON 2+ ACRES

homeworks

S. BURLINGTON | 232 AUTUMN HILL ROAD | #4826443

Beautiful and spacious! Stylish Chef’s Kitchen with skylight, island and pantry. Formal dining, cathedral ceilings. First floor laundry, half bath, and bedroom/ workout space. Second floor Master Bedroom suite with vaulted ceiling, private bath. Two more bedrooms with guest bath. Expansive sunporch, pool, outdoor shower and private yard. Adirondack views and trails. $750,000

HW-Holmes1-090920.indd 1

services [CONTINUED] PSYCHIC COUNSELING Psychic counseling, channeling w/ Bernice Kelman, Underhill. 30+ years’ experience. Also energy healing, chakra balancing, Reiki, rebirthing, other lives, classes, more. 802-899-3542, kelman.b@juno.com. VIRTUAL TAROT READINGS Looking for deeper meaning in your life? Feeling unsatisfied with the lack of balance and disconnection of the modern world? Connect with your inner, sacred self. Schedule a virtual tarot reading and kick-start your personal and spiritual evolution. 802-881-8976, tarotwitherika@ outlook.com

List your properties here and online for only $45/ week. Submit your listings by Mondays at noon.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices 802-951-2128 robbihandyholmes@vtregroup.com

HOME/GARDEN LEO’S ROOFING Shingle, metal & slate repair. Roofing repair or replacement. Call for free estimate: 802-503-6064. 30 years’ experience. Good refs. & fully insured. Chittenden County.

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Saturday, Sep. 12, from 1:42 PM 8 a.m.-19/8/20 p.m. Furniture, toys, books, clothing! Loads of items that are priced to go!

MISCELLANEOUS ATTENTION, VIAGRA & CIALIS USERS! A cheaper alternative to high drugstore prices! 50-pill special: $99 + free shipping! 100% guaranteed. Call now: 888-531-1192. (AAN CAN)

buy this stuff

ELECTRONICS CANON COPIER/ SCANNER High-quality, high-volume copier/ scanner for sale. $1,950. brianhaas49@gmail. com at 802-343-2248 for photos & tech info.

GARAGE/ESTATE SALES MULTI-HOME GARAGE SALE Multiple-home garage sale in the Cider Mill development in South Burlington (just off Dorset Street) on

fsb 60

Call or email Katie Hodges today to get started: 865-1020 x10, homeworks@sevendaysvt.com

Robbi Handy Holmes

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

music

INSTRUCTION BASS, GUITAR, DRUMS, VOICE LESSONS & MORE Remote music lessons are an amazing way to spend time at home! Learn guitar, bass, piano, voice, violin, drums, flute, sax, trumpet, production & beyond w/ pro local instructors from the Burlington Music Dojo on Pine St. All levels & styles are welcome, incl.

absolute beginners. Come share in the music! burlington musicdojo.com, info@burlington musicdojo.com. GUITAR INSTRUCTION Berklee graduate w/ 30 years’ teaching experience offers lessons in guitar, music theory, music technology, ear training. Individualized, step-by-step approach. All ages, styles, levels. Rick Belford, 864-7195, rickb@rickbelford.com. HARMONICA LESSONS W/ ARI Online harmonica lessons! All ages & skill levels welcome. First lesson just $20. Avail. for workshops, too. Pocketmusic. musicteachershelper. com, 201-565-4793, ari.erlbaum@gmail.com.

STUDIO/ REHEARSAL REHEARSAL SPACE Safe & sanitary music/ creative spaces avail. by the hour in the heart of the South End art district. Monthly arrangements avail., as well. Tailored for music but can be multipurpose. info@ burlingtonmusicdojo. com, 802-540-0321.

ACT 250 NOTICE MINOR APPLICATION #4C0288-11A 10 V.S.A. §§ 6001 - 6093 On August 7, 2020, J&B Leasing, Inc., PO Box 678, Colchester, VT 05446 filed application number 4C0288-11A for a project for an afterthe-fact boundary line adjustment merging Lot 20 and Lot 21 of the Meadows Industrial Park, use of the former Lot 20 for truck parking, reconstruction of a 17,600 sf building that was destroyed by fire and upgrades to the wastewater system. The project is located at 964 Hercules Drive in Colchester, Vermont. The application was deemed complete on August 27, 2020 after the receipt of additional information. The District 4 Environmental Commission is reviewing this application under Act 250 Rule 51- Minor Applications. A copy of the application and

FOR SALE BY OWNER

proposed permit are available for review at the office listed below. The application and a draft permit may also be viewed on the Natural Resources Board’s web site (http://nrb. vermont.gov) by clicking on “Act 250 Database” and entering the project number “4C0288-11A.” No hearing will be held and a permit may be issued unless, on or before September 30, 2020, a person notifies the Commission of an issue or issues requiring the presentation of evidence at a hearing, or the Commission sets the matter for a hearing on its own motion. Any person as defined in 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1) may request a hearing. Any hearing request must be in writing to the address below, must state the criteria or sub-criteria at issue, why a hearing is required and what additional evidence will be presented at the hearing. Any hearing request by an adjoining property owner or other person eligible for party status under 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1)(E) must include a petition for party status under the Act 250 Rules. Prior to submitting a request for a hearing, please contact the district coordinator at the

telephone number listed below for more information. Prior to convening a hearing, the Commission must determine that substantive issues requiring a hearing have been raised. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law may not be prepared unless the Commission holds a public hearing. If you feel that any of the District Commission members listed on the attached Certificate of Service under “For Your Information” may have a conflict of interest, or if there is any other reason a member should be disqualified from sitting on this case, please contact the District Coordinator as soon as possible, and by no later than September 30, 2020. If you have a disability for which you need accommodation in order to participate in this process (including participating in a public hearing, if one is held), please notify us as soon as possible, in order to allow us as much time as possible to accommodate your needs. Parties entitled to participate are the Municipality, the Municipal Planning Commission, the

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Regional Planning Commission, affected state agencies, and adjoining property owners and other persons to the extent that they have a particularized interest that may be affected by the proposed project under the Act 250 criteria. Non-party participants may also be allowed under 10 V.S.A. Section 6085(c)(5). Dated at Essex Junction, Vermont this 4th day of September, 2020. By: /s/Rachel Lomonaco Rachel Lomonaco, District Coordinator 111 West Street Essex Junction, VT 05452 802-879-5658 rachel.lomonaco@ vermont.gov

ACT 250 NOTICE MINOR APPLICATION 4C031313 10 V.S.A. §§ 6001 - 6111 On August 24, 2020, Catamount/Riverside Company, PO Box 790, Burlington, VT 05402 and City of Winooski, 27 West Allen Street, Winooski, VT 05404 filed application number 4C0313- 13 for a project generally described as construction of a hardened outfall for an existing stormwater discharge at the foot

List your property here for 2 weeks for only $45! Contact Katie, 865-1020, ext. 10, fsbo@sevendaysvt.com.

Public Auto Auction

land uses in the land use districts that currently are in place. The plan covers: an updated community profile; housing; natural resources; flood resiliency; economic development; food and agriculture; transportation; education; community utilities; facilities; forest blocks and wildlife crossings; and future land use are attachments to the plan. Town history and wildlife information are included in appendices. The full text with accompanying maps is available at the Duxbury Town Clerk’s office and on the town website: http://www. duxburyvermont.org/ planningcommission

STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL DIVISION WASHINGTON UNIT DOCKET NO. 181-3-16 NORTHCOUNTRY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION, Plaintiff, v. JOHN NICHOLAS LECOUNTE ANDERSON and OCCUPANTS residing at 108 Folsom Hill Road, Marshfield, Vermont, Defendant. NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE By virtue of the Judgment Order, Decree of Foreclosure and Order for Public Sale entered on July 19, 2019, and in execution of the Power of Sale contained in a certain Mortgage given by John Nicholas

FROM P.59

2 8 2 ÷6 1 180x 9 7 3 5 2 4

LeCounte Anderson, dated July 10, 2015, and recorded in Book 94 at Pages 402-415 of the Town of Marshfield Land Records, which Mortgage NorthCountry Federal Credit Union is the present holder, for breach of the conditions of said Mortgage and for the purpose of foreclosing the same, the undersigned will cause to be sold to the highest bidder at Public Auction at 108 Folsom Hill Road, Marshfield, Vermont, at 10:00 a.m. on the 30th day of September, 2020, all and singular the premises described in said Mortgage. The property is known as 108 Folsom Hill Road, Marshfield, Vermont. The real estate is described in the aforesaid Mortgage is as follows: Being all and the same land and premises conveyed to John Nicholas LeCounte Anderson by Warranty Deed of Greg A. Breer dated July 10, 2015 and recorded in Volume 94 at Pages 399-401 of the Town of Marshfield Land Records. Being a part of the same land and premises conveyed to Greg A. Breer by Quitclaim Deed of Irene L. Breer f/k/a Irene Rogers dated May 15, 2009 and recorded in Book 83, Page 126 of the Town of Marshfield Land Records. Being further described as a parcel said to contain 2.01 acres together with improvements thereon and rights appurtenant thereto designated and commonly known as 108 Folsom Hill Road, Marshfield, Vermont and depicted as Parcel Lot #2 on a survey entitled “Subdivision of Land of Greg Breer Folsom Hill Road, Marshfield, Vermont” dated April 2015, prepared by Richard W. Bell, L.S. and recorded in the Town of Marshfield Records. Reference is hereby made to the aforementioned instruments, the records thereof and the references therein contained, all in further aid of this description.

WANTED: Your Unused Vehicles Consign YOURS Today!

Foreclosure: 2 Commercial Building and Auto Repair Equip. Simulcast: Tues., Sept. 11 @ 11AM 210 & 218 E. Main St., Newport, VT

Equipment to be sold after real estate via simulcast auction at 12PM.

High Line Office Furniture

Online Thur., Sept. 24 @ 12PM 100 East State Street, Montpelier, VT Preview: Sept. 17 from 11AM-1PM

By Order of the Bankruptcy Court: 26.90± Acres in Calais Wednesday, September 30 @ 11AM 480 Pekin Brook Rd., Calais, VT Open House: Fri., Sept. 11 from 1-3PM

By Order of the Bankruptcy Court: Greenhouses & Horticultural Equip., Log Cabin Kit Wednesday, September 30 @ 11AM 480 Pekin Brook Rd., Calais, VT Preview: Fri., Sept. 11 from 1-3PM

The description of the property contained in the Mortgage shall control in the event of a typographical error in this Notice. TERMS OF SALE: The sale will be held at 108 Folsom Hill Road,

3 9 72x 2 4 5 8 1 6

4 5 2 6 1 8 9 7 3

FROM P.59

3 9 7 3 5 8 2 6 4 1

2÷

THCAuction.com 800-634-7653

LEGALS » No. 653

40x

2 5 7 1 1 1- 2 82- 3 5 4 9 6 4 8 3 7 6 9 24 5 7 Difficulty 6 1- Medium4 3 1 4 2 9 3 6 8 8 7 5 9 5-

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020 Untitled-2 1

10+

1 11+

2 6 4 824x 1 3 9 7 5 2

4 5

2÷

Using the enclosed math operations as a guide, fill the grid using the numbers 1 - 6 only onceDifficulty: in each row and Hard column.

PUZZLE ANSWERS

A copy of the

NOTICE TOWN OF DUXBURY SELECTBOARD PUBLIC HEARING ON DRAFT TOWN PLAN SEPTEMBER 14, 2020 6 P.M. AT THE TOWN MEETING ROOM The Duxbury Selectboard will hold a public hearing to receive input from the citizens of Duxbury and adjoining towns on the draft of the updated town plan. The last town plan expired in October 2019. The town plan covers the entire town of Duxbury and proposes no changes in

Parties entitled to participate are the

NOTICE OF APPLICATION TO BROWNFIELDS REUSE AND ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITY LIMITATION ACT PROGRAM Please take notice that ATRH Colchester, LLC whose mailing address is c/o Allegiance Trucks, LLC : 9 West Broad Street, Suite 720, Stamford, CT 06902, is applying to the Vermont Brownfields Reuse and Environmental Liability Limitation Program (10 V.S.A. §6641 et seq.) in connection with the redevelopment of property known as 964 Hercules Drive in the Town of Colchester.

Comments may also be submitted by mail to the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, Waste Management Division, 1 National Life Drive – Davis 1, Montpelier, VT 05620; attention: Patricia Coppolino.

If you have a disability for which you need accommodation in order to participate in this process (including participating in a public hearing, if one is held), please notify us as soon as possible, in order to allow us as much time as possible to accommodate your needs.

Dated this 3rd day of September, 2020. /s/ Aaron J. Brondyke Aaron J. Brondyke, State Coordinator, 111 West Street, Essex Junction, VT 05452. 802-595-2735 aaron.brondyke@ vermont.gov

application, which contains a preliminary environmental assessment and a description of the proposed redevelopment project is available for public review at the Town of Colchester Clerk’s Office and at the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation offices in Montpelier. Comments concerning the application and/or the above referenced documents may be directed to Patricia Coppolino at (802) 249-5822 or at patricia.coppolino@ vermont.gov.

No hearing will be held and a permit may be issued unless, on or before September 22, 2020, a person notifies the Commission of an issue or issues requiring the presentation of evidence at a hearing, or the Commission sets the matter for a hearing on its own motion. Any person as defined in 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1) may request a hearing. Any hearing request must be in writing to the address below, must state the criteria or sub-criteria at issue, why a hearing is required and what additional evidence will be presented at the hearing. Any hearing request by an adjoining property owner or other

If you feel that any of the District Commission members listed on the attached Certificate of Service under “For Your Information” may have a conflict of interest, or if there is any other reason a member should be disqualified from sitting on this case, please contact the District Coordinator as soon as possible, and by no later than September 22, 2020.

Municipality, the Municipal Planning Commission, the Regional Planning Commission, affected state agencies, and adjoining property owners and other persons to the extent that they have a particularized interest that may be affected by the proposed project under the Act 250 criteria. Non-party participants may also be allowed under 10 V.S.A. Section 6085(c)(5).

The District 4 Environmental Commission is reviewing this application under Act 250 Rule 51— Minor Applications. A copy of the application and proposed permit are available for review on the Natural Resources Board’s web site (http:// nrb.vermont.gov) by clicking on “Act 250 Database” and entering the project number “4C0313-13.”

person eligible for party status under 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1)(E) must include a petition for party status under the Act 250 Rules. Prior to submitting a request for a hearing, please contact the State Coordinator at the telephone number listed below for more information. Prior to convening a hearing, the Commission must determine that substantive issues requiring a hearing have been raised. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law may not be prepared unless the Commission holds a public hearing.

of Elm Street to reduce phosphorous input to Lake Champlain as part of its Phosphorous Control Plan and Municipal Roads General Permit, in turn, part of the state’s TMDL Plan for Lake Champlain. The project is located at Elm Street in Winooski, Vermont.

Simulcast: Fri., Sept. 11 @ 9AM 298 J Brown Dr., Williston, VT 802-878-9200  800-474-6132

9/7/20 8:55 AM

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[CONTINUED] Marshfield, Vermont. The property shall be sold AS IS, WITH ALL FAULTS, WITH NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, subject to all easements, rightsof-way, covenants, permits, reservations and restrictions of record, title defects, unforeclosed liens, environmental hazards, unpaid real estate taxes (delinquent and current), current and delinquent assessments in favor of homeowners associations, if any, and municipal liens, to the highest bidder for cash. At the sale, the successful bidder, other than the Mortgagee, shall pay $10,000 down (non-refundable) in cash or bank treasurer check (or a combination thereof). The deposit must be increased to at least 10% of the successful bid within fi ve (5) calendar days of the public sale by an additional payment in cash or by bank treasurer’s check. The successful bidder shall execute a Purchase and Sale Agreement requiring payment of the balance of the purchase price within ten (10) days of entry of the court order confirming the sale. Before being permitted to bid at the sale, bidder shall display to the auctioneer proof of the ability to comply with these requirements. The successful bidder, other than the Mortgagee, must sign a NO CONTINGENCY Purchase and Sale Agreement satisfactory to Mortgagee at the sale. Title will be transferred by the Order Confirming Sale. The person holding the sale may, for good cause, postpone the sale for a period of up to thirty (30) days, from time to time, until it is completed, giving notice of such adjournment and specifying the new date by public proclamation at the time and place appointed for the sale, or by posting notice of the adjournment in a conspicuous place

at the location of the sale. Notice of the new sale date shall also be sent by first class mail, postage prepaid, to the Mortgagor at the Mortgagor’s last known address, at least fi ve (5) days before the new sale date. The public sale may be adjourned for a period of time in excess of thirty (30) days by agreement of the Mortgagor and Mortgagee or by order of the court. Other terms to be announced at the sale or contact Ward Law, P.C., 3069 Williston Road, South Burlington, Vermont 05403; (802)863-0307. The record owner is entitled to redeem the premises at any time prior to the sale by paying the full amount due under the Judgment Order, Decree of Foreclosure and Order of Public Sale dated July 18, 2019, and entered on July 19, 2019, including the costs and expenses of sale. Dated at Bridport, Vermont this 20 th day of August, 2020. WARD LAW, PC, Attorneys for Plaintiff, By: /s/ Cynthia R. Amrhein Cynthia R. Amrhein, Esq. 3069 Williston Road South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 863-0307

STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT PROBATE DIVISION CHITTENDEN UNIT DOCKET NO. 785-7-20 CNPR IN RE: ESTATE OF ALLAN BULLIS NOTICE TO CREDITORS To the creditors of Allan Bullis, late of South Burlington, Vermont. I have been appointed to administer this estate. All creditors having claims against the decedent or the estate must present their claims in writing within four (4) months of the date of the first publication of this notice. The claim must be presented to me at the address listed below with a copy sent to the court. The claim may be barred forever if it is not presented as described within the four (4) month period. Dated: 8/31/20 /s/ Lauren Bullis Executor/ Administrator: Lauren

Bullis, c/o Amanda M. Hemley, Esq., Gravel & Shea PC, P.O. Box 369, Burlington, VT 05402 ahemley@gravelshea. com Name of Publication: Seven Days Publication Date: 9/9/20 Chittenden Unit, Probate Court, P.O. Box 511, Burlington, VT 05402

STATE OF VERMONT VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT LAMOILLE UNIT, CIVIL DIVISION DOCKET NO: 39-3-18 LECV NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE LLC D/B/A MR. COOPER v. LANA L FALES, JAKE S. FALES, FORD MOTOR CREDIT COMPANY LLC D/B/A MAZDA AMERICAN CREDIT, EQUABLE ASCENT FINANCIAL, LLC AND GREEN MOUNTAIN BUREAU, LLC OCCUPANTS OF: 5491 Route 100, Hyde Park VT MORTGAGEE’S NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE OF REAL PROPERTY UNDER 12 V.S.A. sec 4952 et seq. In accordance with the Judgment Order and Decree of Foreclosure entered January 29, 2019, in the above captioned action brought to foreclose that certain mortgage given by Lana L Fales and Jake S. Fales to Universal Mortgage Corporation, dated September 25, 2006 and recorded in Book 124 Page 285 of the land records of the Town of Hyde Park, of which mortgage the Plaintiff is the present holder by virtue of the following Assignments of Mortgage: (1) Assignment of Mortgage from Universal Mortgage Corporation to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. dated September 27, 2006 and recorded in Book 125 Page 387; (2) Assignment of Mortgage from Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. to Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. dated August 13, 2014 and recorded in Book 147 Page 319; (3) Assignment of Mortgage from Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. to Countrywide Home Loans Servicing, LP dated December 24, 2008 and recorded in Book 131 Page 457;

and (4) Assignment of Mortgage from Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. to Nationstar Mortgage, LLC dated December 27, 2016 and recorded in Book 164 Page 116, all of the land records of the Town of Hyde Park, for breach of the conditions of said mortgage and for the purpose of foreclosing the same will be sold at Public Auction at 5491 Route 100, Hyde Park, Vermont on September 29, 2020 at 10:00 AM all and singular the premises described in said mortgage, To wit: Being all and the same land and premises conveyed to Jacob S. Fales and Lana L. Fales by the Warranty Deed of Lindsey H. Reynolds, on or about even date herewith, to be recorded in Book __ at Pages _ of the Hyde Park Land Records, being further descried as follows: Being all and the same land and premises and driveway in common conveyed to Lindsey H. Reynolds by the Warranty Deed of Phillip A. Hamel and Connie W. Hamel dated October 31, 2005 and of record in Book 120 at Page 175 of the Hyde Park Land Records. Being further described as all and the same land and premises conveyed to Philip A. Hamel and Connie W. Hamel by the Limited Warranty Deed of NationsCredit Home Equity Services, dated August 8, 2000 and recorded in Book 93 at Pages 10-11 of the Hyde Park Land Records. Reference is hereby made to the above instruments and to the records and references contained therein in further aid of this description. Terms of sale: Said premises will be sold and conveyed subject to all liens, encumbrances, unpaid taxes, tax titles, municipal liens and assessments, if any, which take precedence over the said mortgage above described. TEN THOUSAND ($10,000.00) Dollars of the purchase price must be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check at the time and place of the sale by the purchaser. The balance of the purchase

price shall be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check within sixty (60) days after the date of sale. The mortgagor is entitled to redeem the premises at any time prior to the sale by paying the full amount due under the mortgage, including the costs and expenses of the sale. Other terms to be announced at the sale. DATED: July 30, 2020 By: _/s/ Rachel K. Ljunggren, Rachel K. Ljunggren, Esq. Bendett and McHugh, PC 270 Farmington Ave., Ste. 151 Farmington, CT 06032

STATE OF VERMONT VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT WASHINGTON UNIT, CIVIL DIVISION DOCKET NO: 53-1-17 WNCV MTGLQ INVESTORS, LP v. JOELL J. MARTEL AKA JOELL MARTEL AND KRISTINE E. MARTEL AKA KRISTINE MARTEL OCCUPANTS OF: 18 Winter Meadow, Barre VT MORTGAGEE’S NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE OF REAL PROPERTY UNDER 12 V.S.A. sec 4952 et seq. In accordance with the Judgment Order and Decree of Foreclosure entered August 19, 2019 , in the above captioned action brought to foreclose that certain mortgage given by Joell J. Martel and Kristine E. Martel to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as nominee for First Horizon Home Loan Corporation, dated November 28, 2005 and recorded in Book 227 Page 606 of the land records of the City of Barre, of which mortgage the Plaintiff is the present holder, by virtue of the following Assignments of Mortgage: (1) Assignment of Mortgage from Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as nominee for First Horizon Home Loan Corporation to MetLife Home

Loans, a division of MetLife Bank, N.A. dated October 23, 2008 and recorded in Book 249 Page 688; (2) Assignment of Mortgage from Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., solely as nominee for First Horizon Home Loan Corporation to MetLife Home Loans, a division of MetLife Bank, N.A. dated November 17, 2011 and recorded in Book 267 Page 885; (3) Assignment of Mortgage from MetLife Bank, National Association, also known as MetLife Home Loans, a Division of MetLife Bank, N.A.to JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association dated May 1, 2013 and recorded in Book 276 page 876: (4) Assignment of Mortgage from JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association to Federal National Mortgage Corporation dated January 7, 2015 and recorded in Book 285 Page 918 and (5) Assignment of Mortgage from Federal National Mortgage Corporation to MTGLQ Investors dated February 11, 2019 and recorded in Book 346 Page 102 all of the land records of the City of Barre for breach of the conditions of said mortgage and for the purpose of foreclosing the same will be sold at Public Auction at 18 Winter Meadow, Barre, Vermont on September 29, 2020 at 10:00 AM all and singular the premises described in said mortgage, To wit: Being all and the same lands and premises conveyed to Joell J. Martel and Kristine E. Martel by Warranty Deed from Kevin G. Moore, Sr. and Tammy M. Moore, of even date about to be recorded. Being all of the same land and premises conveyed to Kevin G. Moore, Sr. and Tammy M. Moore by Warranty Deed from Paul W. Howard and Constance M. Howard dated November 12, 1999, and recorded November 16, 1999, in Book 178, Page

306 of the City of Barre Land Records. It being all of the same land and premises conveyed to Paul W. Howard and Constance M. Howard by Warranty Deed from Donald R. Seaver and Linda Seaver Devereaux, dated July 22, 1993 and recorded in the Barre City, Vermont Land Records in Book 152 at Page 507. It being all of the same land and premises conveyed to Donald R. Seaver. and Linda Seaver Devereaux, tenants in common, by Warranty Deed of First Vermont Bank & Trust Company, Trustee of Ardith M. Seaver Trust, which deed is dated November 23, 1992 and recorded on December 16, 1992 in Book 150 at Pages 149-50 of the Barre City, Vermont Land Records, It being all of the same land and premises as were decreed to First Vermont Bank & Trust Company, Trustee of the Ardith M. Seaver Trust, by Decree of Partial Distribution of the Probate Court, District of Washington in the Estate of Ardith M. Seaver, dated November 3, 1992 and recorded in Book 150 at Page 147 of the Barre City, Vermont Land Records. The subject land and premises are commonly known as being located at 18 Winter Meadow, Barre City, Vermont. This conveyance is made subject to and with the benefit of any utility easements, springs rights, easements for ingress and egress, and rights incidental to each of the same as may appear more particularly of record, provided that this paragraph shall not reinstate any such encumbrances previously extinguished by the Marketable Record Title Act, Chapter 5, Subchapter 7, Title 27, Vermont Statutes Annotated. Reference may be had to the above –mentioned deeds and to their records and to all prior deeds and their records in the

City of Barre, Vermont Land Records for a more complete and particular description of the herein conveyed land and premises. Reference is hereby made to the above instruments and to the records and references contained therein in further aid of this description. Terms of sale: Said premises will be sold and conveyed subject to all liens, encumbrances, unpaid taxes, tax titles, municipal liens and assessments, if any, which take precedence over the said mortgage above described. TEN THOUSAND ($10,000.00) Dollars of the purchase price must be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check at the time and place of the sale by the purchaser. The balance of the purchase price shall be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check within sixty (60) days after the date of sale. The mortgagor is entitled to redeem the premises at any time prior to the sale by paying the full amount due under the mortgage, including the costs and expenses of the sale. Other terms to be announced at the sale. DATED: August 20, 2020 By: /s/ Rachel K. Ljunggren Rachel K. Ljunggren, Esq. Bendett and McHugh, PC 270 Farmington Ave., Ste. 151 Farmington, CT 06032

STATE OF VERMONT VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT WINDSOR UNIT, CIVIL DIVISION DOCKET NO: 266-6-18 WRCV U.S. BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS TRUSTEE OF THE AMERICAN HOMEOWNER PRESERVATION TRUST SERIES 2015A+ v. DIANA HAYNES OCCUPANTS OF:

39 South Street, Woodstock VT MORTGAGEE’S NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE OF REAL PROPERTY UNDER 12 V.S.A. sec 4952 et seq. In accordance with the Judgment Order and Decree of Foreclosure entered October 18, 2019, in the above captioned action brought to foreclose that certain mortgage given by Diana Haynes to CitiFinancial, Inc., dated October 31, 2007 and recorded in Book 207 Page 704 of the land records of the Town of Woodstock, of which mortgage the Plaintiff is the present holder, by virtue of the following Assignments of Mortgage: (1) Assignment of Mortgage from CFNA Receivables (MD), Inc. f/k/a CitiFinancial, Inc. to CitiFinancial Servicing, LLC, dated August 21, 2015 and recorded in Book 252 Page 96; (2) Assignment of Mortgage from CitiFinancial Servicing, LLC to Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, as Trustee of Stanwich Mortgage Loan Trust A dated February 27, 2018 and recorded in Book 263 Page 496; and (3) Assignment of Mortgage from Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, as Trustee of Stanwich Mortgage Loan Trust A to U.S. Bank Trust National Association as Trustee of the American Homeowner Preservation Trust Series 2015A+ dated November 30, 2018 and recorded in Book 267 Page 225, all of the land records of the Town of Woodstock for breach of the conditions of said mortgage and for the purpose of foreclosing the same will be sold at Public Auction at 39 South Street, Woodstock, Vermont on October 2, 2020 at 10:00 AM all and singular the premises described in said mortgage, To wit: ALL THAT CERTAIN PARCEL OF LAND IN TOWN OF WOODSTOCK, WINDSOR COUNTY,

STATE OF VT, AS MORE FULLY DESCRIBED IN BOOK 133 PAGE 43 ID#23.55.22, BEING KNOWN AND DESIGNATED AS ALL AND THE SAME LANDS AND PREMISES CONVEYED TO MORGAN JOSEPH HAYNES BY QUIT CLAIM DEED OF NANCY E: MOLL HAYNES DATED JUNE 8, 1989 AND RECORDED ON JUNE 8, 1989 AT BOOK 97, PAGES 10-12 OF THE WOODSTOCK LAND RECORDS AND CORRECTIVE QUIT CLAIM DEED OF NANCY E. MOLL HAYNES ABOUT TO BE RECORDED. AND BEING MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS A METES AND BOUNDS PROPERTY. LESS AND EXCEPT THE ABOVE PROPERTY FROM DIANA HAYNES TO RAYMOND RACICOT, DATED 07/12/2005 AND RECORDED ON 07/12/2005 IN BOOK 192, PAGE 306. BEING THE SAME FEE SIMPLE PROPERTY CONVEYED BY WARRANTY DEED FROM MORGAN JOSEPH HAYNES TO DIANA HAYNES SOLE OWNER, DATED 08/24/1998 RECORDED ON 09/17/1998 IN BOOK 133, PAGE 43 IN WINDSOR COUNTY RECORDS, STATE OF VT, Reference is hereby made to the above instruments and to the records and references contained therein in further aid of this description. Terms of sale: Said premises will be sold and conveyed subject to all liens, encumbrances, unpaid taxes, tax titles, municipal liens and assessments, if any, which take precedence over the said mortgage above described. TEN THOUSAND ($10,000.00) Dollars of the purchase price must be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check at the time and place of the sale by the purchaser. The balance of the purchase price shall be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check within sixty (60) days after the date of sale.

Say you saw it in...

The mortgagor is entitled to redeem the premises at any time prior to the sale by paying the full amount due under the mortgage, including the costs and expenses of the sale. Other terms to be announced at the sale. DATED: August 24, 2020 By: /S/Rachel K. Ljunggren, Esq. Rachel K. Ljunggren, Esq. Bendett and McHugh, PC 270 Farmington Ave., Ste. 151 Farmington, CT 06032

TOWN OF DUXBURY NOTICE OF EXAMINATION OF PREMISES AND PUBLIC HEARING FOR DISCONTINUANCE OF A +/-600-FOOT PORTION OF THE RIGHT-OFWAY FOR CROSSETT HILL ROAD (TOWN HIGHWAY #4) Pursuant to the requirements of Title 19, Chapter 7 of the Vermont Statutes Annotated, the Town of Duxbury Selectboard will conduct an examination of the premises on Monday, October 12, 2020, at 9:00 A.M., and a public hearing on Tuesday, October 13, 2020, at 6:00 P.M. to consider the discontinuance of a +/-600-foot portion of the right-of-way for Crossett Hill Road (Town Highay # 4), which is a Class 3 town highway. In September 1999, the Crossett Hill Road right-of-way was relocated to the south, and shortly thereafter, it was opened for travel in its current location; however, the Town never discontinued the former town highway right-of-way from the property at 417 Crossett Hill Road. The portion of the right-ofway to be discontinued is U-shaped and three rods (49.5 feet) wide. It is shown as “Existing Easement Across Wilsons’ To Be Abandoned (3 Rod R.O.W.)” on a survey entitled, “Survey of Relocated Highway Easement – Town of Duxbury – Crossett Hill Road ‘Wilson Corner Improvements,’” dated August 1999, prepared

by Charles Grenier, Consulting Engineer, P.C., and recorded in Map Book 4, Page 36 of the Town of Duxbury Land Records. All interested parties are hereby notified to meet for the following: 1. An inspection of the premises at 9:00 AM on October 12, 2020, at 417 Crossett Hill Road, Duxbury, Vermont, at the property of the Sharon H. Wilson Living Trust. 2. A public hearing following the inspection of the premises at 6:00 PM on October 13, 2020, at the Municipal Meeting Room, 5421 Route 100, Duxbury, Vermont, to receive testimony from all persons abutting, owning or interested in the matter of discontinuing this +/-600-foot portion of the right-of-way for Crossett Hill Road (Town Highway #4). Persons wishing to comment, provide testimony or give evidence regarding the proposal may do so in person during the hearing, or by filing their comments, in writing, prior to the hearing. For those who wish to attend the public hearing electronically, a Zoom meeting link will be provided on the Selectboard’s Agenda for the October 13 th Selectboard meeting, on or about October 9th. If you have questions regarding this matter, please contact Selectboard Vice-Chair Mari Pratt at 802-279-6470. If, after examining the premises and hearing from any and all interested persons, the Selectboard judges that the public good, necessity and convenience of the inhabitants of the Town of Duxbury warrants discontinuing the +/-600-foot portion of the right-of-way for Crossett Hill Road (Town Highway #4), it will be so ordered. Dated at Duxbury, Vermont, this 4 th day of September, 2020. /s/ Mari Pratt, Selectboard Vice-Chair

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SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

PHOTO: JEB WALLACE-BRODEUR

When Spruce Peak Arts’ finance manager decided to retire, we definitely entered the search with some trepidation. It’s such a strange time for individuals and businesses that I just didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t sure what the landscape would be for job hunters right now. We started advertising just with Seven Days, where we’d had success before, and never expanded the search beyond that. Previously, we’ve used a ton of sites, including Indeed.com. With those big, national sites, I just haven’t found the quality of candidates we were hoping for. We were just hopeful that, even in this strange time, we’d be able to find the right person. And luckily we did. We had an immediate flood of inquiries from some very, very qualified candidates. Within two weeks I was able to make an offer to someone whom I think will be an amazing addition to the team. Seven Days and Michelle made it super easy, super efficient. I was so pleasantly surprised by the caliber of people who responded — and the quantity, as well. It was really terrific for us. HOPE SULLIVAN Executive Director Spruce Peak Arts, Stowe

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65 SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

ATTENTION RECRUITERS: POST YOUR JOBS AT: PRINT DEADLINE: FOR RATES & INFO:

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YOUR TRUSTED LOCAL SOURCE. JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM POSITIONS OPEN New World Tortilla has positions open at both of our locations in Burlington. This is a fast-paced counter service restaurant. Tired of working Sundays and Holidays? You get them all off. We also offer paid time off for full time employees. Please send your resume to

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Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital (NVRH) has a variety of openings available, including RNs, LNAs, Ultrasound Technologist, Echocardiographer and Sr. Multi-Modality Technologist. NVRH also has Administrative Positions, Information Services, Food Service and Environmental Services openings. Full-time, part-time and per diem positions available. For more information or to apply, please visit nvrh.org/careers.

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WE ARE HIRING… HELEN PORTER REHABILITATION AND NURSING Helen Porter Rehabilitation and Nursing, in Middlebury, is a secure residence where loved ones are assured of skilled nursing care and assistance with daily living and where privacy is honored and individuality respected.

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If you are organized, like the challenge of learning new concepts, and enjoy building PayData is looking for an additional team me relationships in a strong team focusedWorkforce environment,Solutions PayData may be your next employer. join Client Service Department a Payroll Processor/Client S PayData Workforce Solutions is aour locally owned Vermont Business andas is proud to have won Representative. Vermont’s Best Payroll Service Provider 4 years in a row! We are looking for an additional team member(s) to join our Client Service Department.

Our Client Representatives closely with our clients to Our Client Service Representatives workService closely with our clients to helpwork manage and produce accurate payrolls utilizing import methods accurate payrolls using a variety of applications. Our team various provides one on one productincluding data e Excel worksheets, time clock The ability to perform m support of our timekeeping, payroll, & HR related and technologies. The imports. ability to efficiently tasks efficiently andtomanage ongoing projects is necessary. Attent manage multiple tasks & projects while adhering daily deadlines is necessary. Attention to detail is critical to your success. Candidates detail is a must. must possess prior payroll experience and a working knowledge of the “Evolution” payroll software is desirable.

Candidates must have prior payroll experience asawell as custome Team oriented candidates should have proven troubleshooting skills, experience handling experience strongadapt communication and organizationa large volume of telephone calls and e-mailsand and possess be able to quickly to new and changing should also have proven troubleshooting skills and be technology. If you take prideCandidates in your work, and you possess excellent communication and organizational skills, we want to hear from you. Experience with Windows including Word, Excel, adapt to new and changing technology. Our Client Service and Outlook is required as well as strong keyboarding position is a mid-leveland position and office se Representatives workskills. in aThis team environment cubicle is paid on an hourly basis.

Experience handling a large volume of telephone calls, as well as PayData is a pet friendly environment...must love dogs! After introductory training period, flexible schedule (includingstrong telecommunicating) may be a possibility. Come join our local and number skills or prior payroll experience is required; workin award-winning team! knowledge of the “Evolution” payroll software is desirable. Experie

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SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

Licensed Clinical Social Worker WORK WITH YOUTH at the Northlands Job Corps Center in Vergennes, VT. Work one or two, 6-7 hour shifts each week (your choice). $50.00/hour. Please contact Dan W. Hauben ASAP for more information. Thank you! Office: 888-552-1660, Cell: 714-552-6697 omnimed1@verizon.net 2h-OmniMed090920.indd 1

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CASE MANAGER (40 HOURS PER WEEK) Based in our Barre Office and currently working most hours remotely, the Case Manager will work with older persons to 12:40 PM remain in their homes through creative connections with state and community resources. The successful applicant will have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience, social service and/or non-profit experience with vulnerable populations, ability to work independently and as part of a team, reliable transportation, experience with data entry and a working knowledge of MS Office, Excel, Word and Outlook. Experience with senior populations and public benefits programs is preferred. To apply, please send resume and cover letter to jobs@cvcoa.org by September 23.

RSVP VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR JOIN OUR GARDEN CENTER TEAM! JOIN OUR GARDEN CENTER TEAM! JOIN OUR GARDEN CENTER TEAM!

We have an opening at our Williston Garden Center. We have an opening at our and Williston We’re looking for a reliable quickGarden learner Center. who We have an opening at our Williston Garden Center. We’re looking for a reliable and quick learnerwhat!), who is enthusiastic, outgoing, upbeat (no matter We’re looking for a reliable and quick learner who is enthusiastic, outgoing,person upbeatthat (no thrives matter in what!), a flexible, team-oriented a is enthusiastic, outgoing,person upbeatthat (no thrives matter in what!), a flexible, team-oriented a busy and dynamic environment! Ability to work a flexible, team-oriented person that thrives in busy and dynamic Abilityyear-round, to worka weekends is a must.environment! This is a full-time, busy and dynamic environment! Ability to work weekends iseligible a must.position. This is a full-time, year-round, and benefit weekends a must.position. This is a full-time, year-round, and benefitiseligible and benefit eligible position. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT: You will provide ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT: You will provide exceptional service ASSISTANT: by managingYou inbound phone ADMINISTRATIVE will provide exceptional service by managing inbound phone calls and e-mail. Youby will also manage employee exceptional service managing inbound phone calls and e-mail. You will also manage employee schedules, supply ordering, reporting, and calls and e-mail. You will alsosystem manage employee schedules, supply ordering, system reporting, and invoice processing. You will assist and coordinate schedules, supply ordering, system reporting, and invoice processing. You will assist andHR coordinate with multiple departments and invoice processing. You willincluding assist andHR coordinate with multiple departments including and Marketing. Our ideal candidate will have a strong with multiple departments including HR and Marketing. Our ideal candidate will have a strong working knowledge of MS Officewill including Marketing. Our ideal candidate have a strong working knowledge of MSexcellent Office including Outlook, Word and Excel; customer working knowledge of MSexcellent Office including Outlook, Word and Excel; customer service, communication, team building & listening Outlook, Word and Excel; excellent customer service, communication, team building & listening skills. service, skills. communication, team building & listening skills. We are 100% employee-owned and a Certified B We are 100% employee-owned and a Certified B Corporation. We offer strong cultural values, B We are 100% employee-owned and a Certified Corporation. We offer strong cultural values, competitive wages andstrong outstanding benefits Corporation.wages We offer culturalbenefits values, competitive and outstanding (including a tremendous discount!). competitive wages and outstanding benefits (including a tremendous discount!). Interested? Please go to our careers page at (including a tremendous discount!). Interested? Please go to our careers page at www.gardeners.com/careers and apply online! Interested? Please go to our careers page at www.gardeners.com/careers and apply online! www.gardeners.com/careers and apply online!

(32 HOURS PER WEEK) Are you a creative self-starter with a passion for the healthy future of older Vermonters? We are seeking an RSVP Volunteer Coordinator to engage older adults with meaningful service opportunities with a focus on wellness programs, transportation, companionship, Meals on Wheels and more – with the goal of keeping older Vermonters socially connected to their communities. The RSVP Coordinator will engage with the local community partners; recruit volunteers; and manage volunteer data. This active position requires travel throughout Washington, Lamoille and Orange counties. The successful applicant will have a bachelor’s degree, ability to work independently and as part of a team, strong communication skills, experience engaging volunteers, a working knowledge of MS Office, Excel, Word and Outlook, and reliable transportation. To apply, please send a resume and cover letter to jobs@cvcoa.org by September 30. Central Vermont Council on Aging is an innovative agency dedicated to quality services for older persons living in Central Vermont. We provide a generous benefits package. Salary is based on experience. Central Vermont Council on Aging is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Applications from veterans, mature workers, individuals with disabilities, LGBTQ individuals, and people from diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds are encouraged. For more information about these positions, visit our website: cvcoa.org. 10v-CVCOA090920.indd 1

ATTENTION RECRUITERS: POST YOUR JOBS AT: PRINT DEADLINE: FOR RATES & INFO:

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SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTMYJOB NOON ON MONDAYS (INCLUDING HOLIDAYS) MICHELLE BROWN, 802-865-1020 X21, MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

6/29/15 5:11 PM

NEW JOBS POSTED DAILY! ai15980356785_Breadloaf-logo-2020-white.pdf

8/21/20

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JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

WE ARE NOW HIRING

a Business Development Manager! Bread Loaf Corporation, Vermont’s integrated company of architects, planners and builders, is searching for a Business Development Manager to join our sales team. The Business Development Manager takes the lead in the business development process: identifying, developing, and closing prospective and existing client business. You must be fully engaged in the process of building strategic relationships with our clients and must find satisfaction in helping solve their problems. The person we hire should have a background in architecture or construction management, at least five years of experience in business development in the industry and be results-oriented and organized. Bread Loaf offers a competitive salary, a comprehensive benefits package and a friendly work environment. We thrive on innovative ideas and excellent work. Please visit our website at www.breadloaf.com, for more information about our company. Interested candidates may send their resume to smclaughlin@breadloaf.com. E.O.E

Visit our website at www.breadloaf.com for a full company description.

HEALTHY LIVING HIRING NEW WILLISTON LOCATION

Healthy Living Market and Café is ready to begin building our Williston family. We’re excited to have a second home in the community we love and we’re grateful for the opportunity to provide more jobs. When we think about staff, we think “amazing!”“dedicated!” “hospitality driven” and “FUN!” Come join us; heroes work here! Click healthylivingmarket.com/healthy-living-job-fair to learn about our upcoming job fair on 9/12/20 and apply for open positions!

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Join a dedicated group of colleagues working hard to provide an enriching experience to students at a small liberal arts college in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Sterling College in Craftsbury Common, Vermont’s higher education leader in ecological thinking and action, is looking for a talented professional to fill this full-time position.

9/4/20 10:20 AM

COMMERCIAL LOAN DOCUMENTATION SPECIALIST

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT, OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT Reports to the President and is responsible for the effective operational leadership of the Office of the President, for helping to coordinate and facilitate the work of the President’s Cabinet and its members, including support for and communication with the Dean of Finance & Operations. Qualifications should include relevant administrative experience in the public or private sector, for-profit or not for profit, with demonstrated experience working in a fast-paced, deadline-oriented environment.

Union Bank, a leading Vermont community bank founded in 1891, is seeking a Commercial Loan Documentation Specialist to provide a variety of administrative duties for our business and municipal loan customers.

For complete position description & application instructions, visit:

Commercial loan documentation experience and/or paralegal experience is preferred but not required; we will train the right individual. This position may be located in our Morrisville main office or in one of our branch office locations throughout northern Vermont and New Hampshire.

sterlingcollege.edu/more/employment

NEWS ANCHOR WDEV, Vermont’s News Station, is looking for an afternoon news anchor, a dependable self-starter who can work independently but can collaborate with colleagues, a great writer with a compelling on-air delivery and comfortable using audio and editing equipment. Digital and social media savvy a must. This is not a job for a beginner. 5 years’ news or sports reporting experience required. WDEV has been a leader in broadcast radio since 1931 under the same family ownership. Can you help us move into our next 90 years of excellence? Send all inquiries with cover letter, one-page resume and MP3 of on-air work to scormier@radiovermont.com, subject line: ANS WDEV. Or mail to: WDEV, 9 Stowe Street Waterbury VT 05676. Att: Steve Cormier. No calls please. Equal Opportunity Employer.

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Responsibilities will include the accurate and timely completion of commercial, SBA and municipal loan documents, providing administrative support for the Commercial Lending team, and providing additional administrative support. We are seeking an individual with a demonstrated administrative background, who is a self-starter, has the ability to multi-task and work independently in a fastpaced environment, and has strong math and computer proficiency including a comprehensive knowledge of the Microsoft Office suite of products.

This is a full-time, 40 hours per week position Monday through Friday. We offer competitive wages, training for professional growth and development, strong advancement potential, stable hours, and a friendly, supportive environment. Union Bank offers a comprehensive benefit package including three medical plan and two dental plan options, 401(k) plan with a generous company match, paid vacation and sick leave, and fully paid disability insurance. We are looking for candidates who have a demonstrated background in providing superior customer service, have excellent written and oral communication skills, and experience in administrative and operational duties. Position requirements include a high level of computer proficiency in a Windows environment, and a High School diploma or equivalent. If you have excellent administrative skills and feel that banking is the place to utilize your knowledge and you wish to be a candidate, please submit a resume, employment application and cover letter to the address below. An employment application can be found at: ublocal.com/careers.

Human Resources-Union Bank P.O. Box 667 Morrisville, Vermont 05661 – 0667 careers@unionbanknh.com

E.O.E. - MEMBER FDIC

ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

POST YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

FULL TIME NIGHT POSITION

Is currently seeking:

Case Worker - Full Time https://bit.ly/3awkytR

Supported Housing Staff Evening Shift

https://bit.ly/3lKmXWZ

Supported Housing Respite Staff https://bit.ly/3bsF6DX

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CARPENTER/

in Home Health Care

SKI TECHNICIAN

Seeking caring individual to provide assistance to our special needs son in our South Hero home. Care includes administering meds, personal care, and monitoring. Quiet lakeside home with separate suite. For everyone's safety, CDC and Vermont Health Dept COVID-19 guidelines strictly followed. Competitive rates & paid training.

Our companies are looking for an individual who is interested in a unique employment opportunity. The position involves a dual work environment. Specifically, the position entails working the spring and summer building porches, decks and small additions, while the winter months entail working in a ski and snowboard service shop.

ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICE WORKER Sign On Bonus - Up to $2,000 with a starting salary of $14 an hour.

Responsible for the cleaning of all areas of the facility with the exception of the OR. Must know how to handle cleaning issues or know the appropriate resources available to solve the specific problem.

LEARN MORE & APPLY: uvmmed.hn/evs

Send resumes to: dpierson79@comcast.net.

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100% EMPLOYEE-OWNED 100% EMPLOYEE-OWNED 100% EMPLOYEE-OWNED

6/8/20 11:43 AM

Experience is preferred; however, training is provided for both areas. The atmosphere is fast paced and energetic. We offer performance based advancement. If this sounds like a good fit and you want to join our team, please e mail cover letter and resume. davidcone23@comcast.net

AFTERSCHOOL AND SCHOOL-AGE HUBS

ARE HIRING! Join Join the the team team at at Gardener’s Gardener’s Supply! Supply!

We have immediate openings in Call team at Gardener’s WeJoin havethe immediate openings in our our Supply! Call Center! Center! We have immediate openings in our Call Center! We We are are looking looking for for part-time part-time and and full-time, full-time, We are looking for part-time and full-time, seasonal SALES & SERVICE SPECIALISTS seasonal SALES & SERVICE SPECIALISTS to to seasonalexceptional SALES & SERVICE SPECIALISTS to provide customer service to provide exceptional customer service to our our provide exceptional customer service to our customers over the phone at our Call Center customers over the phone at our Call Center customersBurlington, over the phone at our Call Center located located in in Burlington, VT. VT. located in Burlington, VT. We We offer: offer: We offer: •• Very Very flexible flexible scheduling scheduling •• Very flexible scheduling Competitive • Competitive pay pay •• Competitive pay Huge discount • Huge discount on on product product •• Huge discount onand product Amazing culture • Amazing culture and the the best best co-workers co-workers •• Amazing culture and the best co-workers Positions thru the month of December • Positions thru the month of December • Positions thru the month of December We are are 100% 100% employee-owned employee-owned and and aa We We are B100% employee-owned a Certified Corporation. Please go goand to our our Certified B Corporation. Please to Certified B Corporation. Please go to our careers page at www.gardeners.com/careers www.gardeners.com/careers careers page at careers page at www.gardeners.com/careers and apply apply online! online! and and apply online! CCC_051820.indd 1 CCC_051820.indd 1 6t-GardenersSupply090920.indd 1 CCC_051820.indd 1

Statewide, dozens of Vermont’s new hubs that will serve school-age children on remote learning days need qualified staff to supervise K-6 students while they learn remotely and play. Positions are short-term, full-time or part-time, and you can begin immediately. Jobs are inperson, and employers carefully follow COVID-19 health and safety protocols. These positions are perfect for those who are interested in making a difference in their community. Afterschool and school-age hubs staff will be a critical part of Vermont’s COVID-19 relief response, giving elementary school students support while they learn virtually and parents support so they can work. There are available jobs for anyone who has experience working with youth, and are a great opportunity for those who are currently in high school or college, as well as high school and college graduates who are taking a gap year or looking for flexible employment. Applicants should like working with kids. You should be energetic and responsible, have diverse skills, and able to pass a background check. Visit VermontAfterschool.org/Recruit to easily indicate your interest in applying for an open position near you.

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TOWN OF WILLISTON PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

WATER & SEWER DIVISION The Public Works Department is accepting applications for a Water & Sewer Division position. This is a full-time position with an excellent benefit package. The ideal candidate should be experienced in the operation and maintenance of public water and sewer systems and reside within 25 miles of Williston. Applications are available at: williston.vt.us. Applications will be received until the position is filled. EOE

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NEW JOBS POSTED DAILY! JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

69 SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

CFO

SHARED LIVING PROVIDER Howard Center is seeking a Shared Living Provider for a woman in her 50s who enjoys crocheting, reading, writing, and watching TV. The ideal provider(s) will be female, or a couple with no children in the house. Pets are welcome. The provider needs to be able to provide 24-hour support in the home, as this individual has significant behavioral needs and cannot be left alone. The provider will work with a team of clinical staff to provide support. Compensation includes a tax-free annual stipend of $75,000, room and board payments, and a generous respite budget. For more information or to request an application, please contact Patrick Fraser at patfraser@howardcenter.org or 802-871-2902.

The CFO is a senior level management position responsible for oversight and implementation of all aspects of fiscal duties for Families First. He/she will work closely with the Finance/Audit Committee of the Board of Directors. The CFO works closely with the CEO in assisting with assigned tasks and other financial or administrative matters as they arise. Must have a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree (Master’s Degree Preferred) in Finance, Accounting or relevant field, with significant nonprofit experience (QuickBooks/Excel) and ability to communicate effectively and work well with others. Located in Elizabethtown, N.Y., this is a full-time administrative position with office hours of 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, while being flexible on evenings and weekends as needed. Excellent Benefits package and salary comparable with other nonprofits in the area. Apply via e-mail to Jcaswell@familiesfirstessex.org. 5h-FamiliesFirst090920.indd 1

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Community Police Officer The Town of Hinesburg, Vermont seeks qualified applicants for the position of Community Police Officer. Application materials should be submitted electronically to jobs@hinesburg.org by Friday, September 25, 2020. The anticipated hiring range is between $40,000 - $48,000 plus a comprehensive benefits package. The Hinesburg Community Police Department is committed to diversifying our work force and we encourage women and men with diverse racial, cultural and ethnic backgrounds to apply. We are a progressive organization that values and respects diversity among our employees and within our community. The Town of Hinesburg is an Equal Opportunity Employer and women and minorities are encouraged to apply. A full job description can be found at the following link: hinesburg.org/ employment.html.

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9/8/20 2:46 PM

9/8/20 10:44 AM

Evernorth is hiring! Evernorth unites Housing Vermont and Northern New England Housing Investment Fund together as a single nonprofit organization to serve the low and moderate-income people of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont by creating affordable housing and making community investments. We are a group of more than 40 professionals working to serve communities across northern New England. Our staff has deep knowledge of local markets, close relationships with regional organizations and a shared passion for affordable housing and social justice.

Connections Program Manager Burlington, VT

The Connections Program Manager is responsible for establishing and maintaining relationships with our local and community partners and will gather and share information, identify opportunities and strategies to create or improve supportive service coordination, programming, and building designs to assure that our communities thrive. We are looking for someone with a bachelor’s degree in Social Work or related field, 2+ years’ experience in conducting surveys and analyzing large data sets, excellent public speaking skills and proficient user of Microsoft Office 365. To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to HR@evernorthus.org. Evernorth is and E.O.E.

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ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

POST YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

FLOOR TECH/LAUNDRY AIDE/HOUSEKEEPING POSITIONS AVAILABLE! Interested in getting your foot in the door with a solid organization that is growing? Specialize in cleanliness? We want to talk with you! Elderwood at Burlington has some entry-level positions available! These 3 positions are FT with benefits! Qualifications: • Minimum 18 years of age required; High school diploma or equivalent preferred • Janitorial/Environmental Services/Laundry experience desired • Ability to follow written and verbal instructions required. • Ability to perform assigned tasks to a high degree of excellence, and cleanliness required. • Respect for residents’ privacy and rights for respect and dignity necessary. Learn more and apply online: elderwoodcareers.com. 5h-VTDeptHumanResources090920.indd 1

Commercial Roofers

9/4/20 1:41 PM

Full-time, year-round employment. Good benefits. Experience in installing Epdm, Tpo, Pvc roofing. EOE/M/F/VET/Disability employer. Pay negotiable with experience.

Executive Director

Administrative Coordinator

Apply in person at: A.C. Hathorne Co. 252 Avenue C Williston, VT 802-862-6473

The Executive Director for the Cornell Cooperative Extension Association of Essex County represents and is accountable to the Association Board of Directors and the Director of the Cornell Cooperative Extension System. The Executive Director is expected to be an effective leader, helping to vteandenetwork.org develop and project a compelling and contemporary vision for extension programming to stakeholders, both internal and external. The Executive Seven Days Director must be engaged with decision makers both locally and at Cornell 9/7/201 10:03 AMin order to be effective. This position is a full-time exempt position - 100% 2h-ACHathorne080520.indd 1 8/4/201t-VTEducation&EnvironmentNetwork090920.indd 2:59 PM Issue: 9/9 FTE. The minimum starting salary for this position is $73,000.00 annually Due: 9/7 by 11am commensurate with experience. This position, based on eligibility, offers Size: 3.83 x 5.25 a comprehensive benefit package, to include: health and dental insurance, Peterson Quality Malt is seeking retirement, vacation, sick and personal leave. Cost: $476.85 (with 1 week online) a night shift employee to Engaging minds that change the world monitor our equipment, roast Visit the application link to read the full job description and Center for Health and Wellbeing and mill grains, and help with for more application information. Individuals who bring a Temporary Counselor Positions facility cleaning. We will diverse perspective and are supportive of diversity are strongly provide on the job training. The University of Vermont is seeking Counselors, Social Workers, or encouraged to apply. http://bit.ly/CornellExecDir Psychologists to join our Counseling and Psychiatry Services (CAPS) team for vermontmalt.com/jobs. the Fall 2020 semester. CAPS is a part of the Center for Health and Wellbeing which includes Student Health Services, Athletic Medicine, and Education/ Outreach Services. CAPS provides mental health services to the UVM student population including undergraduate and graduate students. As an organization, we 1t-PetersonQualityMalt090920.indd 1 9/8/204t-CornellCoopExtEssexCty090920.indd 1:30 PM recognize that oppression and mental health are intricately connected, and that countless factors that contribute to a person’s health and wellbeing, including their environment, family, ethnicity, income, race, gender, social status, education, Join our wonderful team of nationality, sexual orientation, and more.

OPERATIONS SUPPORT ASSOCIATE

The ideal candidates would be knowledgeable of best practices related to integrated mental health systems and services designed to promote student success. Candidates would need to be available 2-5 days per week and willing to provide mental health services via telehealth using both telephone and video conferencing technology. We are searching for providers who can work well in the fast-paced and cyclical nature of a college counseling center. Duties include providing triage, needs assessment, and referral services for students seeking CAPS Services. Duties may also include crisis intervention/response, provision of short-term, on-going counseling services, and consultation with faculty and staff. Master’s in Counseling, Psychology, Social Work or equivalent. Vermont licensed or rostered. Experience working with college age population, preferably within a university setting, or equivalent. Clear evidence of a demonstrated commitment to inclusiveness and willingness to provide respectful and affirming mental health services. Ability to enthusiastically support UVM’s commitment to enhance a diverse campus culture and inclusive student experience. Temporary employees are not eligible for benefits. Positions will be for the 2020 fall semester. At present, all work tasks would be completed remotely but positions may require on-campus presence as guidelines for in-person work evolve. Interested individuals should submit a letter of interest and current resume to Janet S. Green, CAPS Office Manager at Janet.S.Green@uvm.edu. The University of Vermont is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

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early childhood educators! We are hiring for the following positions: • Toddler Teacher/ Teaching Associate (15-30 hrs/wk) • Preschool Teaching Associate (25-40 hrs/week) • Morning Check-in Assistant (12 hrs/week) Please send resume and letter of interest to

saplingsdirector@gmail.com.

Complete job description at: craftsburysaplings.com. Questions? 802-586-2875

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9/7/20 1:54 PM

VT-HEC is a highly successful non-profit that for over 20 years has been providing professional development to educators and others who work to benefit Vermont’s children and youth. This part-time position will be our primary customer service liaison, providing support for registration, billing, and general inquiries regarding our workshops and courses. Additional responsibilities include helping to coordinate our live and virtual events, providing communication and support leading up to/ during/post events, and keeping consistent business hours (email and phone). This position will have the opportunity to telecommute, but some office hours will be required. Full job description: vthec.org (Look under “About Us”) VT-HEC is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

8/25/20 11:23 AM

fun stuff

RACHEL LINDSAY

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

CALCOKU & SUDOKU (P.59) CROSSWORD (P.59)

HARRY BLISS

Turn Art into Action ENCOURAGE ADULTS TO VOTE November 3, 2020, is a very important date in the United States: It’s Election Day. And yet, it’s a sad fact that many Vermont voters simply don’t participate in elections. Maybe they just need a little encouragement? That’s why this month’s Good Citizen Challenge is to MAKE A CREATIVE AND COLORFUL POSTER that will motivate adults to vote. We’ll print the most persuasive poster in Seven Days’ General Election Voters’ Guide, and we’ll use eye-catching entries in print and online to help boost voter participation.

Tatum Kirtlink of Montpelier with her poster encouraging adults to vote

JEN SORENSEN

Sam Hawley, Burlington

Sign by Montannah Ovitt, Bakersfield

All posters should: • BE NONPARTISAN: They should not endorse a political party or candidate. • INCLUDE THIS TEXT: “Vote on or before November 3. Find more information at sos. vermont.gov.” • BE POSITIVE • BE EASY TO READ

• BE PROOFREAD: Please check your spelling before sending. Scan or photograph your poster and email it with your name, grade and town of residence to goodcitizen@ kidsvt.com. The deadline is 5 p.m. on September 22. Let’s be sure all Vermonters know that their voice matters!

FIND MORE INFO AND ACTIVITIES AT GOODCITIZENVT.COM

With support from:

The Evslin Family Foundation

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SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

9/8/20 5:23 PM

fun stuff RYAN RIDDLE

Making it is not :( Keep this newspaper free for all. Join the Seven Days Super Readers at sevendaysvt.com/super-readers or call us at 802-864-5684.

74SR-Comics-filler071520.indd SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020 1

7/14/20 3:32 PM

Have a deep, dark fear of your own? Submit it to cartoonist Fran Krause at deep-dark-fears.tumblr.com, and you may see your neurosis illustrated in these pages.

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY BY ROB BREZSNY REAL SEPTEMBER 10-16

mersed in a feeling of energized focus,” with “full involvement and enjoyment in the process of the activity.” According to my reading of the astrological omens, you are extra likely to enjoy such graceful interludes in the coming weeks. But I hope you will be discerning about how you use them. I mean, you could get into a flow playing video games or doing sudoku puzzles. But God and Life and I would prefer it if you’d devote those times to working on a sublime labor of love or a highly worthy quest.

VIRGO

(AUG. 23-SEPT. 22):

Virgo poet Mary Oliver was renowned for giving herself permission. Permission to do what? To become a different person from the self she had been. To shed her familiar beliefs and adopt new ones. To treat every experience as an opportunity to experiment. To be at peace with uncertainty. I think you’ll be wise to give yourself all those permissions in the coming weeks — as well as others that would enhance your freedom to be and do whatever you want to be and do. Here’s another favorite Mary Oliver permission that I hope you’ll offer yourself: “And I say to my heart: rave on.”

ARIES (March 21-April 19): “It’s not that some

people have willpower and some don’t,” observes author James S. Gordon. “Rather, it’s that some people are ready to change and others are not.” Lucky for you, Aries! Your willpower is even more potent than usual right now, and your willingness to change is growing stronger. And so very soon now, I expect you will reach the threshold that enables you to act crisply and forcefully. You will become so convinced that it’s wise to instigate transformation that you will just naturally instigate transformation. Adjust, adapt, improvise, improve!

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi is an expert on the mental state known as being in the flow. He defines it as what happens when you’re completely absorbed in what you are doing: “im-

GEMINI

(May 21-June 20): According to researcher Rosalind Cartwright, “Memory is never a precise duplicate of the original. It is a continuing act of creation.” Neurologist Oliver Sacks agrees, telling us, “Memories are not fixed or frozen, but are transformed, disassembled, reassembled and recategorized with every act of recollection.” Reams of additional evidence also suggest that our experience of the past is always being transformed. In accordance with astrological potentials, I invite you to take advantage of this truth. Reimagine your life story so it has more positive spins. Reenvision the plot threads so that redemption and rebirth are major features. Engage in a playful reworking of your memories so that the epic myth of your destiny serves your future happiness and success.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): All of us are susceptible to fooling ourselves and lying to ourselves. And all of us are susceptible to the cowardice that such self-sabotage generates. But the good news is that you Cancerians will have an expansive capacity to dissolve and rise above self-deception in the coming weeks — and will therefore be able to call on a great deal of courage. As Cancerian author and Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön says, “The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.” LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): If you like, I will give you the waning crescent moon and the dawn breeze. Do you want them? How about sudden bursts of joy for no apparent reasons and a warm greeting from a person you thought had a problem with you? Would you be interested in having those experiences? And what about an unexpected insight into how

to improve your financial situation and a message from the future about how to acquire more stability and security? Are those blessings you might enjoy? Everything I just named will be possible in the coming weeks — especially if you formulate a desire to receive them and ask life to provide them.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “The more unintelligent people are, the less mysterious existence seems to them,” wrote philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. I agree with that idea, as well as the converse: The more intelligent people are, the more mysterious existence seems to them. Since I expect you to be at the peak of your soulful intelligence in the coming weeks, I am quite sure that life will be exquisitely mysterious to you. It’s true that some of its enigmatic qualities may be murky and frustrating, but I suspect that many of them will be magical and delightful. If you ever wanted your life to resemble a poetic art film, you’re going to get your wish. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Comedian and actor Aubrey Plaza bragged about the deal she made. “I sold my soul to the devil,” she said. “I’d like to thank the devil.” Plaza is quite popular and successful, so who knows? Maybe the Prince of Darkness did indeed give her a boost. But I really hope you don’t regard her as a role model in the coming weeks — not even in jest. What worked for Plaza won’t work for you. Diabolical influences that may seem tempting will not, in the long run, serve your interests — and may even sabotage them. Besides, more benevolent forces will be available to you, and at a better price. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Many of

you Sagittarians specialize in generous breakthroughs and invigorating leaps of truth. Often, you make them look easy and natural — so much so that people may not realize how talented you are in generating them. I hope you adjust for that by giving yourself the proper acknowledgment and credit. If this phenomenon shows up in the coming weeks — and I suspect it might — please take strenuous measures to ensure that you register the fullness of your own accomplishments. To do so

will be crucial in enabling those accomplishments to ripen to their highest potential.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel wrote, “When you die and go to heaven, our maker is not going to ask, ‘Why didn’t you discover the cure for such and such? Why didn’t you become the Messiah?’ The only question we will be asked in that precious moment is ‘Why didn’t you become you?’” I hope that serves as a stimulating challenge for you, Capricorn. The fact is that you are in an extended phase when it’s easier than usual to summon the audacity and ingenuity necessary to become more fully yourself than you have ever been before. AQUARIUS

(Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Years ago, comedian Lenny Bruce observed, “Every day people are straying away from the church and going back to God.” His statement is even truer today than it was then. Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank, has gathered the concrete evidence. Church attendance was way down even before the pandemic struck. Now it’s even lower. What does this have to do with you? In my astrological opinion, the coming months will be prime time for you to build your intimate and unique relationship with God rather than with institutions that have formulaic notions about who and what God is. A similar principle will be active in other ways, as well. You’ll thrive by drawing energy from actual sources and firsthand experiences rather than from systems and ideologies that supposedly represent those sources and experiences.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Psychologist Carl Jung wrote, “The function of dreams is to restore our psychological balance by producing dream material that reestablishes the total psychic equilibrium.” According to my reading of the astrological omens, you especially need this kind of action right now. To expedite your healing process, meditate on what aspects of your life might have become too extreme or one-sided. Where could you apply compensatory energy to establish better equipoise? What top-heavy or lopsided or wobbly situations could benefit from bold, imaginative strokes of counterbalance?

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SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

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Respond to these people online: dating.sevendaysvt.com WOMEN seeking... AUTUMN LIGHT Independent yet ready for someone who brings some “sparkle” into my life (favorite word this week!). Reverent yet irreverent. CG Jung, Pema Chodron, Jack Kornfield, Bono, Springsteen. INFJ. Healthy mind/body/soul. Looking for same. Busy health care professional but ready for the next adventure. Is there love in the time of COVID? Or shall we settle for coffee, conversation and kayaking? Hope, 63, seeking: M, l AFFECTIONATE, ENTHUSIASTIC, DYNAMIC SINGLE MOM I make friends like the rest of Vermont is buying Subarus. I’ll make you laugh, solve problems together and be forever loyal. I’m a sucker for muscular thighs, thoughtfulness and looking good in a T-shirt. Sex is an important part of a relationship with me. I’m intelligent, self-employed, ambitious and highly moral. I’m fat by American standards and active. Elastic_Heart, 45, seeking: M, TM TRYING SOMETHING NEW I love kinky play. Enjoy MMF and MFF threesomes. Looking for a woman for some discreet play. Newly bi-curious. Looking for a fun friend to explore kinks with. vtkinkygirl, 44, seeking: W CUCKOO ABOUT ADVENTURES I’m just looking for a new friend. I’m somewhat new to the area and would like to find someone who likes to talk, hike, or do anything that doesn’t involve going to the bar or lots of drinking! NDrootsNYbuds, 37, seeking: M, l

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W = Women M = Men TW = Trans women TM = Trans men Q = Genderqueer people NBP = Nonbinary people NC = Gender nonconformists Cp = Couples Gp = Groups

HERE’S TO SECOND CHANCES Widowed, fit, fun, financi ly secure WF with serious BDSM/kinky fantasies that I want/ need to explore. Looking to find 50- t 60-y/o male with experience in the much less vanilla side of sex for dating and/or LTR. bestisyettobe, 53, seeking: M, l CREATIVE, EMPATHIC, KIND I am a curious, sensitive and intuitive woman who is creative and smart. I love excellent conversation, the outdoors, travel and good food! I’m a spiritual seeker and writer; mostly night owl. Looking for deep connection, independence and laughter in someone who values doing their inner work. SoulTraveler, 50, seeking: M, l GOOD MORNING! Female, vegan, 420-friendly, central Vermont. Seeking similar companion for summer (and beyond) activities: easy/ moderate hiking, nature walks, swimming, biking, long drives on back roads and other warm weather adventures. In the midst of the pandemic, I take “social smartness” seriously. For the time being, I am only open to outdoor, safely distanced meetings. Thanks for reading VtVegan2020, 57, seeking: M, l HAPPY, COMPASSIONATE AND CURIOUS I love to cook, dance, but most importantly, laugh. Favorite movie: Miracle at Morgan’s Creek; celebrity crush: Cary Grant; post-retirement dream (or if Trump gets reelected): escaping to a cottage in Connemara, Ireland. I am looking for a confident, kind, inte ligent and easygoing man with a great sense of humor. Nella26, 64, seeking: M, l FEMININE, FIT, FUN-LOVING FOREST WOMAN If the sun is shining, you’ll find m outdoors. If I’m indoors pursuing my artwork or piano, it must be raining. Silent sports, camping and canoeing. Swimming every day. Looking for a fit an active outdoorsman. I’d like to see if we can become best friends and then take it from there. Charley, 67, seeking: M, l LUCKY IN LOVE AND NICARAGUA I loved being married. Sadly, he died young. I own gorgeous land in Nicaragua and want a partner to develop it with me as an artist/surfer retreat (as soon as we get rid of the small problem of a dictator killing his own people). A perfect life is Vermont in summer and Nica in winter, but only with a terrific man. W, 73, seeking: M, l ENJOY LIFE TO THE FULLEST I enjoy gardening, animals and reading, and I split my own wood (electric splitter). I love cooking and contra dancing, and I have a new hobby: shape note singing. countrygirl1, 77, seeking: M, l OUTDOORSY, HONEST, HEALTHY MUSIC LOVER Hi there! I’m an optimistic, funny, smart, nature- and animal-loving kind of gal. Spending time together with someone who makes you smile, and has your back, is a gift. I’m a world traveler who has recently returned to Vermont. I am looking for a friend first to enj y life and Vermont. If it turns into something more, bonus! Bella2020, 62, seeking: M

SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

SPECIAL, HANDY, LOVABLE I am self-sufficient. I can play in the mud in the day and dress to the nines at night. I love to give parties but also love to sit by a fire and cuddle. I am a lady and always will be. If you want someone who cares and is intelligent, I am waiting. Starchild, 62, seeking: M, l PRRRRRR... Lookin’ for fun, honest, real person for friendship, FWB, dating, LTR option. KittyKat, 54, seeking: M COUNTRY AT HEART AND FREE I’m looking for a good guy who likes to eat, hang out, go fishing and camping, and enjoys my company. I love to please my man and make him happy. Looking for the same. I grew up in the Burlington area and am of French and German descent. Oldergal, 66, seeking: M

MEN seeking... UNORDINARY, AVERAGE GUY I’m all the things you want in a man, plus some. ;) More count y than city for sure. I’m a hardworking, self-supported individual who doesn’t fit into any classificati totally. I’d love to meet an intelligent, honest, loyal, attractive and sexy woman with a great sense of humor to spend my life with. Itshim, 46, seeking: W, l COUNTRY, WORKER, ADVENTURER My life sure has been an adventure! Vermont-born and -raised. Looking for a woman who might enjoy a day on the kayaks, a night out dancing or a good old-fashioned movie night. timberjack240, 59, seeking: W, l DOWN-TO-EARTH COUNTRY SOUL I’m down-to-earth with a good sense of humor/wit. Hands-on dad. I enjoy everything outdoors — hiking, gardening, animals, barbecuing, summer at the lake. I enjoy cooking and projects around the home. I’m open-minded, open to trying new things and adventures. Enjoy a good balance between an evening out and a nice meal home with a movie. Countrysoul, 45, seeking: W, l HANDSOME, HAPPY AND LOYAL I like honesty and righteousness. I am fair and understanding and love to converse. raznik, 57, seeking: W, Cp HORNY BI-CURIOUS MAN Now is the time. I’ve been thinking about this too long, and it’s time for something new. I’ve dabbled and greatly enjoyed MMF threesomes. It’s time to explore this new side of my sexuality. Looking for a gay or bi male to navigate my exploration. Time4somethingNew, 44, seeking: M SPOIL MY PARTNER I am a very fit lifelong passable closeted cross-dressing cougar, non op trans woman seeking a discreet, fit, kind partner to spoil rotten. I have much to give and love to please my mate first and foremost. Ha e very private home and love to entertain. Looking for trustworthy partner for fun to start, maybe more. Susan123, 55, seeking: M, W

CARING, FUN-LOVING, FUNNY, IRREVERENT LAWYER I love spending as much time outside as possible — sailing, biking, live music, outdoor dining and enjoying all Vermont has to offer. I have been in the area for almost 30 years and have a wonderful group of friends. Now thinking about winter travel to somewhere a bit less gray. Looking for interesting conversations, sharing time in the outdoors and travel. SunMountainsFriends, 64, seeking: W, l HARDWORKING, NIGHT LIFE, HONEST I’m 55, looking for adventure with a friend with benefits. orking for the future for financial independence Woodbury55vt, 53, seeking: M, W TIME FLIES Newly retired, not so newly single. Used to be OK with the patient method of meeting people spontaneously, but during these unusual times that has become almost impossible. I would really like to meet someone who enjoys traveling or just hanging out. A good conversationalist is a must. Someone informed and open-minded. Spontaneous nature and adventurous are wonderful qualities. Strangetimes, 57, seeking: W P/E RATIO I enjoy spontaneous travel, reading biographies, learning new things, new places, daily exercise, bike riding, the gym, movies and your company. I am seeking a funny, educated woman with a successful career and/or financia security who shares some of the above characteristics. OAAG, 63, seeking: W, l GOOD-LOOKING BI Just looking for a friend-with-benefit situation. Must be discreet. OK-looking and fun-loving. Mright, 44, seeking: M, Cp PANDEMIC REAPPRAISAL Inquisitive bi guy, 68, in a reflecti e period actively exploring cinema before 1970, music before 1964, Zen and American noir also. FWB possibilities beyond limiting dualities. And you? NotTooOldToExplore, 68, seeking: M, l STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED A crisis tends to make one do what they should’ve been doing all along. So, here I am. Looking for someone(s) to get to know. Sense of humor a must, creativity a plus. Please be able to talk about current events — not necessarily pop culture. Don’t be upset if I don’t reply. VTBOB, 64, seeking: M LOOKING FOR BURLINGTON DREADED BRANDY In late February we sat next to each other and chatted on an early morning fligh to DC. You: headed to KC for the week to work. Dreads, beautiful, smart, computer person. Me: Headed to DC for the day to do political consulting. Would love to continue that talk over coffee or a drink or a walk by the lake. adnaZ, 58, seeking: W

COUPLES seeking... COUPLE SEEKING GUY OR GIRL We are very open and honest. Clean, safe and totally discreet. We are looking for a man with a big dick or a woman who wants to try new adult things with a couple. We want to role-play and try some kink. Newboytoyvt, 50, seeking: M, W, TM, Cp HELP US BRANCH OUT We are a couple of over 30 years. We love to spend time together, enjoying good food, good beer/wine and good company. We enjoy the outdoors, camping, hiking, skiing. Looking for other couples to become friends with that can help us explore and branch out. We love each other very deeply and want to share that love with others. CentralVTCpl, 54, seeking: Cp, Gp, l

LOOKING FOR SOMEONE AMAZING We are a couple in an open relationship seeking a bi male, gay male or couple to join us in kinky play. Cuckholds, DP, etc. Are you a playmate (or playmates) who are open to safe, sane and crazy experiences. Lets fulfi l each others fantasies. We’ll try anything twice! We are two clean, professional adults. Discretion given and expected. vtfuncouple, 44, seeking: M, Cp EXPERIENCE SOMETHING NEW We are a loving couple of over fi e years. Love to play and try new things. Spend free time at the ledges. Looking for people to play with. Perhaps dinner, night out and maybe breakfast in the morning. Looking for open-minded men, women or couples who enjoy fun times and new experiences. 2newAdventurers, 52, seeking: M, W, Cp, Gp ATTRACTIVE MARRIED COUPLE Attractive, caring and honest married couple looking to meet a female for fun times both in and out of the bedroom. She is bi-curious; he is straight. We are very easygoing and fun to be around. Will share a photo once we communicate. Let’s see what happens. VTcouple4fun, 49, seeking: W SEASONED, REASONED, FRIENDSHIP AND CONVERSATION Older couple seeks new friends to enjoy honest conversation. Couples, women, or men. We are not seeking benefit though we are open to discussion if all are inspired. We’d love to meet and converse over a nice meal. We love warmth and open people. Our place has a hot tub for cold winters, and we have a massage table. Seasoned, 70, seeking: M, W, Cp, Gp, l 2 + 1 = 3SOME My husband and I are a very happily married couple looking for a woman to add to our relationship. We have talked extensively about a third and look forward to meeting the right woman. We are a very down-to-earth, outdoor-loving couple. Very secure in our relationship. We would like a relationship with a woman with an honest persona. Outdoorduo1vt, 51, seeking: W, l AWESOME COUPLE LOOKING FOR FUN! We are an incredibly fun couple looking for awesome people to share our time and company and play with us. Discreet, honest and chill — request the same from you. Message us; let’s get to know each other, have some fun and see where this goes! vthappycouple, 47, seeking: Cp

TRANS WOMEN seeking... BE MY CUDDLE BUDDY? Cute 50-y/o vegan straight-edge polyam ace enby trans girl. Love my parallel polyam primary nesting partner, so I’m looking for a part-time snuggle buddy for walks and talks and handholding and kissing and romance! I fall in love really easily! I’m half in love with you already just because you’re reading this! Anyone but cis guys. EnbyTransgirl, 51, seeking: W, TM, TW, Q, NBP, l GENEROUS, OPEN, EASYGOING Warm, giving trans female with an abundance of yum to share (and already sharing it with lovers) seeks ecstatic connection for playtimes, connections, copulations, exploration and generally wonderful occasional times together. Clear communication, a willingness to venture into the whole self of you is wanted. Possibilities are wide-ranging: three, four, explorations, dreaming up an adventure are on the list! DoubleUp, 63, seeking: M, Cp, l

i SPY

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PA TEACHER ON STEPS Sorry to stare as I went by on the motorcycle; you seemed so familiar. ˜ anks for the friendly wave. When: ˜ ursday, September 3, 2020. Where: PA. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915144 TIMBER JACK 240 Liked your smile. Love to dance. Interested. When: Saturday, September 5, 2020. Where: on Seven Days. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915143 SHAVED HEAD CO-OP CUTIE You caught my eye with your sick outsider style at the co-op. You said you liked my outfit. Wanna chat about weird feminist art and music over coffee sometime? Signed, ˜ e Freak With the Yellow Crocs. When: Wednesday, September 2, 2020. Where: Middlebury co-op. You: Nonbinary person. Me: Woman. #915141 GREAT NORTHERN I saw you wearing a partially unbuttoned cut-off flannel, fuzzy trapper hat and sandals with dirty socks. You were drinking a matcha latte and playing Pictionary. We locked eyes. It felt like we were suddenly on a train car, flying down the tracks. I would like to sit across from you and join your Pictionary game. When: Wednesday, January 3, 2018. Where: Great Northern. You: Woman. Me: Woman. #915140 LOCKING EYES AT DUNKS You had a black shirt with blue writing on the front, black leggings. Your eyes found mine pulling into the gas station; you were going to your car. ˜ en you came back as I was holding the door. Again, those eyes. Again in line while I was waiting for coffee. Let’s connect again? Maybe at the gas station for coffee. When: Tuesday, September 1, 2020. Where: Dunkin’ in Williston. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915139

COCHRAN’S PARKING LOT You were enthusiastically supportive of your buddy after mountain biking. I liked your bright blue biking shorts and infectious pep and passion. I smiled as I walked by in my blue ﬂowered tank and white sunglasses. As I drove away in my Crosstrek, we smiled again. Want to smile together over a beer or coffee? When: Saturday, August 15, 2020. Where: Cochran’s. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915138 DUNKIN’ DRIVE-THRU I didn’t see you, but you were a car ahead and paid for my drink because, said the cashier, “She thinks you’re cute,” which totally made my day (not least because my order was not cheap)! ˜ anks so much — I was so happy! When: Saturday, August 22, 2020. Where: Colchester. You: Woman. Me: Woman. #915137 JAKE AT TJ’S We talked about swimming holes and the unbearable lightness of being 32. You make the mask mandate look good! I know it’s part of the gig to connect with shoppers, but I enjoyed our convo, and if you did, too, I’d love to meet up for more. When: Friday, August 21, 2020. Where: Trader Joe’s. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915135 SAXON HILL You: orange shirt. Me: orange bike. We crossed paths at Saxon Saturday morning. Would enjoy hearing from you. When: Saturday, August 22, 2020. Where: Saxon Hill. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915134 FOUR_SEASONS Well, Miss Four_Seasons, you have been spied today on here. Your proﬁle has caught my attention, and I am interested in knowing more about you. I am open to any ideas or thoughts that you have. When: Monday, August 17, 2020. Where: Seven Days. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915132

Ask REVEREND ˛˝˙

Irreverent counsel on life’s conundrums

Dear Reverend,

I am recently single after over a decade. ˜ e last few years I have seen zero action, and I’m afraid that whenever the time comes, I’m going to completely make a fool of myself and not know what to do — as well as be dry AF. Tell me that sex after years of none will be awesome and I’ll remember what to do.

Worried Lady (FEMALE, 38)

FLYNN HARLEM DANCE COMPANY ˜ ere was a man at the Flynn’s Harlem Dance, November/December. After the performance, I waited in the outer lobby for friends. When they appeared, he noticed me. When leaving, his eyes watched mine. I liked that. If you are that man, please get in touch. You wore a light gray tweed coat and a distinctive cap. Describe the cap. I’ll know it’s you. When: Sunday, December 1, 2019. Where: Flynn ˜ eater. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915133 FRIEND OF A FRIEND, WINOOSKI I met you last night outside Monkey House — you’re a friend of a friend I was meeting for drinks. I sensed your energy and was attracted to it, and to your kind brown eyes. We were with your two friends, so I didn’t want to say anything to make anyone uncomfortable. All I know is your first name, Weston. When: Friday, August 14, 2020. Where: Monkey House, Winooski. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915131 I STAND WITH PLANNED PARENTHOOD You were doing some balancing on your head (and some not) with an “I Stand With Planned Parenthood” tattoo on your ... cheek. I was playing Spikeball nearby; your friend returned the ball to me. I was probably getting hit by the ball as I was distracted by you. Talk reproductive rights over distanced drinks? I’ll get a matching tattoo... When: Friday, August 14, 2020. Where: North Beach, evening. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915130 SAW YOU WALKING BY DRIFTERS At 11:45, I was walking down North Winooski and saw you across the street walking past Drifters. We were both wearing masks but shamelessly looked back at each other. If only I hadn’t crossed the street a block prior maybe I could have asked for your number. How about a socially distanced date? When: Friday, August 14, 2020. Where: passing by Drifters. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915129 NORTH BURLINGTON DREADED BRANDY In late February we sat next to each other and chatted on an early morning flight to D.C. You were headed to KC for work. You: dreads, beautiful, smart, computer person. I would love to continue our talk over coffee or a drink or a walk by the lake. When: Saturday, February 22, 2020. Where: Burlington flight to D.C. You: Man. Me: Man. #915128

Dear Worried Lady,

I recently started riding a bike again after a very long time, and you know what? ˜ e old cliché is right. I still Th knew how to do it. Sex is just like that. Once you know how it works, you don’t forget. It may seem a little awkward ﬁrst, but I’m sure you’ll at fi get right back into the swing of things. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? ˜ e same goes for your lady parts. Imagine how exciting that ﬁrst time back in the saddle will be. I don’t think

CITY MARKET WINK! I was just stopping by for a snack, and a pretty cashier winked at me, and my gay little heart is soaring! I should have winked back. When: Monday, August 10, 2020. Where: South End City Market. You: Woman. Me: Woman. #915127

CANADA EX Chatted brieﬂy as you were walking your Portuguese/spaniel mix pup. I was eating lunch with my neighbor, a bit sweaty from working. Would love to join you for a dog walk and chat more. Haven’t seen you walk by again. When: Sunday, July 12, 2020. Where: near North St. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915115

GOT OAT MILK? I was wearing a blue face shield. You had strawberry blond hair, a black-andwhite top, and jorts. We were ﬂirting about low-sugar-content oat milk. Would love to share a glass and cook some vegan meals for you. ˝ When: Sunday, August 9, 2020. Where: Healthy Living. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915126

TELL ME SOMETHING Anne, I know you didn’t pick me all those months ago. I know why you didn’t, but all I want is another shot. You make me feel like no one has before. ˜ is is me asking you to pick me, pick us, because you’re the closest thing to magic I’ve ever found. When: Sunday, July 28, 2019. Where: Switchback brewery. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915112

CAN’T STAND THE HEAT? You once promised me another red-hot batch of your Mexican hominy stew — a shame you never got around to it. Give me a call if you ever do, and don’t be afraid to leave a VM if I don’t answer. ˜ e sultry timbre of your voice is a secret pleasure, and it’s almost as sexy as your smile. Light my ﬁre. When: Tuesday, August 7, 2018. Where: Le Creuset in your kitchen. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915125

WHEN WE WERE FOXES... Love, I wonder why are we in this quagmire? I wish I had remained wild like you; free. Every day I wait for you to come home to me, me alone; to stay. Please ﬁnd me again in our next lives. I’ll still be your vixen in moonlight awaiting your kisses sweet. Pull my hair and bite my neck so I know. When: Tuesday, July 28, 2020. Where: Plattsburgh. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915110

...WAFFLES... My World At Large feels too big without you in it. A warrior’s broken Valkyrie heart ... Your Queen is trying — the resistance makes me no better than a pawn. I’d Follow You Into ˜ e Dark, if you’d love yourself enough. It’s All So Incredibly Loud, Green Eyes. Remember that the Revolution is in your Mind. ˜ is is my last iSpy. When: Monday, August 3, 2020. Where: at ˜ e End Of ˜ e F***ing World. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915124

RAIL TRAIL ˜ ank you to the good-looking guy from CACR who ﬂashed me a handsome smile while saying hello and also for petting my dog. It made my day! When: Wednesday, July 22, 2020. Where: LVRT, Jeffersonville. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915108 LAKE CARMI I saw a blond woman in a rowing boat in rough waters in a black-and-white bathing suit keeping in great physical shape. I was ﬁshing. Too bad we couldn’t have been closer. Certainly would like to get to know her. I wonder if she has a camp on the lake. I have been renting at Sunnybank Lodge this month. When: Sunday, July 26, 2020. Where: Lake Carmi. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915107

TRACTOR SUPPLY IN MONTPELIER We were both looking for mower belts. Tried to help you ﬁgure out which one. You knew it was a Craftsman but didn’t know the model number. And the book didn’t even list part numbers for Craftsman! I tried to help, had to let you head off to customer service. Should have asked for your number. Kicking myself now. When: Wednesday, August 5, 2020. Where: Montpelier Tractor Supply. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915120 ITALIAN RACE BIKE, BURLINGTONCOLCHESTER BRIDGE Wow, talking to you made my day! Wouldn’t mind meeting you again. When: Monday, July 27, 2020. Where: Burlington bike path. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915109

A BRIDGE TOO FAR? Bike path bridge between Burlington and Colchester. You: on bike. Me: walking with a M/F couple. You appeared interested. I was. ˜ ere were geese. When: Saturday, July 25, 2020. Where: Burlington-Colchester bridge. You: Man. Me: Man. #915106

you need to be worried about dryness, but there ain’t no shame in the lube game. It’s best to be prepared for anything, so I’d highly recommend purchasing a few kinds from your local sex shop to try out solo before the big show. Having sex after a long hiatus may be even better than you remember. Don’t overthink it. Just go with the flow, and the flow will go. Good luck and God bless,

The Reverend What’s your problem?

Send it to asktherev@sevendaysvt.com. SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

I’m a bi-curious male seeking Bobby. I see your ad in the Personals, and I would love to hear from you. I can only text or call. I’m shy but a good listener. Open-minded and nonjudgmental. Contact me. #L1432 37 M seeks F. I’m a do-ityourselfer, sushi taco eater, nutrition enthusiast, Tuesday night bowler-ist, amateur thespian, butting libertarian, Bob Ross watcher, Emannuel Levinas talker, not much of a clubber, beer-drinking, poolplaying bocce ball thrower. Seeking same. #L1424

54-y/o educated SWF seeks SM for friendship, possible LTR. Enjoy walks, hiking, camping, good food, art, movies, travel, occasional concerts and gardening. I lean politically left and am environmentally conscious. Seeking M to have fun with, enjoy activities and conversation. Ideally you’re compassionate, emotionally intelligent, capable of healthy communication, responsible, and have a good sense of humor and adventure. #L1436 I’m a male, 58, seeking a woman, 58. SSS Skipper. I enjoy a woman who is not afraid to take control. Enjoy role-play, dressing up, quiet times at home. #L1427

I’m a 58-y/o SWF seeking a 55to 63-y/o SM. I enjoy all seasons outside, hiking, biking, skiing, riding, kayaking, gardening. Looking for someone to share good food and good books and travel. NEK. #L1435

Petite, attractive WF, 39, seeks bright, fit WM, 30 to 50, for friendship and lasting love. Politically liberal, personally conservative, homebody and globe-trotter. Loves cats, books, laughter and vegetarian food. Observing social distancing, so any friendship will evolve slowly. #L1429

Artistic/intellectual SWM, 68, possessing a wide range of metaphysical interests, seeks female companion for conversations, viewing good cinema, listening to classical music and taking walks in scenic places. A passion for literature, cats and/or the sea is a plus. I’m genuine, curious, creative and considerate. You are unique. I appreciate your response. #L1433

Me: man — successful, innovative, liberal — just finalizing several years of R&D; preparing to introduce my findings internationally; ISO long-term companion/ helpmate/lover. You: woman — friendly, intelligent, empathetic, adventurous; enjoy challenges, travel, sex. Driver’s license, passport required. All replies answered — USPS only. #L1428

HOW TO REPLY TO THESE LOVE LETTERS: Seal your reply — including your preferred contact info — inside an envelope. Write your penpal’s box number on the outside of that envelope and place it inside another envelope with payment. Responses for Love Letters must begin with the #L box number. MAIL TO: Seven Days Love Letters

P.O. Box 1164, Burlington, VT 05402

PAYMENT: $5/response. Include cash or check

(made out to “Seven Days”) in the outer envelope. To send unlimited replies for only $15/month, call us at 802-865-1020, ext. 10 for a membership (credit accepted).

PUBLISH YOUR MESSAGE ON THIS PAGE!

Submit your FREE message at sevendaysvt.com/loveletters or use the handy form at right.

We’ll publish as many messages as we can in the Love Letters section above.

Interested readers will send you letters in the mail. No internet required! SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

Internet-Free Dating!

Reply to these messages with real, honest-to-goodness letters. DETAILS BELOW. SWF in NEK, mid-60s, seeking SM. I am tall with striking auburn hair. Good health. Average build. Lying in a hammock watching the love of nature and the nature of love. Wanting to expand on the intimacy of another willing to partake in gradual knowing of each other. Someone of intelligence, interested in arts, science, hand-powered tools, nature, or surprise me. Living the life off the grid, in more ways than one. My skills and time spent are in furniture and chair repair, weaving, maintenance of household. Bicycling, kayaking, crosscountry skiing, snowshoeing, gardens. All reasonable responses will be answered. #L1426 I’m a 59-y/o GWM seeking out new guys for friendship and camaraderie! Outgoing, fun-loving and gregarious. Varied interests. Open to new social ventures. Value intimate conversations and close friendships. Let’s get together! #L1430

I’m a bi male seeking a bi or gay male. Enjoy reading, Scrabble, long walks and conversation, horse shoes, bench, 420 friendly, microbrews, scrabble, University of Vermont, psychology. Please write. #L1423 I’m a bi-curious male seeking a guy for summer fun, maybe more. Seeking age group 18 to 35. Need a guy to teach me the ropes. Really eager to try a lollipop, if you know what I mean. Write, please. #L1425 I’m a 61-y/o female seeking a male 58 to 62. I have had vivid dreams of someone named Mark. 58 to 62 y/o, tall, gray hair, kindhearted, active, honest. NEK. #L1431 38-y/o Plattsburgh, N.Y., man here. I am looking for a man my age. Reserved, happy man here, just looking for someone to bring some excitement to my life and complete me. #L1422 I’m a single WM seeking 65- to 70y/o woman to share mutual oral with. Retired physician. In my home or yours. #L1417

Describe yourself and who you’re looking for in 40 words below:

Required confidential info:

(OR, ATTACH A SEPARATE PIECE OF PAPER.)

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_______________________________________________________ MAIL TO: SEVEN DAYS LOVE LETTERS • PO BOX 1164, BURLINGTON, VT 05402 OPTIONAL WEB FORM: SEVENDAYSVT.COM/LOVELETTERS HELP: 802-865-1020, EXT. 10, LOVELETTERS@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

THIS FORM IS FOR LOVE LETTERS ONLY. Messages for the Personals and I-Spy sections must be submitted online at dating.sevendaysvt.com.

SHOP SAVVY AND KEEP VERMONT STRONG.

Shopping from home? Take a break from the big guys and support local first. Vermont merchants have faced mandatory store closures and other challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as some open back up, others operate online only. All need your support.

WITH GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM:

PICTURED: COMMON DEER, 210 COLLEGE ST., BURLINGTON, COMMONDEERVT.COM (JAMES BUCK)

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Visit the Register for all the info on area shopkeepers who are selling their products online for local delivery or curbside pickup. Browse by categories ranging from jewelry to electronics, outdoor gear to apparel. Whether you need something for yourself or that perfect gift for a loved one, shop savvy and keep Vermont strong. SHOP T H E R EGIS T E R .C OM SEVEN DAYS SEPTEMBER 9-16, 2020

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