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The Cabot Chronicle

March 2016 · Issue Record

← From the Cabot Chronicle

The community record for this issue of the Cabot Chronicle, extracted from the original pages. Reprinted with permission from the Cabot Chronicle.

Original issue: Download the March 2016 pages (PDF)

Text extracted from the original pages and checked for reading order. Advertisements, listings, the calendar and puzzles are omitted. Where part of a story could not be converted cleanly, it is marked and the full story is in the PDF.

In This Issue

Ice Out, or Ice In?

Jane Brown, Co-Chair of Joe’s Pond 29th Annual Ice-Out Contest

To say the beginning of winter this year was unusual would be an understatement. There have not been many years Joe’s Pond has had open water until after New Year’s Day, but it happened this year. There was a broad stretch of open water along the eastern shore of the pond that didn’t close in until the afternoon of January 5. This had more than one Joe’s Pond Ice-Out Contest fan asking seriously, “Will there be an Ice-Out Contest this year?” Still others were asking, only half seriously, “Are you going to have an Ice-IN contest?” Diane Rossi and I, who organize the contest each year, took a logical approach and assured people the pond would eventually freeze over and there would be very little, if any, impact due to the late ice-in; but secretly we admitted to each other it was a really unnerving start and we had to ask the question: Will it make a difference at the other end, and should we be prepared for the contest to end earlier than usual? We are prepared for an early Ice-Out if necessary, however, neither of us has any desire to oversee an Ice-IN contest, no matter what the weather does in future years. In spite of our worries, within a week after that strip of open water iced over, there were fishermen and snowmobiles on the ice. The following week, there were cars and trucks out there and the usual village of fishing shanties was in place by about January 25. The ice at Joe’s Pond was in “normal” depth range of about 14 inches at the end of January. Perhaps the most surprising of all was the number of Ice-Out tickets sold in spite of the crazy weather, and then a request by FOX 44 News in Burlington for an interview on January 18. We don’t usually do TV or radio interviews until late March or April, but the folks at FOX were wondering about the impact of the unusually warm weather, too. As luck would have it, the day Christy from FOX came, it was bitterly cold and snowing. There was no problem convincing her that winter had arrived at Joe’s Pond. The Ice-Out Contest was won last year by a lady in Connecticut. Her guess was right on at 6:14 p.m.. on April 29, and it earned her over $6,600. We expect this year the prize will be at least that much; every year the contest has grown. We hope to sell about 15,000 tickets at $1 each, and after expenses, we will split 50/50 between Joe’s Pond Association and the winner(s). Sometimes we’ve had more than one winner. JPA’s Ice-Out Contest sponsors the giant free Fourth of July Fireworks Display at the north end of the pond on July 3 – rain date July 5. Everyone is invited! You’ll find on our website, www.joespondvermont.com, a complete listing of outlets where you can buy tickets, or you can buy them on line. There are tickets locally at the Cabot Village Store and the Cabot Hardware Store, at the Corner Stop-Inn Shop in Walden and at Hastings Store in West Danville. You can also contact either Diane Rossi at 563 -6088, or Jane Brown at 563-2381, and we’ll see that you get your tickets. Watch the website for updates on ice conditions, and get in the contest. Good luck!

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Cabot Recycling

By Ben Davis, NEKWMD Cabot Representative

Cabot voters will have a chance to approve the Northeast Kingdom Waste Management District (NEKWMD) budget at Town Meeting. Because the NEKWMD is funded through the sale of recyclables and a surcharge on trash, the District budget does not require the allocation of any Town funds. Please check out the District’s report in the Cabot Town Report. Cabot will be expanding its recycling offerings in 2016, to include electronic waste recycling and food scrap collection. The NEKWMD already oversees a food scrap collection program for the Cabot school. Many Cabot residents choose to compost their food scraps at home, but know that an alternative will be available.

The NEKWMD will also be working with towns, including Cabot, to implement the State’s new battery recycling program. Batteries to be collected include the following:

• Rechargeable and regular alkaline batteries of all sizes (including AAA, AA, C, D, and 9 V)

• Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd)

• Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni- MH)

• Lithium Ion (Li-Ion)

• Nickel Zinc (Ni-Zn)

• Small Sealed Lead (SSLA/Pb) The full battery recycling program will be up and running soon. An expansion of the Cabot recycling facility is in the planning stages. The space will be larger and more items will be collected and processed. Look for this change sometime over the summer.

In the meantime, keep doing a great job of sorting and cleaning your recyclables. Because the items we collect are sent on to regional markets, keeping contaminants to a minimum is a must. Please rinse all food residues from plastic containers. Note that only plastic food containers with the numbers 1, 2, 3, or 4 are being collected at this time. Leave the small lids right on the containers to keep them from jamming the baler at the NEKWMD’s Lyndonville facility. Unfortunately, many plastic items are not recyclable and must be disposed of in the trash. Plastic bags labeled with #2 and #4 are now being collected for recycling. Unlabeled bags should not be placed in the plastic bag collection bins. Office paper includes white paper, envelopes, newspaper, magazines, and paperback books. Steel (tin) cans are collected separately from aluminum. Please clean food residues from metal food containers. A large roll-off container is open every Saturday during Depot hours for collection of all metals other than steel and aluminum cans. More information is available at the Cabot Recycling Depot located on Sawmill Road in Lower Cabot. Hours are every Saturday from 8:30 a.m. until 12:00 noon only. Recycling is free, and trash is collected for a fee.

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Tuesday, March 15, 2016, 6:30 p.m. Willey Building Meeting Room

Validation of Town Meeting, March 1, 2016

The purpose of this Special Town Meeting is to vote on the following Article:

Art. 1 To validate the action taken at Town Meeting despite the error in Town Meeting Warning. Shall the action taken at the meeting of this Town held on March 1, 2016 in spite of the fact that Article 3 (“To elect a School Board Member for a term of two years. [Australian Ballot]”)

Part of this story may be missing here. See the original pages, page 1 onward.

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PICK UP YOUR DAFFODILS ON TOWN MEETING DAY

If you ordered Daffodils from Cabot Community Association in support of the American Cancer Society fundraiser, they will be delivered by 1800FLOWERS.COM via Fed Ex on Town Meeting Day (Tuesday, March 1) to the Cabot School Gym. Although we have no control over what time they will be delivered, we hope they will be available during town meeting, and will be available for pickup until the polls close at 7:00 p.m. If you want to assure the flowers have arrived before you come to get them, or to see if there are any left if you did not preorder, call Jeannie Johnson at 279-6897. They are $14 per bunch of ten daffodils paid to CCA, who has already paid the American Cancer Society for the flowers. Thanks for joining the American Cancer Society’s efforts to raise awareness and funds for the fight to end cancer.

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CABOT TOWN MEETING Tuesday, March 1 ~ 10:00 a.m. at Cabot School Gymnasium Australian Ballot Voting 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Cabot votes will be counted quickly and accurately with brand new vote tabulating machines at Town Meeting.

Town Meeting Luncheon by Cabot Church: $7 for all you can eat!

See ad on page 6.

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COUNTRY COMMENTARY

The time for ordering all your seeds and getting ready for growing them in the south facing window is here. We start tomatoes by growing them in the window using last year’s seeds. Yes, we are seed savers. We save our bean seeds, squash, and tomato. We usually plant our tomatoes way too early, so they are tall and all gangly like teenagers waiting to become adult plants. We put them in the green house as soon as the threat of frost is gone, although being here in Vermont, no one can be entirely sure when that time is. It is fun to be planning the garden and ordering seeds. Sometimes we pick up some six packs or four packs of herbs and what not from Cate Farm. They are organic, and we have had good luck with the plants. I love thinking about spring, it makes for a lovely way to pass the time in the winter. Over a hot cup of chocolate browsing through a seed book is one of the most enjoyable pastimes for my partner and me. We discuss the value of one heritage tomato over another, each having different attributes. It may seem silly, but that’s one of the many things we do during the colder months of winter.

We bundle up in our wool and down and take walks that are often breathtaking, one, for the fact that there isn’t anything more beautiful than a snow globe day and, two, the deep cold oftentimes does take your breath away. Roof Raking keeps us in shape, and, boy, have my muscles had a work out. Thinking about spring gives us hope of longer days and more sunshine. How I long for those days of digging in the soil. I do like my winters, but spring is so new with the pale green of barely unfurled leaves on trees, and shoots poking their heads out from under a thin layer of earth. I love planting new veggies or berry bushes. We love our strawberries, and have a freezer full of fruit from this past year. Blueberries and raspberries make some mighty fine pancakes on those cold winter mornings. YUM! Muffins are fun, too. Baking is an ongoing thing at our house. Happy dreaming of warm spring days with the fragrant lilac gently aromatic on a warm breeze. In Peace and Love, Laura Lee Smith [email protected]

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Local Makers Repair Cabot Church Clock

By Paul Wade Last summer, the Clock Tower of the United Church of Cabot underwent renovations with the help of a grant from the Vermont Division of Historic Preservation and many local contributions. During the renovations, it was found that the tower clock also needed work, although it still keeps good time. An appraisal (paid for by a CCA grant from the Cabot Community Fund) from a Maine firm that restores similar clocks estimated $17,000 for complete preservation work. However, a group of local residents (Jan Westervelt, Richard Ducharme, Ron Bussolotti, and myself) undertook interim clock repair. The clock, built in about 1888, is driven by weights consisting of rocks in wooden boxes hung on cables with pulleys. Apparently, the installation technique was to build wooden boxes from the clock shipping crate and fill them with local rocks. The cables had slipped off their pulleys and one of the boxes was jammed, so that the church bell would no longer strike. Boxes of rocks were winched up so that the cables could be restrung and the weights could hang properly. With the cables restrung, the bell still did not strike properly – a gear rack, called the strike count rack, was worn and damaged. What do you expect after 128 years? An internet search found a source of replacement parts, but they wanted $675 for a reproduction part. Jan and Paul are members of a local Makerspace, The Foundry (TheFoundry VT.org), which meets at the Lyndon Institute Career Center and has access to a number of machine tools. Perhaps we could make a new part – with help from Tom Bishop, an expert machinist at the Makerspace. We measured the undamaged parts of the strike count rack, made a CAD (Computer Aided Design) drawing of a new rack, and used a laser cutter to make a copy in wood. The wooden one was used as a template to draw the pattern on steel. Then the steel was cut to the pattern using a milling machine – a large industrial tool. The new rack was installed and worked properly, so we took it back to harden it, since the original was hardened steel and we want this one to last another 100 years. It was finally installed in mid-February. Additional renovations to the Church are planned for this summer, so that the rest of the building lasts as long. Donations are needed and welcome.

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Zoning: Final Thoughts

By Gary Gulka Last year, there were 31 zoning permits issued by the Town, mainly for residential projects and structures. I asked our Zoning Administrator, Karen Deasy, two questions: (1) Of the permits issued last year, how many permits would have been required under the proposed zoning regulations? and (2) What additional requirements would there have been under the proposed zoning. Karen’s response was that seven of the permits would not have been required under new zoning, two decks and five storage structures. The only new requirement: About a dozen of these permitted projects, which are new homes or principal buildings on a parcel, would require a certificate of zoning compliance prior to occupation or use. The property owner would be required to notify the Zoning Administrator when the development project is substantially complete, and the ZA has seven days to inspect the property, otherwise the certificate is issued. The certificate of zoning compliance is something that the Select Board strongly supported for principal structures, like new homes, as a result of more than one situation in the past where homes were occupied without a functional septic system. So, it was added and yes, is a new requirement.

Reducing property line setbacks for structures in many of the proposed zoning districts and reducing lot sizes in the village and surrounding areas will give property owners more flexibility in siting structures. Expanded exemptions for small structures, as illustrated above, will lead to less regulation for residential projects. New exemptions specifically include one storage structure not more than 250 square feet, structures less than 100 square feet, patios and decks not more than 200 square feet and certain fences and walls - all of which would have previously required a permit. The Planning Commission put a great deal of thought into the zoning proposal, making numerous changes along the way, and feels it is reasonable, flexible, and much clearer than existing zoning. By re-writing, rather than patching up the existing regulations, it is very clear, both for residential and non-residential projects, which sections of zoning apply to a particular project and the process that is to be followed in reviews and approvals. This cannot be said about our current zoning. Should you have any questions prior to the March 1 vote on the content of the proposals, please contact Karen Deasy or me and we will be glad to discuss it with you.

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CCA Reviews Past Year and Plans for Next ~ Annual Meeting March 23 ~

The Cabot Community Association (CCA) is putting its mission into action, and we would love for you to learn more and join in the progress. The CCA Annual Meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 23, at 7:00 p.m. in the Willey Building. At this meeting, we will review the progress we have made over the past year and the plans for the coming year. We will also hold elections for the Board of Directors. Here is a preview of the activities we are currently working on and the initiatives we hope to address in 2016. The CCA staff and Board of Directors provide this review of the current activities of the group and the initiatives we hope to address in 2016. The CCA currently:

• Provides accounting and administrative staff assistance to numerous Cabot community groups.

• Continues to develop a town website to provide a portal to the community and businesses of Cabot. Check it out http://www.cabotvermont.org and let us know how you think this resource can best serve Cabot residents and businesses.

• Administers the Cabot Community Fund, which provides small

grants up to $500 to community based projects and events that further the CCA mission. The Cabot Community Fund is generously supported by the Cabot Creamery and other contributors. Application materials and details are available on the website.

• Manages community owned resources, such as the Bouncy House and Slide, sandwich board signs, and plastic fold-up tables. These resources are loaned to any Cabot event that benefits the community.

• Is working to create a storage space for Cabot community organizations. Items like theater sets and the ice skating rink timbers are currently stored in private residences, and sorely need a convenient, easy to access and safe space to store large and difficult to transport items.

• Is developing a strategy to assist local business owners succeed and thrive, which includes providing small businesses with an on-line presence through the CCA web site. In addition, the CCA continues to support the workgroups created during the community visit hosted by the VT Council on Rural Development:

• Cabot Agricultural Network & Youth Education Program

• Cabot Arts – programming and resources for artists

• Communication / The Cabot Chronicle – your community’s monthly newspaper The CCA welcomes new volunteers for all of our projects, including serving on the Board of Directors. Watch Front Porch Forum and The Cabot Chronicle for meeting and event times, or call the CCA office. There are also two brand new initiatives you might like to contribute to:

• ·Planning for Cabot’s economic future. Cabot village, like many small rural villages saw its economic heyday in the early to mid 1800s. Improved transportation and a changing economy have eliminated the commercial value of places like our village, resulting in deterioration in the commercial buildings. Although there are challenges, the village has a vibrant community center with services, gathering places and traffic – local commuters as well as tourists. Please consider joining this conversation as we seek answers to questions like – o What kind of economy will work for Cabot village in the 21st century? and o What businesses can we develop here that will thrive in this place?

• The community Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Registry is a list of equipment available to borrow to help while rehabilitating from an injury or surgery. If you have DME that you are willing to post to the loan list, please email the CCA with a list of the items and your contact information. A list will be maintained on the CCA website. The CCA works to enhance the quality of community life for those visiting or residing in Cabot and for those doing business here. We invite anyone from Cabot, and the greater Cabot community, who endorses this mission to get involved. Lori Augustyniak, Director of the Cabot Community Association, can be reached at cabot.community.assoc @gmail.com or 802-563-3338. Website: www.cabotvermont.org.

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OBITUARIES & MEMORIALS

Rod Clarke ·Award-winning journalist Rod Clarke, whose passion for his craft was exceeded only by his love of family, died January 25, 2016, at Berlin Health and Rehab. He was 77. Born January 2, 1939, to Joseph and Sarah Clarke. Rod was raised and went to school in Freeport, NY, where he was a standout athlete in football, wrestling and lacrosse. In 1963, "Rock," as he was known then, met Loretta Carroll, and after a whirlwind two-month courtship, they were married and embarked on a journey of love, affection and adventure; a partnership that would last until her passing 44 years later. And now it begins anew. Soon after the wedding, Rod and Loretta moved to Montana, then back to Long Island, finally settling in Vermont in 1965 to raise their family. In 1997, they re-located to Florida, but always considered Vermont, where he had spent his childhood summers, their home. He returned home in January 2015. He worked in print, photographic and broadcast media and was bureau manager and Vermont state news editor for United Press International (UPI). He also was official photographer for the Boston Red Sox Fantasy Baseball Camp, served as a political consultant and campaign manager, produced and hosted radio talk shows in Vermont, wrote, produced and narrated documentaries for a regional PBS affiliate in Southwest Florida and eked out a living as a freelance writer. As manager of marketing and promotional campaigns in Florida and New York state for the Cabot Creamery

Max U. Neumann Max Udo Neumann passed away at his home in Cabot on January 31, 2016, surrounded by his family. He was born October 13, 1939, in Frankfurt Germany to Ilse Schacht and Max Johannes Neumann of Artern.

Max came to San Francisco, CA, in 1959, the same year his sister, Heidi, came to Ithaca, NY. Max managed a parking garage, where he met many of the luminaries of the Haight-Ashbury era, including Jim Morrison and Georgio Armani. Max lived in Munich in the 1970s, and worked as a bartender for Trader Vic's Restaurant, where his passion for cooking and entertaining deepened. Max's father had been a purveyor of poultry and meat in France, Poland, Rumania and Germany, where Max learned to appreciate fine food and hospitality. As a child, Max traveled with his family to Morocco, Spain, Italy, London and Paris. He attended Dover College in the UK. As a young man, he traveled to Mexico, where he was a paid tour guide. Later, he spent some time in Chile.

Part of this story may be missing here. See the original pages, page 4 onward.

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From the Cabot Selectboard

In addition to the regular business that will be conducted at Town Meeting on Tuesday, March 1, Cabot voters are being asked to vote by Australian Ballot on several critically important Articles that will impact directly and significantly on the 2016 Property Tax Rate and on the future direction of Cabot. Your Selectboard asks that you vote yes on the following articles: Article 9 (Zoning Regulations) and Article 10. (Subdivision Regulations): The proposed regulations will replace regulations written almost fifty years ago and will significantly provide improved protections to Cabot residents by bringing our zoning and subdivision regulations into the modern age. Much has changed since the existing regulations were written in the 1970's, and we need to keep pace with the changing times if we are to have a full voice at the table when our regulations are challenged. The proposed regulations are far superior to our existing out-dated regulations, and if adopted by Cabot voters, will significantly help to protect Cabot citizens and our community. Article 11 ($180,000 Tax Reduction Loan): Regrettably, the 2015 town operating budget ended with a deficit resulting from an out-of-balance budget approved at last year's Town Meeting and less carry-forward from 2014 than had been budgeted. At the time the 2015 budget was developed, the Selectboard believed a carry-forward existed in the amount of $326,436 which unfortunately was not the case as confirmed by the 2014 external Audit. The 2015 budget, which we believed was in balance at the time we presented it to the voters, was actually out of balance by ($303,199). As a result of this error, 2015 ended with a deficit of ($91,833). If the voters approve Article 11 and authorize the Selectboard to execute a $180,000 Tax Reduction loan, the budget shortfall will be spread over three years thus avoiding a large tax increase in 2016. The 2015 Property Tax Rate was $0.5108. The estimated 2016 Property Tax Rate with the $180,000 Tax Reduction Loan included will be $0.5943, representing an increase of around 0.08 cents per $100 dollars. However, should the voters not approve the $180,000 Tax Reduction Loan then the 2016 estimated Property Tax will be 0.7014 or 0.19 cents per $100 dollars more than the 2015 tax rate. Rather than covering the 2015 deficit and out-of-balance budget all in one year, we believe it prudent to spread this over three years and that's why we are asking you to vote Yes to Article 11. Article 12. (Lockable Storage Unit at new Town Garage): Because bids for the town garage project came in higher than anticipated, the storage unit included in the original design was removed from the project. However, there remains a need for secure storage space at the new facility to store town highway equipment not currently located at the town garage. If Article 12 is approved by the voters, construction cost will be spread over ten years. Only $3,000 has been included in the 2016 budget to cover initial interest costs. Once secure storage is available at the new garage, storage space at the recycling center will be freed up to expand recycling operations and provide storage space to community organizations. Unrelated to Town Meeting but critically important for our community, Cabot's Five-Year Hazard Mitigation Plan is up for renewal in 2017. Work has already begun to write a new Hazard Mitigation Plan that is required if the Town is to remain eligible to receive FEMA funds in the future. Cabot received $700,000 for the Town Garage project because we had a FEMA approved Hazard Mitigation Plan. It is critically important that Cabot renew its Plan and we need as much community input as possible to best accomplish this task. Please attend a Hazard Mitigation Plan Work Session on Thursday, March 10 from 4:00 – 6:00 pm in the Town Hall to help develop the new Plan. Your input and active participation is critically important to this effort.

SELECTBOARD MEETINGS: The Selectboard meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm on the second floor of the Willey Building. Everyone is welcome to attend Selectboard meetings. Bernie Shatney, Ted Domey, Fred Ducharme, Jeff Gabrielson, & Jack Daniels

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School Board Update Act 46 Discussions

By Chris Tormey, Cabot School Board Chair

During the past two months, Cabot School administrators and school board members have met several times with their counterparts from Twinfield School and Danville School. The purpose of these meetings has been to explore ways that our Cabot School students could potentially benefit were the Cabot School District to form a new, merged school district with one or the other of these neighboring districts. School districts across Vermont are having these kinds of discussions as a result of Act 46, a law enacted by the Vermont Legislature last spring. Among the stated objectives of Act 46 is to improve the educational opportunities available to Vermont’s students, and the law strongly supports the formation of new, consolidated school districts as a way to reach that goal. The law requires that all districts across Vermont submit to the Vermont State Board of Education a plan detailing how that district proposes to meet the objectives of Act 46. The meetings held thus far with Twinfield and Danville are a first step towards developing that plan for Cabot School. Our focus in these first discussions has centered on what benefits for our students may be provided by a larger district, as well as potential challenges. We have decided as a board to prioritize the welfare of Cabot’s students in the early stages of discussion, rather than jump into the numerous details and logistics of a merger. In our separate meetings with both Danville and Twinfield, we’ve started our discussions by identifying the challenges we face at our respective schools, and have then tried to look at how combining into one district might potentially allow us to better meet those challenges. We’ve also heard from our school administrators about the program strengths they see at their schools; this has led into discussions about how the different strengths of each school might complement each other and benefit all students in a combined district. At this point in the process, we’d like to share with the Cabot community what we’ve found so far in these discussions about the potential benefits for Cabot students in a larger district with Twinfield or Danville. To that end, we have scheduled a community forum for Monday, March_________ (confirm date?) at 7:00 PM in the CSPAC building. At that time, we’ll review what we’ve gathered so far, as well as answer questions and get input. We hope that all interested Cabot residents (students, parents, and community members in general) will be able to attend. We’ll also post a summary of the same information we’ll share at the forum on the Cabot School website for folks who’re unable to make the meeting itself. Looking ahead beyond March, if we find that there could be significant potential benefit for Cabot students by merging into a larger district, we’ll begin as a board to look at the logistics and ramifications of a merger. If we decide at that point that the potential benefits are large enough, we will form a larger study committee to look more carefully at forming a consolidated district. If formed, that committee would include community members, school board members and school staff, and its purpose would be to draft a specific proposal for a merged school district. According to the terms of Act 46, any proposal for a new, consolidated school district would have to gain the approval of the Vermont State Board of Education and would also have to be approved by the voters of Cabot and the other towns involved by July of 2017. Should both of those approvals be gained, the new consolidated district would begin operating during the 2019-20 school year.

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The Importance of Being Earnest

By Karen Mueller-Harder

Cabot Community Theater proudly presents Oscar Wilde’s gem, “The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People.” This delightful comedy will be performed in the Cabot School Performing Arts Center on Friday and Saturday, March 18 and 19, at 7:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, March 19 and 20, at 2:30 p.m. Admission price is once again only $5/person at the door, or three items for the Onion River Food Shelf. This production features a multigenerational cast of local actors committed to excellent, affordable, inclusive community theater: Todd Jones, Cameron and Karen Mueller-Harder, Maggie and Marion Palmiero, Dick Payne, Ethan Socks, Lila Stratton, and Abigail Walker. Direction is by Megan Walker, with technical and other support from David Moody, Ellen Cairns, Lori Stratton, Susie Socks, Daria Babbitt, Cynthia Challener, Erik Mueller-Harder, and the Burke family.

This production is being staged as a benefit, with all proceeds from the performances going directly to local organizations which help so many in the Cabot community: the Cabot Fire Department, Cabot Ambulance, The Cabot Chronicle, Twin Valley Senior Center, and the Onion River Food Shelf. Admission is priced at $5, to be accessible to all, but we encourage you to pay more if you can, to support these groups in their important work in our community!

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FOOD SHARE AND FOOD DROP DATES

CABOT FOOD SHARE Wednesday,

MARCH 9 Noon-2:00 p.m. Wednesday, MARCH 23 Noon-2:00 p.m. Cabot Masonic Hall 3339 Main Street FAITH IN ACTION NORTHERN COMMUNITIES PARTNERSHIP INC. A Nonsectarian 501C3 ~ Who Is My Neighbor?

Available for Cabot Residents

MARSHFIELD FOOD DROP Second Saturday of every month.

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CALL FOR CRAFTERS & VENDORS

• REGISTER EARLY, SPACE IS LIMITED,

Registration fee includes… Reservation in the Gymnasium for Maple Fest

• Priority locations available on a first registered, first choice basis Free Group advertising for the event.

2 Tickets for Pancake Breakfast (special vendor seating at 8:30 am)

• • or call 802-563-3338 Vendor fee $25 before February 28 $30 after March 1

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Northeast Kingdom Warrior Soccer Club

By Michelle Delaney, [email protected], www.vermontsoccer.org/default.aspx

Spring and the time to play soccer will be here before we know it. The Northeast Kingdom Warriors is a soccer club that plays in the spring Vermont Soccer League and is comprised of players from Cabot, Hardwick, Greensboro, and the surrounding area. You can find out more about the Vermont Soccer League at: http://www.vermontsoccer.org/default.aspx. ‘We are a small club run by volunteers, playing at the recreational, D3 and D2 levels. Games are generally Sunday afternoons and practices are 2-3 times a week. Practice days are not set yet. Our focus is player development. This year, we plan to have U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, and U19 teams. (A U10 team includes players up to 10 years old, who do not turn 11 prior to August 1st.) If we have enough girls in those age groups, we will have girls teams, otherwise girls are welcome on our boys teams. U8 is a co-ed bracket for all teams. Team rosters are due by March 8. Our registration form needs to include a copy of your child's birth certificate. The Vermont Soccer Association uses this to verify age and then shreds the birth certificate. Spring soccer games are in May and the first two weeks of June. We will begin practices in the Cabot and Hazen school gyms as soon as basketball is done and gym time is available. The U8,U10, and U12 teams will play at Twinfield. The U14, U16, and U18 teams will play at Hazen.

Fees for spring soccer this year will be $135 per player, $100 for the 2nd player, and $85 for the subsequent players in the same family. This does not include a uniform. Uniforms will be purchased directly by parents. We would like to have a futsal team in the Capital Soccer League for each of our outdoor teams. In futsal, there are no U8 teams and U10s are co-ed. Futsal is $95 per player. We will also be submitting a women's team if anyone is interested in that. General information on the futsal leagues and game times for each age group can be found at:http://capitalsoccer.net/camps-clinicsprograms/indoor-leagues/league-info/. Please let me know right away if you are in for futsal, team registration is due in a week. League play begins February 27th, and practices will begin in the Cabot school gym as soon as basketball is over. To play this year, please drop a note to [email protected] to request registration paperwork (or call Jodi Lew- Smith at 472-5084 if you don’t use email). New player registrations (which need to include a copy of the player’s birth certificate) are due by March 8 and can be sent to Melissa Gardner at 972 West Hill Road, Hardwick, VT 05843, with checks written and sent to the CCA (Cabot Community Association) at PO BOX 245, Cabot, VT 05647, a non-profit that acts as our fiduciary financial agent. Please note on your check, or on a note attached to your check: the name of your child, or children.

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Seasonal Dangers for our Canine Companions

…and ending April 29th. Class costs: $144 for the 8 week weight station. Open gym users will need to schedule an If you would like a program built specifically for you, employees, members of the armed services, police, or fire By April Frost This year, our weather here in the North East has not been typical. Rivers and ponds are usually frozen over solid by now, some are and many are not. The fact that many are not creates dangers for our pets. If they were to try to cross a river or a pond that flows into a river now, chances are they would fall through the thin ice we have. This creates many problems, including being swept underneath the ice on rivers and streams with little or no chance of escape. Please, to prevent tragedies, keep your canine companions on leash, or, if they need to be able to run to get exercise, use a 30-foot nylon web training line. You can get them in a variety of sizes, from ones for toy dogs up to giant breeds. Be sure that you buy only the ones that have brass snaps not chrome. The long line should be made of flat nylon webbing with brass snaps. The reason I only use brass snaps is that they are stronger than the chrome ones, and they do not freeze up, which is why all the people with sled dogs only use the brass snaps. I never use a flexi lead, as they are very dangerous. I know many people who have had fingers seriously injured or amputated, as well as many dogs who have had toes amputated or small dogs’ paws amputated from using flexi leads. The use of salt on roadways and sidewalks is another danger to our pets. Not only can it irritate their feet, but if they are scratching near their head with salt granules on their feet, those granules can easily fall into their ear canal or eye. This is usually not noticeable until problems occur from irritation. Some pets will tolerate wearing dog boots, most will not. If you walk your pets through salted areas, rinse their feet off as soon as you get home. If you live in a rural rather than residential area, be aware that many animals did not go into the usual hibernation period this year. Also, it is rabbit hunting season, which means there will be both dogs and hunters in many areas. The season runs from last Saturday in September to the second Sunday in March.

April Frost Animal Visions animalvisions.org 802-563-3381

The beginning of this story may be missing here. See the original pages, page 8.

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Cabot Girl Scouts

By Cecilia Gulka Cabot Girl Scouts surprised the Cabot School community with a Random Act of Kindness on February 12. Under the guidance of their leader, Darci Herdling, (and with the help of several parents) the girls decorated 700 home made sugar cookies at their meeting earlier in the week. Then, with Dave Schilling and Alexis Kramer, the girls distributed packets containing two cookies (one to eat and one to pass on to someone else) to each and every student and staff member at Cabot School, with additional baskets going to the office for visitors and the Cabot Village Store and the East Calais General Store for patrons. Each gift contained the note: “Here is a hug from the Cabot Girl Scouts to you! We hope you enjoy it and can pass it on, too! A random act of kindness can change a person’s day, week, month, year, or life! Act kind every day and see how much you can do. Happy Kindness Day from us to you!” When the girls were asked about how they felt afterwards, one kindergartner said: “I feel like we made so many people happy, and now they will make so many people happy today, and maybe more days will be totally happy days, and it all started with us.” Well said!

If anyone has old crayons, any brand, broken or otherwise, that they could donate to our spring project, please contact Darci Herdling at 802-917-3882. The girls will be making bunny crayons for children in the local hospitals. Note: Girl Scout cookies should arrive by March 1. If you did not get a chance to place an order, don’t worry. We will once again have cookies for sale at Town Meeting and other locations around town. You can ask any girl scout you see, or call Cecilia Gulka 563-2284 to order some.

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2016 Warning Town Of Cabot

The Legal Voters of the Town of Cabot are hereby warned and notified to meet at the Cabot School Gymnasium, Cabot, Vermont, on Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at ten o'clock in the forenoon [10:00 A.M.] to transact the following business: HAUR polls will be open from 7:00 A.M. until 7:00 P.M.] Art. 1. To elect a Moderator for the ensuing year. Art. 2. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot vote to approve the minutes of the previous Annual Town Meeting of March 3, 2015? Art. 3. To elect a Selectperson for a term of two years. [Australian Ballot] Art. 4. To elect a Selectperson for a term of three years. [Australian Ballot] Art. 5. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot hear and act upon the reports of the Town Officers? Art. 6. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot pay its Real and Personal Property taxes to the Town Treasurer on or before November 17, 2016, with delinquent taxes having interest charges of one percent per month for the first three months and one and one-half percent per month thereafter and an eight percent penalty charged from the due date? Art. 7. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot elect all Town Officers required by law, according to law? Art. 8. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot authorize the Library Trustees to apply for and receive grants and gifts and to spend any grants and gifts received? Art. 9. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot approve the Zoning Regulations adopted by the Selectboard on January 19, 2016? [Australian Ballot] Art. 10. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot approve the Subdivision Regulations adopted by the Selectboard on January 19, 2016? [Australian Ballot] Art. 11. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot issue bonds or authorize a Tax Reduction loan in an amount not to exceed one hundred eighty thousand dollars ($180,000) for the purpose of reducing the 2016 Property Taxes to be raised, with a bond or loan to be paid off in 2017 and 2018? [Australian Ballot] Art 12. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot issue bonds or authorize a loan in an amount not to exceed ninety thousand dollars ($90,000) for the purpose of constructing an enclosed and lockable storage unit at the new town garage? [Australian Ballot] Art. 13. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot approve the sum of thirteen thousand dollars ($13,000) to support the Cabot Community Association (CCA) in 2016 for the purpose of supporting economic and community development efforts such as providing educational and marketing programs for local producers and crafters, and attracting consumers and visitors to patronize Cabot businesses, activities and attractions? [Australian Ballot] Art. 14. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot approve the sum of nineteen hundred dollars ($1,900) from UDAG funds to the Cabot Community Association (CCA) in 2016 for the purpose of supporting the Faith In Action program in Cabot? [Australian Ballot] Art. 15. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot approve the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) from UDAG funds in 2016 for the Cabot Community Association (CCA) for the purpose of repairing the steeple, stairwell and other interior sections in urgent need of repair at the United Church of Cabot? [Australian Ballot] Art. 16. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot approve the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) from UDAG funds in 2016 for the Cabot Community Association (CCA) for the purpose of retiring part of the debt for the Cabot School Performing Arts Center (CSPAC)? [Australian Ballot] Art. 17. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot approve the sum of $46,000 to support the Cabot Fire Department? Art. 18. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot approve the sum of $74,000 to support the Cabot Library? Art. 19. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot approve the sum of $20,000 to support the maintenance of the Cabot cemeteries? Art. 20. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot approve the sum of $15,000 to support the Cabot Emergency Ambulance Service? Art. 21. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot approve the sum of $500 to support the Cabot Senior Citizens group? Art. 22. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot approve the sum of $8,000 to support The Cabot Chronicle? Art. 23. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot approve the sum of $13,000 to support the Cabot Recreation Committee? Art. 24. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot approve the sum of $350 to purchase flags for Memorial Day? Art. 25. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot approve the sum of $1,000 to support the Cabot Conservation Fund? Art. 26. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot appropriate the following sums for the following purposes?

A. American Red Cross $ 500.00 B. Aquatic Nuisance Control Project at Joe’s Pond 1000.00

C. A.W.A.R.E. 750.00 D. Capstone Community Action Council E. Central Vermont Adult Basic Education 1,200.00 F. Central Vermont Council on Aging 1,600.00 G. Central Vermont Economic Development Corp 300.00 H. Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice I. CIRCLE 600.00 J. Family Center of Washington County 500.00 K. Friends of the Winooski River 300.00 L. Good Beginnings of Central Vermont 300.00 M. Green Up Vermont 100.00 300.00 2,900.00 N. Home Share Now 150.00 O. Kingdom Animal Shelter 500.00 P. Onion River Food Shelf 1,000.00 Q. Peoples Health and Wellness Clinic 100.00 R. Sexual Assault Crisis Team 350.00 S. Twin Valley Senior Center 2,000.00 T. Vermont Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired 300.00 U. Vermont Center for Independent Living 165.00 V. Vermont Rural Fire Protection Task Force 100.00 W. Washington County Youth Service Bureau X. Washington County Mental Health 1,600.00 Y. West Danville Community Club 500.00 Z. Woodbury-Calais Food Shelf 235.00 TOTAL $ 17,600.00

Art. 27. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot appropriate the sum of $1,133,300.00 to repair and maintain the highways of the Town including summer, winter and special treatment, of which an estimated $564,000.00 is to come from income and $569,300.00 from local taxes? Art. 28. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot appropriate the sum of $594,800.00 to defray the general expenses of the Town, with an estimated $263,400.00 to come from income and $331,400.00 from local taxes? Art. 29. Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot authorize the Northeast Kingdom Waste Management District to appropriate and expend a budget of $716,673.00, at no expense to the Town of Cabot? [Australian Ballot] Art. 30. To transact any other business that may legally come before said meeting. Art. 31. To adjourn this meeting. Dated this 2nd day of February A.D. 2016 Attest: Betty Ritter, Town Clerk 250.00 Jack Daniels, Chair Ted Domey Fred Ducharme Jeff Gabrielson Bernie Shatney Board of Selectpersons This Warning was recorded before posting, Attest, Betty Ritter, Cabot Town Clerk The legal voters of the Town of

Cabot are further notified that voter qualification, registration and absentee voting relative to said special meeting shall be as provided in 17 V.S.A., Chapters 43, 51 and 55. The deadline for applying for addition to the checklist is 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 24, 2016. The Town Clerk’s Office will be open from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on that day to receive applications for additions to the checklist. The deadline for authorized persons to request absentee ballots on behalf of absent voters is 5:00 p.m., Monday, February 29, 2016. You may contact the Town Clerk in person, by mail or by phone.

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FROM THE CABOT PUBLIC LIBRARY

Programs NEW! Playgroup – Tuesdays – 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. For children up to five years old, meet on the third floor of the Willey Building. Bring your own ride-on toy and snack, if you wish. Stay for Library Story Hour at 10:30 a.m. For more info, contact Casey Clifford at [email protected].

Yoga with Alicia Feltus– Tuesdays, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. Alicia’s training is Integral Hatha Yoga. She blends yoga, breath, relaxation, aromatherapy, affirmation & reflexology! All ages and levels welcome – contact Alicia for more info 802-563-3220 or [email protected].

Meditation Group – First and Third Tuesdays, March 1 and 15 – 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. Meeting on the first and third Tuesdays of the month. Daria Babbitt has been teaching meditation for over 25 years and will introduce different meditation techniques designed to reduce stress. There will also be time for discussion about various healing techniques and inner spiritual growth. This workshop is open to all and donations are gratefully accepted.

Tai Chi – Will Resume in May Cabot Old Time Contra and Square

Dance – Saturday, March 12 – 7:30 p.m. This dance series consists of monthly dances on the second Saturday of the month September through May. All are invited. Music will be provided by David Carpenter and the Hull’s Union Victory String Band. The dances are taught and are easily learned by young and old. The contra and square dances are traditional Vermont and New England social dances that have been danced for many generations. The music is provided by piano and an assortment of fiddles, mandolins, guitars, and the occasional surprise instrument. Musicians are always invited to sit in and join with the fun of playing traditional dance tunes. There is a small suggested donation to help cover the cost of the caller. For more info, please call David Carpenter at 802-426-3225 or email [email protected].

Community Book Group – Wednesday, March 16 – 10:30 a.m. Cabot Community Book group generally meets the third Wednesday of the month. This month’s selection is The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander. All are welcome to join in! Copies of the book will be available in the Cabot Public Library. Lego Exhibition – Saturday, March 19 – 10:00 a.m. Attention Lego builders, engineers, and artists! The Cabot Public Library will host a Lego exhibit, in conjunction with Cabot Maple Fest (9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. at Cabot High School). Bring your creation, and have some snacks while we set up the exhibition. Stay for the “gallery walk,” where you’ll have the opportunity to talk about your creation,. This is an allages event. All builders are encouraged. Teams work well too. Build an original creation using Legos, Duplos, or Bionicles. It is okay to use non-Lego things to enhance your creation…paper, fabric, etc.

Please make sure your work can fit in a space 18” x 24”, and 4 feet high. Or animate your Legos! If you’d like to share your cool stop-motion creation during the party, bring your laptop with RGB port for connection to the library projector, or bring your own device. Be creative! What can YOU build that no one has thought of before? Pieces will be on display for two weeks. Please plan to pick up your work Saturday April 2 (you may pick them up sooner). Questions? Contact Susie Socks, [email protected], (802) 563-2073.

Ernest Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition – Film and Discussion - Wednesday, March 30 – 6:30 p.m. With his expedition stranded for approximately 15 months and his ship crushed by Antarctic pack ice, Sir Ernest Shackleton and five of his crew embarked on a harrowing venture over unforgiving seas and glaciers to get help for the men that remained behind. 100 years later, using a replica boat and the same equipment and clothing as would have been used by the crew in 1916, explorer Tim Jarvis and his team attempt to follow in Shackleton's wake to unlock the secrets of his survival in the film Chasing Shackleton. We will view excerpts of this film and discuss the national best-selling book, The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander as part of the Vermont Humanities Council’s Vermont Reads Program. Although it is not necessary to read the book in advance of the program, we have ten copies available to borrow. Wine, cheese and light refreshments will be served.

Pathfinders – Fridays, 3:00 - 5:30 p.m.

The Pathfinder roleplaying game puts you in the role of a brave adventurer fighting to survive in a world beset by magic and evil! Join the group - all are welcome.

Pokémon Club – Saturdays, 9:00 a.m.

– noon All are welcome – bring your own cards if you have them, but not necessary. Call Ethan Socks for more info at 563-2073. Thank You! Thanks so much to Irene Harvey for her program on Garden Design, and to Casey Clifford for starting a playgroup. Many thanks to Carrie Anne Randolph for help with Story Hour, Susan Dineen, Linda Gabrielson, Beth Wade, Lorelai Bastress, Rose Houston, Mekiah Smith and Blue Christensen for their invaluable volunteer work.

Part of this story may be missing here. See the original pages, page 10 onward.

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TWIN VALLEY SENIOR CENTER

4583 U.S. Route 2 P.O. Box 152 East Montpelier, VT 05651 By Rita Copeland, Executive Director

From the Community Harvest of Vermont Gleaning program: Twin Valley Senior Center received in 2015 a total of 844 lbs. of fresh local produce and vegetables delivered right to the door. Along with this great program, which is done by volunteers going into the field and picking the items farmers do not want, we were privileged to serve fresh locally-grown food. We also have local friends and neighbors throughout the area who bring TVSC fresh fruit and vegetables. We truly are grateful to everyone who helps us feed our congregate and Meals on Wheels clients the best local grown vegetables and fruits. Remember, AARP is preparing taxes twice a week at Twin Valley. You must call 223-3322 to make an appointment. This service is to anyone that needs ordinary returns processed. There is no charge for the service, but Twin Valley is grateful for donations. If you have income from rental property, a business with employees, inventory, depreciable assets or expenses in excess of $10,000], those schedules cannot be done by the AARP tax preparers. They can handle capital gains or losses from the sale of securities or your primary residence if you have the cost or basic information. If you have questions about whether or not the tax preparers can prepare your returns, call the Twin Valley Senior Center office (223- 3322) and the preparers will return a call to you. Alert: There will be an American Red Cross Blood drive at Twin Valley Senior Center on March 12, 2016, drawing from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Supplies are very low and the American Red Cross needs your help. Twin Valley is hosting the Blood Drive on a Saturday to give each of you the opportunity to come and donate.

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From page 10

Twin Valley Senior Center is asking taxpayers of the six towns we serve to please support us at your local Town Meetings. We are asking taxpayers to make an investment in your local Senior Center. Seniors play a very important role in your town. Very little of Town Budgets are spent on our Seniors, yet they are a big part of your town today and even more in the very near future. During these difficult financial times, there is no doubt all nonprofits need help. TVSC is a nonprofit and we are no exception. Remember on Town Meeting Day your town's senior citizens who worked hard to make your town what it is need your support to have a place they can combat isolation, enjoy good nutritional meals, reconnect with friends and enjoy programs such as Bone Builders, while our home bound Senior Citizens can remain in their homes by having the same nutritional meals delivered to their door plus, someone doing a check on them. We at TVSC know that we fill the needs of these senior citizens in many ways. The center has a $132,000 budget with the paid staff being the Cook and Executive Director, consisting of 65 hours per week between them. A contract with the Central Vermont Council on Aging (State & Federal) money is 42%. This money is for transportation and for serving meals to the elderly which is just a fraction of the cost of the prepared and delivered meal. The rest of the budget is covered by 4% of your tax payer dollars from the six towns and many, many fundraising events. You are encouraged to purchase local foods, and TVSC is encouraging you to support your local Senior Center.

Thank you in advance Rita Copeland, Executive Director

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Town Meeting Request from UDAG Fund: CSPAC

By Chris Tormey, Chair, Cabot School Board

On Town Meeting Day on March 1, Cabot residents will cast votes on two ballot items requesting grants from the dollars accumulated in interest during the past year by the UDAG Fund. One of those requests is for $10,000 to pay off one-half of the remaining cost of construction of the Cabot School Performing Arts Center. The paragraphs that follow will hopefully serve to explain to Cabot residents the reason for that request. At Town Meeting of 2008, Cabot voters approved a one-time contribution of $75,000 towards the construction of a new performing arts building for the Cabot School and community, but only if an equal amount of $75,000 could be raised through independent efforts by August of that year. As a result of a variety of successful fundraising activities ranging from local concerts, silent auctions and fundraising dinners to direct contributions, that matching goal was reached. Over the course of the following 2008-2009 school year, students in a high school building class working under the direction of a number of local building contractors who donated their time, together with the efforts of over 40 community volunteers, managed to raise the roof and complete the CSPAC in time for a June 2009 grand opening. Since then, the CSPAC has served a wide range of functions for Cabot School and the larger community. In addition to providing practice, storage and performance space for the school’s dynamic music program, the building has hosted school-wide assemblies and graduations, community theatre productions, and evening performances by a wide range of visiting musicians. Had the CSPAC been built conventionally by going out to bid to construction firms, the price tag for the 2,800 square foot building would likely have run over $450,000, given the $170/SF rate that was typical for school building construction at the time. Instead, the large contributions of volunteer labor and discounted building materials held the eventual cost to $268,000. To allow the building to be finished on schedule, the Cabot School District covered the costs of construction. Since 2009, the debt has gradually been reduced by a combination of grants, fundraising, and the $15,000/year over 5 years’ contribution from Cabot taxpayers. To date, more than two-thirds of the funds needed for the CSPAC’s construction have come from sources other than Cabot property taxes: this includes $78,706 from grants and $85,896 from fundraising events and individual cash contributions. Efforts to secure grant dollars to pay off the CSPAC balance have continued over the past several years, but it’s been difficult because many prospective grantors will not support capital campaigns after the building’s been completed. We’ll continue working to retire this balance (which now stands at $20,812) in the months ahead, and have applied for a Town Meeting UDAG Grant this year as part of those efforts. Among the stated goals of the UDAG fund are to enhance recreational opportunities, provide community activities, and support the programs and activities of the Cabot School. We believe that the CSPAC has helped to meet those goals, and will continue to do so for many years to come. We hope that Cabot voters will vote this Town Meeting Day to use $10,000 of the interest gained from the UDAG Fund to help retire the remaining debt on this significant asset to our school and community.

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Cabot School Update

David Schilling, Principal

“We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.” -Dorothy Day For the shortest month of the year, February can certainly feel like a long, cold push. The warmth of spring is not yet in sight, and the winter rambles on. This particular winter, devoid of opportunities to get out and play in the snow, seems even longer than most. At Cabot School, however, we are fortunate to have experienced several recent events that show the love, care and safety that our community can create. On Tuesday, February 9, our elementary school was joined by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra's "Fanfare" brass trio. These three amazing musicians demonstrated true love for their instruments, and explained the history and science behind each instrument while playing beautiful music together. Our community was amazed by the big sound that could come from just three instruments. Two days later, grades 7-12 were visited by Detective Kevin Lehoe of the Hardwick Police Department and Matt Renaud from AWARE, who brought a powerful message on internet safety. This is a different, yet equally important, way of showing community love - empowering our youth with knowledge of the legal and social consequences of risky online behavior, as well as tools for helping friends out of potentially dangerous situations. At the end of the week, our community was given two more opportunities to show love and care for each other. Thursday, February 11, was our first Big/Little Husky buddy day of the year, in which students in grades 6-12 paired up with younger counterparts and spent the first hour of the day getting to know each other through various activities. This is one of the most powerful strengths of a multi-age population - an opportunity for our older students to be role models, and for our younger students to feel a true connection to the "big kids". EVERY student at Cabot rose to the occasion, and a great time was had by all. Our week ended with an exciting random act of kindness by Cabot's Girl Scout troop. These dedicated individuals baked and decorated over 600 cookies, and handed two to every student and adult on campus. One was to eat, and one was to pass on the kindness to another person. This gesture of warmth brought a smile to everyone's face. After spending a great Saturday with many of you, including grades 3-6 basketball, a spirited 8th grade fundraiser, and an impromptu karaoke party in the cafeteria, I remain energized and refreshed by spending time with your kids, and look forward to continued community love at the Cabot School. Thank you for your support.

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MARCH ABIES CLINICS

The Hardwick Veterinary Clinic will be running a walk -in Rabies Clinic for dogs and cats every Saturday during the month of March, 2016, from 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. They are located at 64 North Main Street, Hardwick, 472- 8400. The fee is $15.00. The Danville Veterinary Clinic will be running a walk -in Rabies Clinic for dogs and cats on March 26, 2016, from 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. They are located at 549 Route 2 East, Danville, 684-2284. The fee is $10.00. They are asking that, if you are bringing a dog or cat that has been previously vaccinated at another clinic, to bring in the previous certificate. You will still need to license your dog in the town where the dog resides. You will need to bring in the Certificate of Rabies. Cabot Town Offices are open Monday through Thursday 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

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ADVICE FROM THE TREE WARDEN

By Roland (Slim) Payne

It is Valentine’s Day, and as I write this, the thermometer outside reads -35 degrees at 7:00 a.m. Brrrr! Oh, well, the forecast is for rain Tuesday. The weather has sure been different this winter. Not much snow and only a handful of cold days. As I look in the woods, I see very little storm damage. That is a good thing, but it is not too late for it to happen. This is a good time to get tools ready for pruning fruit trees – should be able to start in about a month. We have trees already bought for the village, red oak and red leaf maple. I also took two maples out of the parking lot at the Willey Building and put them in my garden for the winter, so they can go back to the parking lot in June. Maple sugar people are busy tapping and repairing lines and getting evaporators ready. Some have had a run already, but some think it may not be a good season because of no snow or cold weather; time will tell. I ask everyone to go vote at Town Meeting – it is only two weeks away as I write this (you could make a difference).

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Tree, Shrub and Plant Sale

The 2016 WNRCD Annual Tree, Shrub and Plant Sale is now

OPEN! New for 2016: the inclusion of more plant species to attract butterflies, birds and wildlife, more locally sourced species and a larger variety of fruit and trees species. Download the informational brochure and order form on the WNRCD website: http://winooskinrcd.org/We would like to thank our

sponsor organizations for 2016: Champlain Valley Compost co, TD Bank, Cold Stream Farm, Engineering Ventures PC, Fecteau Homes and The Intervale Center.

Tree Sale Volunteers Needed!

On Saturday April 23rd to assist with distribution and on Wed April 20th to help sort and pack. For more information please email: info@winooski nrcd.org.

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