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The Cabot Chronicle

June 2021 · 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 June 2021 pages (PDF)

Automated extraction, spot-checked. Advertisements, the business directory, and puzzles are omitted; obituaries appear as individual entries.

In This Issue

Henry Pearl

Well, the legislative session has zoomed by… (pun intended). It has been an interesting year to be a freshman legislator. The entire job has been completely remote and has presented both challenges and opportunities. Like many working from home, we have experienced our share of internet shortfalls and sometimes the comedy of errors that is involved in the zoom life. Barking dogs, screaming kids, and the ever so common “you’re muted, um I think you’re still muted…” that may go down as the most used phrase of 2021. I will say however, as someone juggling operating a farm and being a parent with also being a legislator, there have been some benefits of working remotely. The two hours of commute time is certainly time well used on other tasks, and the ability to pick up my boys from the bus or sneak out to the barn to check on a cow during the day has been extremely helpful. There is certainly something lost in the legislative process being in an all-remote setting, but, as with most things, every sacrifice presents opportunity if you’re willing to look for it. This year has largely been a learning experience for me. It takes a while to get the swing of how all the procedure and process works in Montpelier, and, if you’re like me, sitting in front of a screen is not the most efficient way to learn. I do, however, feel that I have a good grasp of how things work now and feel I will be well prepared to start next session with a good foundation. Much of what happens in government relies on relationships and common goals. Because there are so many people involved in the process, it’s important to be able to work well with others and find common ground, not always an easy task. As every session, there are many bills introduced but not taken up by committee. Many do get taken up but do not make it through the whole process to become law, and then there are those bills that do make it the whole way and end up on the governor’s desk. There are far too many bills for me to discuss here that have or will ultimately become law. Most of the work completed this year I was in agreeance with, but there were a few I felt I had to vote no on. You can find all this information and how I voted at legislature.vermont.gov. A few pieces of legislation that I had a direct hand in, that I feel are worthy of mention, are: S.102, an act relating to the regulation of agricultural inputs for farming, which primarily has to do with composting, animal nutritional supplements, and soil amendments. H.218, an act relating to the sale of unpasteurized raw milk, which updates current law to allow the sale of raw milk at locations off the farm like CSA’s and farm stands. And H.88, an act relating to certification of agricultural use for purposes of the use value appraisal program, which creates a better process for the department of taxes to keep landowners enrolled in current use. There is still much work to be done going forward, but I’m looking forward to summer break. Stay safe and continue to be good neighbors. Hopefully, we will all be seeing more of each other now that things are starting to get back to normal.

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for Cabot Farms and

by Lori Augustyniak,

This past year, COVID-19 has greatly increased a need and desire for a resilient community and local sources of healthy food. The Greater Cabot Working Lands Network (GCWLN) and the CCA Economic Development Workgroup* have joined forces on two projects that will expand economic opportunities for working lands-based enterprises, such as farms and food processors.

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CabotVermontGrown.org is a new

online directory of Cabot area food and farm businesses that will be previewing soon. And the natural extension of the directory is a full-fledged Cabot Food Hub to aid in the distribution of locally produced food products, including fruit, vegetables, maple, honey, herbs, nursery stock, meat, and more. These projects are sure to benefit local food producers and farms, and in turn promote tourism, outdoor recreation, sustainable resource use, and the aesthetic value of the working landscape. CabotVermontGrown.org and Cabot Food Hub will accomplish the these goals by keeping food dollars local and encouraging sales to Cabot residents from Cabot businesses.

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Why make a directory of Cabot

farms and food businesses? Allison: Agriculture is absolutely a key part of our local economy. The goals of CabotVermontGrown.org are to stimulate the local economy, highlight the amazing food businesses and farms we have in town, and help customers connect with their farming neighbors. The CabotVermontGrown.org directory will launch soon and provide residents and visitors a single web location to locate farms and food businesses in Cabot.

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Allison :

The onset of the pandemic really highlighted the importance of local food more than ever before, and gave us the push we needed to get this project rolling. The GCWLN has been talking for several years about designing a directory to help connect local producers to one another and to potential customers. The pandemic not only focused our committee’s efforts but compelled a few indi-

nine times a year and is provided locally

05647 ~ Published by the Cabot Community

express written permission from The Cabot Chronicle is contingent upon publisher’s approval and agreement claims based upon contents of advertising. Publisher does occupied by individual item in which the error appeared.

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Who can participate in CabotVer-

montGrown.org? Allison: CabotVermontGrown.org is for any farm or food producer. We invite all entities, longstanding producers with an established web presence, new farms, and everyone in between, to participate by creating a free listing. You might sell vegetables, dairy products, meat, maple, baked goods, pickles, etc. We will work with each producer to help gather the information needed to complete their listing and keep it up to date. We hope that the directory will be used by everyone in our community. If you are looking to learn more about what your neighbors are selling, or trying to connect with a business directly to buy their products, this directory should have the information you need.

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Grown.org online directory?

Allison: We are asking for farmers and food producers to sign up using an online form. We will follow up with each interested business to collect additional information and images. If you are a producer, please email CabotVermont

link to the online form or call 802-2794309 for a hardcopy.

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Where do you see this project going

in the future? Allison: We hope that CabotVermontGrown.org will encourage new connections and help us keep our food dollars local. We will continue updating and adding to the directory so that it stays relevant and useful. Down the road, we anticipate promoting the site to visitors and tourists, we may expand our listings to include some neighboring towns and we hope eventually the directory will include information on all Cabot businesses.

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Elizabeth:

The Cabot Food Hub will give our community convenient access to an increasing variety of products grown and made by their neighbors. It will simultaneously support our local producers to increase sales and share their products with their neighbors. The Cabot Food Hub will work closely with Faith in Action so that our Producer Partners will also have a regular and easy way to donate excess products to Faith in Action’s Food Share (see ‘Expanding Opportunities’, page 3)

free of charge.

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How does the Cabot Food Hub

work? Elizabeth: The Cabot Food Hub (CFH) will provide a website where our Producer Partners will list the products they have for sale each week and CFH Members can then purchase the products they are interested in online. The Cabot Food Hub then combines a Member's orders from multiple producers into one convenient pick-up on Saturday mornings in town. Producer Partners can choose each week what they’d like to list for sale based on whatever they have available. The flexibility of the online “cart” system allows farmers to pick/prepare only products which have already been sold online. Producer Partners will find the ease of distribution and payments takes less time and effort than preparing for a farmers market stand.

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Where do you see this project going

in the future? Elizabeth: This year will be a pilot program of the Cabot Food Hub, running July 1 through early October. After we’ve ironed out the wrinkles and polished it a bit, we hope to bring it back in the summer of 2022, better targeting our CFH Members’ needs and utilizing our Producer Partner’s products. We want the Cabot Food Hub to become a way to connect with neighbors by sharing what they make, supporting those who make it, and sustaining Cabot’s local economy! * The Greater Cabot Working Lands Network (GCWLN) and CCA Economic Development Workgroup* are programs

The GCWLN educates residents on working lands issues and promotes strategies to strengthen a sustainable, working landscape in Cabot. The Economic Development Workgroup initiates efforts to build a strong and resilient economy in Cabot. To find out more about these groups or volunteer, please

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Select Native Vegetation

for your Yard June is a good time to plant new landscaping plants as well as making plans for future plantings. There are many things to consider when selecting plants for your yard or garden. Water needs, light or shade tolerance, fertility, and soil PH, all need to be considered when selecting plants. Possibly the most important decision is to select native plants for your plantings. Native vegetation is most likely better adapted to the local climate and conditions. Typically, native plants will not outcompete other plants and spread uncontrolled into surrounding areas if left to grow unchecked. Vermont’s woodlands have too many examples of non-native plants previously used for landscaping that have spread uncontrolled. These include Bush Honeysuckle, Common Buckthorn, Japanese Barberry, Japanese Knot Weed, and Giant Hog Weed. Although these plants are no longer used as landscaping or ornamental plants, all these plants have spread widely throughout many areas of Vermont. Most of these have evolved into invasive species that are widespread and exceedingly difficult to remove or even control in Vermont’s fields and forests. Another concern is of plants purchased from uncertified nurseries shipping from out of state to Vermont. There is the possibility of unwanted hitchhikers catching a ride on the plant’s journey northward. Plants need to be thoroughly inspected before being shipped! Currently the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and parts of New York are combatting large infestations of Spotted

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Planning Commission Town of Cabot

With the information presented to date, The Planning Commission for the Town of Cabot supports the Cabot Creamery’s proposal to build a biogas generator. It will use byproducts of its manufacturing process to create renewable energy. This is the first phase of a multi-phase initiative to greatly reduce the amount of trucking required to dispose of waste-

3075 Main St.,

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THE T REE W ARDEN

Lanternfly, another invasive pest accidentally imported from China. The Tree of Heaven is the preferred host of the Spotted Lanternfly, an invasive pest of great concern due to its prolific spread. Both the Spotted Lanternfly and Tree of Heaven originated in China, so this symbiotic relationship is already well established. Japanese Barberry, with its many thorns, makes a perfect habitat for Deer Mice, which are known to carry Blacklegged Ticks that can transmit Lyme Disease. The Bush Honeysuckle plant produces fruit, but the fruit contains less fat and nutrients than native plants. When the fruit from the Bush Honeysuckle is consumed by birds, the birds do not get enough nutrients to help sustain long flights during migration. This cycle of cause and effect continues throughout most of the terrestrial invasive plants listed on the VT Invasives website. It takes extraordinarily little time reading through VT Invasives website to understand the importance of buying native plants from a local nursery. Choosing native plants may seem a little daunting at first, but there are many exceptional sites with native plant databases to do your research. I suggest consulting the Audubon’s Native Plant Database, The Native Plant Trust, or Ecological Landscape Alliance for further reading before selecting native plants for your landscaping needs. It’s time to get hands dirty and beautify your yard. Enjoy!

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Gary G. Bellavance

Gary G. Bellavance, 58, of Hardwick, passed away on Friday, April 16, 2021. Gary was born in Hardwick on April 18, 1962, to Laurent and Teresa (Morley) Bellavance. He was raised in Hardwick on Granite street with a large group of neighborhood cousins and friends to play the fun-loving games of days gone by. He attended Hardwick Elementary and Hazen Union Schools, graduating class of 1980. Gary earned a Civil Engineering Degree from Vermont Technical College in 1982. Gary was predeceased by his father, Laurent Bellavance. He is survived by his mother Teresa, sons Jason, Timothy and his fiancée Danielle, Randy and his fiancée Kalyn, their mother Rachel and

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Kyle M. deAlmeida

Kyle M. deAlmeida, 26, of Shrewsbury and Cabot Kyle M. deAlmeida, devoted son, brother, and friend, went home to be with God on Sunday, March 28, 2021. He leaves his loving parents, Sharon H. Connaughton of Shrewsbury, MA, and formerly of Ireland, and Peter J. deAlmeida, of Vermont; his loving girlfriend, Jackie Washburn of Newton, MA; his sister, Ashley S. deAlmeida of Shrewsbury, MA; his nephew, Mason deAlmeida; and Shea O’Conner, Kyle’s best friend who was like a brother to him. Kyle had so many friends, and was so loved by all his aunts, uncles, and cousins in Ireland, Australia, and the U.S.

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Helen Stone

Helen Stone passed away on May 18, 2020, at age 79. She was born March 18, 1941, in Plainfield, to Richard and Hazel (Croteau) Gokey. Siblings were three brothers and one sister. Helen spent most of her life in Marshfield, living on a small farm on Hollister Hill during her growing up years. She was educated in the Marshfield School system and graduated from Marshfield High School in 1959. She married Leland Stone on August 16, 1963, and enjoyed 45 years of marriage in their home on the Groton State Forest Road, Marshfield, before moving to New Hampshire in 2008 for her remaining years, to be closer to family. A son, Kevin, and a daughter, Kristel, were born to them. She was employed by the Twinfield School System as secretary from 1967 to 1986, and as bookkeeper for Twinfield and the Washington Northeast Supervisory Union from 1986 to 2002 when ill health forced her to retire. She was a member of the Marshfield United Church, serving as trustee on the official board, financial assistant and as church secretary for several years, and also a member of the church choir.

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EMORIALS

Born and raised in Framingham, Kyle was a graduate of Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School in Marlborough, MA. welder by Most recently, he was a trade, which he greatly enjoyed. Kyle had a passion for nature, hunting, and being in the mountains. Since he was a little boy, he wanted to join the Armed Forces; his drive and passion brought him to serve with the freedom fighters. He was brave and courageous and showed no fear. Kyle was a light in the room where his antics and sense of humor caused many a belly laugh. He was so proud of his Irish heritage and dearly loved his family in Galway, where he had lived for a number of years. Kyle’s life was cut short by tragedy and our hearts will never be the same without his smile. Arrangements by Britton-Shrewsbury Funeral Home, Shrewsbury, MA. Burial will be held at a later date. Survivors include her spouse, Leland Stone; son Kevin Stone and wife Kim of Grafton, NH; daughter Kristel Drury and husband Peter of South Royalton; a brother, Kenneth Gokey and wife Susan of Cabot, and a brother, James Gokey of Barre. She also has step-grandchildren, step-great -grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents, Richard and Hazel Gokey Lunge; a stepfather, Ralph Lunge; a sister, Norma MacIver; a brother, Robert Gokey. In keeping with her wishes, a private graveside service will be held in the New Discovery Cemetery at the convenience of the family. Contributions in her memory may be made to the Onion River Food Shelf, Marshfield, Vermont.

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NNOUNCEMENT

An adorably beautiful son was born to Cintia Lovo-Arias and David Pransky on Tuesday, April 27, 2021, at 10:18 p.m. Felix Lovo Pransky weighed 7.7 lbs and was 20 inches long. He has brought so much joy to the Pransky and Lovo-Arias family! David, Cintia and Felix will make Pransky Road in Cabot their permanent residence...much to the joy of Judy, Jaime and family. Cintia’s family, from Colombia, South America, will begin their visits in the near future, and we welcome them to our beautiful piece of Vermont to share in the love and joy that is Felix!

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Vermont Rug Hooking Studio, LCC

(formerly Vermont Floorcloths and Fiber Arts) new location at 3053 Main Street in Cabot www.vermontrughookingstudio.com The studio is open Friday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Come in to see Sandy at work in her studio, browse her collection of award-winning original rugs, shop her unique patterns, receive assistance with color planning, choose from her large selection of handdyed wool, pick up other hooking supplies, or sign up for an upcoming rug hooking workshop. We have three workshops scheduled:

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Entering Step 2 of Vermont Forward Plan

As we approach 15 months in this pandemic, we are all experiencing some form of COVID fatigue. While we may be inclined to become complacent and give up the fight, we are closer to being able to LIVE with COVID-19 now than we have been, and it is time to buckle down for just a little longer, do what is right so that we can all enjoy some more normal summer activities. The Vermont Department of Health is consistently posting more walk-In vaccination opportunities around the state, and I encourage you to visit their website at: https://www.healthvermont.gov or like their page on Facebook to see notifications about opportunities in the area. If you need a COVID-19 test, you can also visit their website and find times and locations near us. Most test results are returned within three business days, so if you have traveled, suspect you have been exposed, or are planning on traveling, you can do the right thing for yourself and others. As of May 1, we began Phase Two of Governor Scott’s Vermont Forward plan. Our COVID-19 numbers are trending down, the vaccination rate in Vermont is over 62%. Many businesses can open more under the use of universal guidance as defined by the Vermont Forward plan. This includes gyms, restaurants, places of worship and meetings of public bodies. While this also means we can get more people together, we need to still consider the numbers. Below is the Universal Guidance as presented by Governor Scott and his team:  Stay home if sick.  Wear a mask.  Ensure six-foot spaces and uncrowded places.  Practice good hygiene.  Think before you travel.

Respectfully, Jennifer Miner Emergency Management Director Town of Cabot WillowReignsNana13@gmail.com

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Road Commissioner Position

by Frank Kampf, Staff Writer The position of Road Commissioner was discussed by the Selectboard over the last few months. Back on April 16, Mike Hogan started the discussion by expressing his thoughts. He spoke at length and noted the board has been talking about the position for the past couple years. He noted that the current budget has money for the position, and the budget just approved by the town also has money for the position. The position would be 30 hours a week with benefits. He continued that some people are saying the discussions are because the road crew isn’t doing a good job, but he said that is not true. He summarized that the board is looking for more efficiency and better communications. He articulated that the board is not only responsible for budgets, but also making sure resources are available. The board also hires town employees. He pointed out that this would not be the first time that Cabot had a Road Commissioner. Currently the board, with assistance from the Town Clerk, is managing the road crew. Mike reiterated that the road crew is doing an incredible job. Mike then laid out his vision of what a Road Commissioner would minimally do: communicate directly to Selectboard; schedule weekly work; ensure detailed logs; monitor the highway budget;, analyze future needs; apply for grants on a timely basis; make sure all crew are trained and certified; monitor all projects and keep the board appraised; complete annual evaluation of the road foreman; be back-up driver; mowing and sidewalk care included; be fourth person on road projects; ensure all equipment is maintained; and attend Selectboard meetings. Ian Ackerman said he had a different take and doesn’t see why checks are not done by the Selectboard, rather than having a Road Commissioner. He noted the log work is already done by the crew, as well as truck maintenance and planning for future needs. He felt the Selectboard could handle some of it, although the backup driver would be something we didn’t have. He also suggested the mowing and sidewalks could be subcontracted out. He noted that mowing last year cost $10,000 and expressed that it all easily comes in less than $30,000. He mentioned the $30,000 could be used for the next truck. Fred Ducharme expressed that it does make sense in a lot of ways, the right person would be good. His biggest concern was the need for overseeing. Matt Nally added that it is very efficient and a cost savings to subcontract sidewalks and mowing. He further added that they need to have good communication among the highway department, the Selectboard and the Town Clerk. Ian then pointed out that if the board isn’t sure it wants to hire a Road Commissioner, then should they keep spending money to advertise the position. He noted that a lot of towns are advertising posi-

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CCA promotes their mission to enhance

is to empower Cabot residents to participate to cover select board and other meetings, able to attend. Most meetings during meetings virtually through Zoom are

tions and not getting applicants. Ruth Goodrich spoke as a member of the public, saying that it might not be bad to have another person than the road crew for the paperwork. She said there is a fair amount of paperwork from watching Karen, and then John, do the job. The paperwork could take time away from Michelle and Aldo’s other duties. She commented that when things are going well it's not a big deal. However, when they divided the duties over the last year, it didn’t work well. The discussion continued between the board and members of the public around the extra work, the need for communication, and the benefit of involving the road crew in some of the tasks. Mike then decided to pause the conversation and said the board needs to talk one-on-one in the next few weeks and come up with a final decision on the 20th. At the board meeting on April 20, the board returned to the topic of the Road Commissioner. Mike prefaced there had been discussions about the position in the interim and Ian has graciously been the liaison between the board and the road crew. He noted the last Selectboard was adamant about the need for a Road Commissioner, but he thought with the high profile of the road crew they just needed a person to follow up with everyday things. They really need a person on top of grants and major repairs. He speculated that it’s easy for things to be missed with the busy schedule of the road crew. He asked the board if they want to fill the position, since there is money in the budget for it. He also noted the position could be part time, ten to twenty hours a week. He recommended the board needs to decide because it just keeps “kicking the can down the road.” John Cookson expressed that looking at the qualifications, like needing a CDL, is too much for a part time position. Given the fundamentals of bookwork, tracking a budget, adding the needs for a class-A license is “going to be a hard sell at $25 an hour.” Ian proposed he could be the middle guy, but John retorted that he did the job his first year on the board and after a while it becomes a lot of time. Ian announced that he would be willing to try it for a year. However, Fred said he agreed with John, and if Ian was doing it, he should get paid for his time. Mike noted that Matt wasn’t there that night and that he would like to have his input also. The meeting ended without any decision. Then at the May 3 meeting, the subject wasn’t on the agenda. When the board got to “Other Business”, Ian asked about the Road Commissioner position. Mike responded that there were several things for executive session and that was one of them. Without any further discussion, the board entered executive session. At the time of this writing, over a week later, minutes have not been posted on the town website, so any action taken after executive session is unknown. the quality of community life for those in the governance and management for the purpose of keeping community this time of Coronavirus are available posted regularly on Front Porch Forum,

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Wastewater Plant Needs

by Frank Kampf, Staff Writer

The Town’s wastewater plant was discussed at the April 20 Selectboard meeting. Mike started the discussion by acknowledging that Betty Ritter (Town Clerk) is getting a list of wastewater and water needs for the town and it “could be very expensive.” Mike explained there could be multiple sources to pay for these expenses. Money could come from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Betty Ritter added to Mike's explanation by saying all the wastewater pumps are failing and need to be replaced, as well as the water pumps. “It will come to a tune of about $100,000.” The Town could put an extension on the wastewater building to put the waste tank inside. “it gets very complicated, but it would help cut down on what we have to have taken away from the wastewater service.” She continued by noting in 2017 the membranes got ruined when water got everywhere from the huge runoff. There was a meeting with FEMA, and they agreed to take care of the cost. But it got dropped due to other FEMA emergencies. She got a call last week from a person at the State of Vermont who helps towns collect money that they are due, and she said Cabot has some money coming to it. However, Betty did not know the amount, but expects it is a considerable amount and will help pay off the loan for the membranes. John Cookson recalled the board approved replacing the membranes at a

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Recycling Center Revisited

by Frank Kampf, Staff Writer The subject of the Recycling Center resurfaced at the April 20th meeting of the Selectboard while Green-Up Day was being discussed. Trish Cox mentioned that a while back there had been talk about Marshfield and other Towns using the recycling center. An article regarding these discussions was published in the February edition of the Chronicle, which covered the discussion at the December and January meetings of the Selectboard. John Cookson responded to Trish’s comment, “I will give you a brief update on that,” you cannot force another town to fund a recycling center, and the Town of Marshfield is refusing to pay. John summarized the previous events and discussions for Ian Ackerman, and Ian concluded that “Marshfield is refusing to

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Listers Not Budgeted Enough

by Frank Kampf, Staff Writer Head Lister, Jeanne Johnson, referred to an email she received when discussing the Lister’s current budget at the May 3rd Selectboard meeting. She said the email indicated the listers had only 186 hours left until the end of the residing, doing business, and visiting of our town. members informed about issues via Zoom for those who would like to or you can call the Town Clerk's office

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Maintenance

cost of around $33,000, with the belief that FEMA was covering the cost. Betty responded that the town has been paying for the membranes at about $600 a month for over a year. She said the amount will pay off the loan and there will be a little extra. She asserted, "Rest assured we are going to get reimbursed." The discussion then turned to the ARPA and the fact Cabot expects to get two pots of money. Mike explained that Cabot will be getting close to $500,000 from different sources, based upon per capita costs. Since the Selectboard is the administrating authority, the board must come up with a plan for how to spend the money. There will be guidelines and a reporting system. We're going to have to figure out how to push the information out. Maybe we will put together a study group. The town can’t put it toward deficits, and it must be somewhat COVID related or infrastructure. The board returned to the subject of the Wastewater Building at the May 3 meeting. Betty corrected her comments from the previous meeting and said that it's not the pumps, it is the alarms that need to be replaced. The board decided to defer the discussion until the next meeting. Mike was pulling together a list of projects and goals. He reasoned the money coming from the ARPA grants can be used for the wastewater maintenance. Without that money the cost would be passed on to the users. He said he was putting an article together for publication in the Chronicle on the ARPA grants.

pay because they’re dropping recycling here in Cabot.” At this point Fred Ducharme queried “didn’t we decide to send a letter to Marshfield giving them so much time and if they didn’t want to, we were going to cut them off by July 1st?” Mike Hogan responded “yea, I thought we did”. As reported by the Chronicle, the board had planned to draft a letter at the January 5th meeting. Mike stated that he wasn’t sure if they sent the letter. Fred recalled it was back when the board was working on the budget. Mike said they will check on the letter and commented that we probably need to wait for the next budget cycle. Trish followed up that she “didn't mean for this to be something to put town against town.” She had remembered it was something discussed in the past but didn’t know where it was left.

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Hours

fiscal year. She said she forwarded a list of the tasks the Listers need to accomplish in the next couple months, and by her estimate ten hours a week was not enough to do the job properly. Jeanne continued to explain that this time of year is when the Listers need to (see ’Listers’, page 11)

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By Karen Mueller-Harder

During the past year, while live theater remains hold”, Cabot Community Theater has been keeping engaged with virtual play readings and a video project with the Cabot Public Library. The library collaboration was created as a way to create a virtual “Story Hour” for families with young children, by having Cabot Community Theater performers read or act out books available at the library and posting those videos on YouTube. Not only does this provide some fun videos for the kids and give the “laidoff” actors something dramatic to do, but it’s also our hope that it will create some nice connections between the youngest members of our community and the theater group. When those kids see the story readers around town, or in a CCT show, they’ll hopefully feel they already know them, and perhaps want to get involved with community theater when they’re a bit older! There is more information about the Virtual Story Hour Project elsewhere in this issue, including a list of the videos and a link to the YouTube channel! And, over the past school year, CCT has been holding open play readings over Zoom, so people can keep up their acting skills! We have read Arsenic and Old Lace, Harvey, The Importance of Being Earnest, Much Ado About Nothing, One Man, Two Guvnors, Twelfth Night, Hay Fever, As You Like It , and several kidfriendly one-act plays. We have one more reading left in our “season”: Shakespeare’s classic “ A Midsummer Night’s Dream ”, quite appropriately on Sunday, June 20, though at 2:00 p.m. rather than

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New Mentor Program Coordinator

With Vermont leading the country in vaccination rates and some restrictions lifting, there is light at the end of this long pandemic tunnel. We look forward to being able to make new mentoring matches again soon. This difficult time has also been an opportunity to reflect on what is most important in our lives and, perhaps, to commit or recommit to activities that are most meaningful. I hope you will consider becoming a mentor as we emerge from pandemic-time. Joining a child or teen on their life journey is a wonderful way to be both a teacher and a learner. If you are interested in men-

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Update

in the middle of the night! We always love to have new folks join us--you can sit under a tree with your laptop or tablet and read a small or large role, or just listen while you knit or do some house or garden work. If you’d like to participate, email Karen Mueller-Harder at karen@praxisworks.org for the Zoom link. You can also invite non-Cabot friends and family to attend as well, even if they live far away (the silver lining of virtual events!) --everyone is welcome, and there are plenty of roles! You don’t need to have the script, as it’s available online at shakespeare.mit.edu Cabot Community Theater is currently exploring the possibility of holding our usual week-long summer theater day camp in person, outdoors, in July. No decision has been made by press time, so watch Front Porch Forum, the Cabot Town Bulletin Board Facebook page, and the July issue of the Chronicle for more info or contact Karen (email above) if you’re potentially interested in participating. And finally: what about Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? With the steadily increasing rate of vaccination in Vermont, we are hopeful that we will finally be able to perform the show during the 2021-22 school year! We won’t be able to quite pick up where we left off, after a year and a half, but we are excited about being able to rehearse together again! We will also need a few replacement performers, due to some cast members going off to college or moving away. So, if the pandemic has made you realize how much you’d love to work in a group to create something joyous, consider joining us when we can start up again! Watch for announcements, perhaps in late summer or early fall, in this paper, FPF, FB, and your local bulletin board!

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Clerk

To register a dog as a “ working farm dog” there will be an additional $5.00 charge. Please call the town clerk’s office at

are up to date, then you can drop off a check at the lockbox at the back of town

Cabot, VT 05647.

toring, you can start the process right now, and be matched with a youth once pandemic restrictions allow. What a great way to celebrate the end of the pandemic: make a new young friend, make a difference in their life, and have them make a difference in yours! To learn more, visit www.cabotmen toring.org or email cabotmentoring@gmail.com. As I begin my role as Cabot Mentor Coordinator, I’m grateful to Susie Socks for passing on her knowledge and for her hard work in strengthening the program so that I can step in with ease.

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Cabot School Principal

Over the next several weeks and months, I expect we will hear more and more about “recovery,” making up “learning loss” and returning to school full time. The focus of this narrative is often around skills and content that students have not received this year. There will be a focus on “making progress” and making up for lost time. But this time has not been lost, it has been different. We do not yet know the long-term impacts of this year on the emotional lives of our young people and our community. So, I thought I would share a couple of reflections that I also shared with our adult community in school. Learning Loss. A little over a year ago, Valarie Strauss of the Washington Post published a post written by Rachel Gabriel titled, “Can we please stop telling the ‘corona kids’ how little they are learning?” She went on to outline the many ways in which students are, in fact, learning even when they are not in school. This past week, the same author addressed learning loss. She noted that learning loss is not a lack of learning. Rather “It is loss of a previously imagined trajectory leading to a previously imagined future.” As a school, we will need the support of our entire community to rebuild our connections. It will not be as easy as simply coming back together or being in school more often. The importance of students being in school is not as simple as “learning loss” related to literacy or math skills. Schools are places in which students practice democracy. They practice listening and problem solving. They learn to play together, build ideas together, become independent thinkers, and empathetic people. As we look to the end of the school year, it is likely that there will be pressure to return to school full time, five days a week. Our students and our staff want this to happen, but we want it to happen slowly and thoughtfully. We often talk about establishing structures and routines in the first six weeks of school. In fact, there is research to suggest that this time is critical to establishing community, routine, and connection for students to learn. This work takes time and intentionality, just as healing from this collective trauma will also take time and intention.

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Healing will take time. This pan-

demic has caused (and is continuing to cause) far reaching disruption in our lives and particularly in the lives of young people. The path of finding our way back together is barely beginning. In mid-March, I shared the following thoughts with our staff community as we

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- Slowly

passed the year anniversary of our shift to remote learning. As we begin to see a light, I am reminded that it will take time for all of us to reconnect. I have been thinking a lot this week about how to acknowledge that year mark and acknowledge where we are a year later. But it has been hard to gather those thoughts because taking stock requires space to pause and reflect. It suggests that there is light in all the darkness. It has been a year since the beginning, but we have not experienced the end. I am clearly not the only one grappling with this milestone. This weekend, I listened to Anne Helen Peterson talk on NPR’s “It’s been a minute” about some of the same ideas I express here. I encourage you to listen (www.npr.org/2021/03 /10/975595327/our-pandemic-year) and to look to the poem shared on that program. As we begin to think forward to next year. I have started to think of the pandemic as one might experience chronic pain or illness. Having learned to live within the constraints, most days we manage to move through this new world with relatively little disruption. We wear masks, sanitize, maintain distance, and generally school, while not the same, is still a place of learning and laughter. Perhaps we have fallen into the malaise of this chronic condition, finding joys in the small things, trying to live in the moment. When that pain moves from chronic to acute, the adrenaline picks up and we go into "mode." Our team rises to the occasion and I could not be more impressed. But I also think we may come back a little wearier. So, while I know this is the time of year we start to look ahead and we are seeing many “postcovid” headlines, I am also aware that we are not yet “post-COVID.” At the end of this, when the pain has cleared and there is a marked end (rather than a series of endings and beginnings), I imagine us as if slowly emerging out of a fog, squinting a bit at this light, and needing time to adjust, sometimes feeling as if it’s not quite real. And at that point, that very end point, I think we will begin to mourn. At this time of year in schools, it is normal to be looking to the future asking, what will it be like when this is over. I imagine a post-COVID world in the fall when we will be able to start to grieve and to process the experience. We will be able to talk about memories of those we have lost, what was lost, and to begin the long journey through grief and to find our way back to each other in person. The question, now, is what we do in the meantime. other, the How do we sustain each caretakers, our students, and our community through this very chronic pain?

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Learning During the Covid Pandemic

This year at Cabot School was charac- Covid pandemic, here is a look at some of terized by learning, joy, and the outdoors. the learning opportunities experienced While a great deal has been written and by Cabot School students during this said about the challenges of trying to past school year. educate children given the limits of the

Skiing at Craftsbury gave students an opportunity to try out new challenges (and to learn to fall in order to get back up.) The school’s gardens have become a center point for learning. This spring students throughout the school helped prepare beds for planting, and high school students packed seeds to send home for planting with every student in Ms. Ferrario with students in an outdoor “morning meeting”; elementary students enjoying music.

Thanks to a neighboring landowner, the forest uphill from school has become a valuable place for learning: Here a student presents a forest mystery for her classmates to solve. “Crew” sessions have become a staple of daily life in all grades; for high school students it’s a time to connect, to learn about each other, and to work as a team. The theme is “We are crew, not passengers.” Students discovered the principles of area and perimeter before heading to the Preschoolers enjoyed forest to apply their learning. Chef Brock developing their mu- Miller and librarian Nene Riley have led sic skills; kindergar- students in growing fresh, nutritious ten students wrote food and in discovering new foods. Conand illustrated Hai- sensus on the fresh-dug parsnips: delikus as part of the cious! Red Clover Book Day. grades K-6.

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Saturday, June 26 - 8am - 3pm

Troy Built Rototiller Drill Press Bush Hog Old Dishes Flower Vases Rocking Chair Drop Leaf Table Students learned about microorganisms and stream health thanks to a partnership in Snow Boards science and outdoor education with the Siskin Outdoor Education Center. Middle Cream and Green Enamelware school students developed valuable leadership skills through a range of experiences, including canoeing. Wine Glass Rack Wine Glasses just to name a few

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Charlotte Foster-Fell Victoria Mayo

After a summer of work and travel, Blue Christensen plans to travel with AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps for  Aiden Morse ten months. He will then return to his fine woodworking job at Maple Corner Woodworks or attend a second year of Digital Media Arts at CVCC. Aiden Morse plans to pursue a career in computer science and business administration by beginning studies at the University of Vermont.  Charlotte Foster-Fell  Leo Parlo Charlotte Foster-Fell will attend Northern Vermont University, where she will pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts. She intends to become a K-12 arts teacher.  Victoria Mayo Victoria Mayo will be attending Tennessee Technological University, where she will pursue a degree in nursing.

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Aiden Morse Leo Parlo

Infamous for his inclination to fly by the seat of his pants, Leo Parlo hopes to rid himself of this predilection (not for pants, but for flying by the seat of them) when he attends the University of Vermont, where he hopes to pursue drama, film, and English degrees.

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Jonah Socks

After graduation, Jonah Socks will be working at a small, indeDanielle Reeves will be attending Bennington College, where she pendent, local business where he hopes to pick up valuable skills will focus on drama and film, while simultaneously exploring old related to business administration. He will then fill in the gaps at and new interests. the Community College of Vermont before starting his own bak Mekiah Smith ery and becoming wildly successful. Mekiah Smith is considering postsecondary work in environ-  Emmett Steinert

mental science and possibly graphic design at either College of the Emmett Steinert will be pursuing his interests in metal Atlantic or Sterling College. If she ends up attending College of smithing and blacksmithing at either Hampshire College or the Atlantic, she will focus on environmental science and graphic SUNY New Paltz. design or photography, and if she attends Sterling College, she  Alexis Tetrault will major in ecology and minor in draft animal studies. Alexis Tetrault is investigating furthering her education at

the Community College of Vermont while working part time.

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Cabot School Principal

Students in our high school learn incredibly valuable lessons in the use of technology- this year they’ve used those skills to create films, songs, and podcasts. Recently I asked several high school students to share their thoughts about their learning at Cabot. Here are a couple of those perspectives: “One benefit is simply the amount of time that we get to spend with our teachers and how well we get to know each other. Because we learn from them closely, often over the course of all four years, stronger trust develops between teacher and student. This leads to better learning… This is also the case with peers. A lot of the time, students in our grade have been going to Cabot just as long as we have (and if they haven’t they’ll fit right in), so we’re always a pretty tightly-knit group. This makes it more comfortable for us to come to each other for help, peer edit for each other, and be open to sharing ideas and working together- ultimately leading to better understanding, more advanced end projects, a more welcoming environment, and a more fun school day.” “Through our project-based learning, we’re able to develop skills that can be applied to our life after high school. In a Covid year, this could look like working together to research and design an entire website dedicated to educating one on celestial phenomena around a particular ancient culture , or maybe it’s putting together an anthology on the contributions of immigrants to America and at the same time learning to be open-minded and respectful to those who come from different backgrounds. On the outside these may seem like fun projects (and they were) but they’re more than that. They Students in our high bly valuable lessons year they have created films, and songs. Follow links to student work. full length feature reflective of our time. the Troubled Times or the Village Store.

taught us leadership, tive thinking, thoughtfulness, most importantly are we without those help us along the If I’d have to pick liked most about school, it would munity, the sense sense of being able thing bigger than If you’re interested ples of work done year, please follow for links to that work. school students have feature articles on time. These articles bled in a print collection Troubled Times”, available at the Cabot Harry’s Hardware.

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Wildflower Walk

school learn incrediin technology. This original podcasts, the QR code for They have written articles about stories Pick-up your copy of at Harry’s Hardware

finances, creaproblem-solving, professionalism, and teamwork. What who support and way? one thing that I being part of a small be the sense of comof belonging. The to create someourselves.” in seeing examby Cabot students this the QR code included In addition, high written full-length topics reflective of our have been assementitled, “These copies of which are Village Store or at The Cabot Conservation Committee sponsored sugar woods trail on May 8. Twenty-five people participated by Marshfield naturalist Brett Engstrom. The Conservation soring a bird walk in June.

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Cabot Historical Society

hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly." School was quite different in early Cabot. Once, Cabot had 14 school districts. As its population grew and moved, Cabot added or inactivated districts. Schools had to be within a student's two-mile winter walk. There were more farms and schoolchildren then, but no yellow school buses. Lunch might be a potato or oatcake heated by woodstove or fireplace ashes. There was no school breakfast. Teachers were strict in the 1800s. Students must arrive on time, address the teacher as "Sir" or "Ma'am", stand when speaking to the teacher, sit only when given permission, and behave well. There was a good chance the teacher would punish someone each day. Stern discipline continued at home. Proverbs 13:24 These in-school punishments were common:  Pegging - A student stood on tiptoe with their hair tied to a peg in the wall.  Blocks - A student balanced on a small block in a corner until allowed to step down.  Dunce Cap - A student sat on a stool in front of the classroom, wearing a hat with "dunce" written on it. Toes and Nose - The teacher drew a small circle on the blackboard, just above the student's height. The student stood with nose in the circle and toes against the wall.  Gender Swap - A boy was dressed in a girl's bonnet and forced to sit on the girls' side of the room. a wildflower walk on the Talbert in the walk that was led Committee will be spon-

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Days

Switch -The teacher had a firehardened birch stick or "big ferrule" to "regulate" students who misbehaved Less severe punishments included extra chores before or after school and writing repetitive "lines." Teachers "boarded around," changing lodgings often. They walked to school early to start the fire. At times, there were 30 or more students in one-room - all ages and grades. Older students helped teach younger ones. Everyone heard lessons for every grade. Women could teach only if unmarried. Teachers might be as young as 15. No marital restriction applied to male teachers; they earned twice the pay of females. Parents provided firewood, custodial services, wheat, school supplies, or paid cash taxes. Cabot's school districts:

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School Days

(continued from page 11)  District 2 - Center of Town or Danville Hill District 3 - Lower Cabot  District 4 - West Hill, Kimball, or Hopkins  District 5 – South Walden, Merritt, Rogers, or Smith  District 6 - Read or Boyle  District 7 - East Cabot  District 8 - Village  District 9 – No information found  District 10 - Southwest Hill or Burnap  District 11 – Walbridge or Foster  District 12 – South Cabot or Hookerville  District 13 – It never existed. Was 13 considered unlucky?  District 14 - Whittier Hill  District 15 - Petersville or Molly's Brook School was sporadic at first, about three months a year, subject to weather, farm work, and teacher availability. During epidemics of flu, measles, whooping cough, or smallpox, schools closed, and ill families quarantined at home. Cabot Plains had the first school, near the cemetery. In summer 1792, John Gunn became the first teacher. Before 1800, the log cabin school moved about a mile east, to escape winter winds. In time, up to 50 students were in Cabot Plains School. When Cabot moved its government to the geographic center of town, they built the District 2 schoolhouse. Vermont Historical Magazine wrote there were up to 90 students there. People nicknamed schools, often after a family who hosted a school in their home. When a school moved, its name changed. Other times, Cabot used a meetinghouse or built a schoolhouse. If the population of a district dropped too low, children went to another schoolhouse, until district population justified hiring a teacher. After 8th grade, Cabot students could attend academies in Danville, Hardwick, Barre, Montpelier, or St. Johnsbury. Many could not afford tuition, boarding out, and time away from the family farm. They began work after 8 th grade graduation. In time, most students "went on to school" after 8th grade. Over time, the one-room schoolhouses closed. Students traveled from the hills to the Village School. loss of the The richer intimacy curriculum of the offset one-room the

schoolhouse. Cabot started a two-year high school in 1909. The first four-year class graduated in 1920. A junior high started in 1916. Both Cabot Historical Society buildings were schools. Main Street Museum was the first Village School. The second-floor stage and paneled ceiling are remnants of the school. West Hill replaced the nearby Kimball School around 1886. It became a storage building after the school closed in 1919. In 1979, the town donated the decrepit building grant allowed to Cabot replacing Historical one wall Society. and the A

collapsed floor. Starting in 1996, David Book's Cabot High School heritage class researched furnishings for the empty West Hill schoolhouse. Students examined hundreds of pictures of one-room schools. Antique hunting found more than 50 old textbooks, slates and slate pencils, a washbasin, inkwells, a school bell, a water bucket and ladle, a pencil box, a lunch pail, a teakettle, and a box stove. Other acquisitions were a dry sink, kerosene wall-mounted lamps, a 38- to 48-star flag, and portraits of Washington and Lincoln. Interior renovations by the class included building a teacher's desk platform and a back wall bench-desk. The latter was the site of the school library. Students used blackboard paint where slate had covered the wall. Blanche Lamore said the last West Hill class planted the large pine in front of the schoolhouse in 1918. In 2020, an insurance inspector warned that the large overhanging branches threatened the roof. Both Roland Payne, senior and junior, pronounced the century-old tree healthy. Alexander Tree Service removed the perilous limbs and a dying birch tree. The historic pine is now asymmetrical, but lives. Cabot Historical Society has more information about early schools. See our Web page: https://sites.google.com/site/ histsocorg1/Cabot-Schools.

An Online Directory to Cabot’s Farm and Food Businesses

The Greater Cabot Working Landscape Network is excited to announce the launch of a new online directory to showcase local products . All Cabot food and farm businesses are invited to participate in this free

To have your business listed, please fill out the registration form linked here: https://forms.gle/KraKDG1GreT3gG8p9 We will follow up with you to build out the language, info, and images in your directory listing.

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Listers

(see ’Listers’, page 11) work four days a week, not one day, and the budget isn’t going to work. She felt that the Listers probably need at least three days a week to finish everything that is required by the State. Mike Hogan responded to Jeanne’s comments by pointing out that the current budget ends on June 30, and that each section of the town has their own budget. He continued stating that everyone must work within their budget, and sometimes you have to prioritize what you have left. He calculated that with eight weeks left, there is 15 hours a week to be divided among the three listers. Jeanne responded that the statutory obligations can’t be accomplished with that number of hours. Fred Ducharme wanted more information since he didn’t know anything about the statutory obligations. He wanted to know if doing the work would bring in more money for the town, and will it offset the costs of the extra hours. Jeanne explained that the town gets a payment each year from the State. However, if the listers “don’t do our homework, the common level of appraisal (CLA) goes out of whack quicker.” She continued by explaining that when the CLA is determined by the State to be too far off, the state will require another town wide appraisal. She continued to clarify that the listers need to download homestead decla-

deadline of May 17, that task is delayed. “We can’t send out tax bills until we get them and process them.” She further articulated that they are still “doing mop up from the reappraisals.” That task needs to be done before the listers can file the grand list with the Town Clerk. She also said, “the Current Use downloads from the State will continue to come in, if we don’t get that right it will affect reimbursement to the town.” She explained it is “very complicated and detail oriented, and subject to grievance delays.” Mike followed up by saying “downloading stuff takes minutes.” To which Jeanne said nothing takes minutes except recording veterans’ exemptions. She estimated that the listers need three days a week each until July 1, nine weeks from now. Matt Nally thanked Jeanne for all the work the listers do, and queried “what are the repercussions if they are not done?” Jeanne answered that they could file for an extension and extend the work another 30 days, but it is still going to be the same number of hours spread over the extra month. In the exchange, Matt said he was not suggesting they file an extension, and he was just exploring options. The conversation returned to the number of hours as Mike calculated two days a week, three listers and nine weeks would be 384 hours and there are 180 hours left in the budget. Mike wanted to know why the listers don’t prioritize. Jeanne responded that the list she submitted is a list of what must be done, and they do have other work. She exclaimed that Listers have worked extremely hard to keep their hours low all year but said last year that a budget of ten hours a week was not going to work. At this point in the conversation, Fred stated that he has to trust her regarding what she is asking, and Matt said that it sounds like “if we don’t allow them to complete their job,”” it seems like it will create a log jam to get the tax bills out. Jeanne clarified that it's crunch time for Listers because the state deadlines are in June and July, and a lot of the work cannot be done before May and June. Mike pointed out that the same work was done last year, and the year before, and Jeanne pointed out that the town’s District Advisor from the Tax Department advised the Town can expect to be cleaning up from the town wide reappraisal for a couple years. She noted that the only task they have an option for not doing is contacting property owners for improvements. The result would be that the town doesn’t get the additional taxes for the improvements. It also means the re-appraisal has “another strike” against it (besides the COVID-19 effect on the market), making it unlikely to last 13 years like the previous one. That was an $80,000 investment, an expense which will come up sooner for the Selectboard. The town won’t accumulate enough money from the State to pay for another reappraisal if it needs to be done within five years. The Selectboard discussed the amount of additional money that would be needed to cover an additional two days a week for the three listers and settled on approximately $4500, which includes payroll taxes. Mike said he wants to hear a compromise from the listers. He commented that the voters did vote in a particular amount, and every other part of the town could ask for more money. Ian Ackerman wanted to know if this is a normal budget, and Jeanne answered that the Listers had never been limited to ten hours a week before. Fred said he thinks the board must do this, and “I trust Jeanne.” He added that she isn’t “asking for the moon.” Matt echoed Fred’s thoughts, and he also acknowledged he understood the position Mike is taking. He felt that $4000 to $5000 isn’t a lot for the benefit that will come from the work. The board passed a motion to approve the extra money, but during the discussion the fact that the budget for next year had already passed was mentioned. When asked after the meeting if this same problem will occur next year, Jeanne explained that the Selectboard doesn't usually consult with the Listers on the hours needed to accomplish the job. She also noted that she has shaved everything possible from the Lister budget for three years in a row.

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Reading Challenge Today!

The sun is shining, the days are longer, it is time for our annual Summer Reading Challenge! Pop into the library to sign up for our "Tails and Tales" Summer Reading 2021 Challenge and pick up a reading log. We will have T-shirts and books to give out at the end of the summer! This year, you can also log your reading and earn badges online using Beanstack. What is Beanstack? Ask us for details!

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Morning Program"Tails and Tales"

We will host thematic Story and Activity Time for our youngest patrons on Wednesday mornings in July and August. From safari adventures to constructing bee hotels, these science and nature based programs will encourage exploration and critical-thinking, and how to do a bee dance! Our Family Fun Night Series featuring wildlife encounters, theater, sports, and more will kick off on July 7 and continue on Wednesday evenings for four weeks. All our summer programs will be held outdoors and follow public health guidelines, including maintaining physical distancing and wearing a mask. Visit our website for more program details: www.jaquithpubliclibrary.org.

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Back!

Don't miss our first Storywalk of the season, Otter's Love to Play by Jonathan London, on the nature trail beginning June 9! This summer, you can enjoy our ongoing "Tails and Tales" Summer Storywalk series, featuring animal and nature stories. Laminated pages are attached to stakes, which are installed along the Marshfield recreation trail. Storywalks are a delightful way for children and adults to enjoy reading and the outdoors at the same time! The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT, and developed in collaboration with the KelloggHubbard Library. Storywalk® is a registered service mark owned by Ms. Ferguson.

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Walk

June 12 (rain date June 13 ) from 11AM to 1PM Julia Pupko of VCE and the VT Entomological Society will conduct a ladybug information session and walk. Meet the Hollister Hill parking lot. Please preregister for this event: mothMasks are required as we are following COVID protocols. Sponsored by the Vermont Entomological Society.

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Tweens, Teens and Everyone!

Marshfield Story Project makes it fun and easy to interview your grandparents, siblings, neighbor or a local hero! The kit includes a Zoom voice recorder, instructions, two decks of Our Moments topic cards and two books to get the conversation started. Contact the library for details! We just added 200 DVDS to our collection! They were donated to the Jaquith Library by Joe Bookmyer, film Aficionado from Yonkers, NY. For new adult books and movies: https://www.jaquithpubliclibrary.org/ new-additions.html For new youth books: jaquithpubliclibrary.org/new-and-featured-kids.html E m a i l s u b m i s s i o n s to:jaquithyouth@gmail.com.

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Checkout our Makerspace Kits!

Did you know we have STEAMfocused Maker kits catalogued and ready for checkout? Learn about coding and robotics, explore how electricity and circuitry works, design and build a marble run, try your hand at calligraphy, build geometric shapes with play dough – and more! Supported in part by the Vermont Humanities Council.

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Cabot CVFiber Delegate

For Cabot residents and businesses fed up with slow and unstable internet connections, there is good news. The expansion of lightning-fast service to our unserved and underserved homes and businesses is accelerating, thanks to federal COVID relief funds, action by the Vermont Legislature and new measures taken by the Communications Union District (CUD) to which we belong. CVFiber, our CUD, has taken important steps toward building out a fiberoptic network that will bring high-speed broadband service to virtually all locations in town. The CVFiber board has approved issuing Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for design of the “middle mile” fiber system from which “last mile” fiberto-the-premises (FTTP) can be extended. “Last mile” fiber connections will bring you symmetrical (both upload and download) speeds of at least 100 mps (megabits per second). Most Cabot addresses have speeds of no more than 10 mps along with high latency – that irritat-

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Cabot Fire Department

by Chip Taylor Your Fire Department had four calls in April: Two were mutual aid calls for motor vehicle accidents in Marshfield on April 5 and April 13. One was a grass fire call on Porter Road on the 14 th , for which we received mutual aid help from Marshfield and Walden, and one unspecified call on April 20 w which was cancelled before we could respond. Note that mutual aid is a common theme on these calls and has been for many fire calls in the past as well. There was a time many years ago when fire departments often did not respond to fires and accidents in neighboring towns and did not request help from other towns. We are fortunate that this is no longer the case. Specialized equipment

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President, Cabot Ambulance

Cabot Emergency Ambulance Service is actively seeking certified and noncertified volunteers to join our team. As a volunteer service for over 50 years, Cabot Ambulance faces the same challenges that every volunteer organization experiences. COVID-19 has been impacting us all in so many ways over the past 15 months. We know that there are many new faces in town, and we want you to know we are here to help you, to provide care, and to give you a very rewarding volunteer opportunity if you are interested in joining our team. Our monthly business meetings are at 6pm on the fourth Thursday of each month and we encourage anyone who may be interested in joining our team to contact us, attend a meeting, and volunteer. As EMS providers, we recognized that there is still a need for more people

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Steps in Broadband

ing lag that causes your Zoom conferences and school classes to freeze up and interrupts your movie and game streaming with endless buffering. This high-level design phase of the CVFiber project will be supported by grants from $150 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds (also known as the COVID-19 Stimulus), passed by the new Congress, and granted to the State of Vermont. And both houses of the Vermont legislature have now advanced H.360, a bill that creates the Vermont Broadband Authority to allocate that stimulus money among Vermont’s CUDs. The COVID crisis, which closed schools, governments and businesses and forced children and parents to study and work remotely, brought home how indispensable fast and reliable internet service has become, and how devastating the internet deficit can be to rural economies. H.360 recognizes that fast, affordable broadband is vital infrastructure in the countryside, just as it is in cities, but that the state’s private telecommunications companies – in Cabot chiefly Consolidated Communications – have no financial in-

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April Activity Report

that a department does not have can be requested from another department, and additional firefighters for an incident can be a big help, particularly with so many members who work out of town during the day. So far, we have been lucky with just one call for a grass fire. And recent rain has helped a bit to reduce the danger. However, the risk is always there, and unless there is snow on the ground, a burn permit is required before you do any burning. Besides making sure that you will be burning safely, knowledge of a permitted burn saves us (and neighboring departments) from a response when someone driving by where you are burning calls 911 thinking they are seeing an unintentional burn.

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Service

to get vaccinated so that Vermont can continue to move forward in the reopening plan. In addition to the opportunities to register ahead for appointments to be vaccinated, the Vermont Department of Health is now opening many more WALK-IN opportunities statewide, and we encourage all Vermonters to get vaccinated. The membership would like to recognize the most recent AEMT to pass his National Registry AEMT cognitive and psychomotor skills testing, CONGRATULATIONS Sam Carpenter, who still runs with us actively when he is home. For more information on how you can support the service, please contact:

Vice-President

Treasurer Respectfully, Jennifer Miner

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Build-Out

centives to provide this necessary service in places with low population density. CUDs, which are not profit-driven, were created for this just purpose, and H.360 will channel public broadband investment to these municipal corporations beginning at once. “The Legislature has known for years that access to high-speed broadband is essential to our economic, educational and medical future,” says Sen. Ann Cummings (D-Washington), chair of the Senate Finance Committee. “ARPA funding has provided us with the necessary financial resources to make significant progress.” “This bill provides a Vermont, community-based solution to our high-speed internet challenges,” adds Sen. Ruth Hardy (D-Addison). More information about CVFiber and its response to the new opportunities created by APRA and H.360 can be found on its website, cvfiber.net. Or you can contact Cabot’s CVFiber delegate, R.D. Eno, at rdeno@fairpoint.net.

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Cabot Selectboard Chair

The Selectboard will be meeting in the next few weeks to work on a plan to utilize these funds. The State of Vermont will receive over $200 We would like to hear from folks on what ways million in monies through the American Rescue we can spend these monies that will help Cabot. Plan (ARPA), with those monies distributed to Towns are looking at using some monies to help towns and municipalities by population. Cabot their water and wastewater systems and broadwill be receiving under $500,000 to be used for band, to name a few. I am sure there are many needs related to the COVID emergency. I have others, so please reach out to all the Selectboard been attending meetings with the Vermont members. For more information: https:// League of Cities and Towns, who is coordinating www.vlct.org/resources/american-rescuethe information and distributing guidance to plan-information. towns. I will update the Town on Front Porch

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Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds

The American Rescue Plan will deliver $350 billion for eligible state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments to respond to the COVID-19 emergency and bring back jobs. The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds provide a substantial infusion of resources to help turn the tide on the pandemic, address its economic fallout, and lay the foundation for a strong and equitable recovery.

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FUNDING OBJECTIVES

Treasury is launching this much-needed relief to:  Support urgent COVID-19 response efforts to continue to decrease spread of the virus and bring the pandemic under control  Replace lost revenue for eligible state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments to strengthen support for vital public services and help retain jobs  Support immediate economic stabilization for households and businesses  Address systemic public health and economic challenges that have contributed to the inequal impact of the pandemic The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds provide substantial flexibility for each government to meet local needs—including support for households, small businesses, impacted industries, essential workers, and the communities hardest hit by the crisis. These funds can also be used to make necessary investments in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure.

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Cabot Virtual Story Hour Project

Elephant and Lucas Vitale as Pigby Karen Mueller-Harder gie Cabot Community Theater and Cabot "Saturday" by Oge Mora, read by GwenPublic Library have teamed up to record dolyn Hallsmith videos of some of the wonderful chil- “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maudren's books we have at the library, and rice Sendak, read and signed by the Virtual Story Hour Project is now Karen Mueller-Harder, followed by live on YouTube! We are posting videos teaching many of the signs featuring various CCT folks reading or “Rattletrap Car” by Phyllis Root, perperforming books for the community to formed by Wesley and Will Barlow enjoy--particularly the Story Hour “Thank You, Omu!” by Oge Mora, read crowd, but everyone is welcome! We by Ama Peyman have been posting a new offering each "Stars" by Mary Lyn Ray and Marla week, which we plan to do through the Frazee, read by Gwendolyn Hallsend of the school year. Here’s the link for mith the Cabot Public Library YouTube chan- “Caps for Sale” by Esphyr Slobodkina, nel, where you can find all the videos: read and signed by Karen Muellerhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/ Harder, followed by teaching many UCvqLuN8TcVW9w7RKhTbtOig. of the signs Current and anticipated videos in- “Owl Babies” by Martin Waddell, perclude: formed by Spencer, Lucas, and “Waiting Is Not Easy” by Mo Willems, Orion Vitale performed by Spencer Vitale as

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Cabot CCIF/UDAG Update

by Greg Burtt  We have started research into a few

possible investment projects for the  town. Generally speaking - recreation We have put together a committee based, enterprise based, and municipal again with four members so far: Jason based. The recreation projects are lookMonaco, Melvin Churchill, Alex Uning the most promising thus far. If all derwood, and me.  We started reinvesting the funds into goes plans well, to present we hope to the to town have by some the firm end

the stock market this last month. All of the summer. funds should be generating interest by the end of this month.  We reviewed scholarship applications

from Cabot students and will decide on awarding shortly.

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Local Business

(see ‘Local Business Matters,’ page 1) space at home that works well for a studio, and I wanted a space where people could visit and see my work. I am grateful to Jan Westervelt (the building owner) and the CCA for opening the space to me, and I hope my studio adds some colorful life to the other great things that are happening in the village.

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Designs that refer to your yarns’

“luscious natural colors.“ What else do customers say about your work and products? Alexandra: Even non-knitters are impressed that I hand-dye all my yarn. I don’t have my own flock of sheep currently, but besides that, my process is as old school as it gets. People that are “yarnies” are amazed by the spectrum of colors of my yarn, are drawn to it, and immediately want to touch it. Walking into my studio is like falling into a kaleidoscope. Recently a woman stopped in and immediately apologized that she did not know how to knit, but wanted to see what was inside. She was so captivated by skeins the and colors was she going bought to ask her a couple daughter of

to knit her a sweater for Christmas! What and beyond? are your goals for the summer

Alexandra: I want to get my book done. When my children are finally interested in my stories, I will probably be too old to tell them, so I am writing a book of my reflections of being a shepherd and including knitting patterns, hand-dyeing directions, and a knitting glossary.

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Is there anything else you would like

our readers to know? Alexandra: Ten years ago, I left Vermont to attend Seminary in Boston and then worked as a pediatric palliative hospice chaplain. Currently, I am an Elder Care Clinician with Washington County Mental Health and serve as the Chaplain for the Cabot Fire Department. I offer pastoral care counseling and trauma work and am happy to visit with anyone who might need some extra support.

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Vermont Rug Hooking Studio:

Sandy, tell me a bit about your businesses, Vermont Rug Hooking Studio Sandy: My business formerly was Vermont Floorcloths and Fiber Arts, but I am now focused on Rug Hooking and teaching. My new studio is open for people to see me at work, browse my collection for unique of award-winning patterns, original receive rugs, assistance shop

with color planning, choose from a large selection of hand-dyed wool, pick up other rug hooking supplies, or sign up for an upcoming rug hooking workshop.

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Sandy:

I have resided in Cabot most of my life and love rural Vermont living. Moving my studio to the village from my home offers customers more access to my studio, as many folks do not like the prospect of traveling up my hill during weather challenges! It also allows me the time to focus on my work without household interruptions. It is also a perfect location for individual instruction and hosting workshops.

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What was your evolution as an art-

ist? Sandy: I have been a fiber artist for decades. I began working with fiber arts as a child, and enjoyed knitting, crocheting, sewing, and quilting as a young woman. Twenty years ago, I was introduced to the art of rug hooking and I was “hooked.” After completing my very first rug hooking project, I felt the need to be more creative. For my next hooking project, I designed the pattern and learned how to dye all the wool I needed. That rug was featured in “Celebrations of HandHooked Rugs” in 2005. Since then, I have had five rugs featured in “Celebrations”. I have received several awards throughout Vermont for my hooked rugs, including “People’s Choice” Awards at past Hooked in the Mountains shows. In 2010, I began teaching fineshading rug hooking, and now teach throughout New England.

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Sandy:

My studio on Main Street is open Friday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. and my website is www.vermontrughookingstudio.co m . Alexandra and Sandy are eager to welcome visitors to their studios, so stop by to check out their products and wares. The third artist in residence at 3053 Main Studios is painter, sculptor and woodcarver Ken Klingler, and we will feature him in an upcoming issue. If you own or know of a Cabot business that you would like the Chronicle to feature in Local Business Matters, please contact us

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Wednesdays 1pm-4pm, Thursdays

10am-1pm and Saturdays 9am-noon. One person or one family pod will be able to come in together at a time. Call 802or email cabotlibrary@yahoo.com to make an appointment. COVID-1SIX precautions (mask, social distancing, and hand sanitizer) are required. Curbside library service will still be available Mondays through Thursday 9am-5pm and

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Outdoor Story Hour – Tuesdays -

10am-11am - Come celebrate the outdoors with stories, songs, crafts, and a short hike. Meet at the Cabot Rec Field shelter where there are six well-spaced picnic tables available. Dress for the weather! For everyone's safety, please call or email (cabotlibrary@yahoo.com) in advance, as space is limited. Masks are required for everyone over two years old, hand sanitizer will be provided, and social distancing will be practiced.

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Stories/Arts/Craft Activity Bags to

go! – For preschool families. Call or email to pick up your Activity Bag to go! Each themed bag has picture books, fun crafts with instructions and all materials needed, and lots of ideas for more Storytime fun at home. Currently we have

“Dinosaur” themed bags. Cabot Book Group - The Cabot Book Group continues to meet monthly, generally on the fourth Thursday of the month at 2pm. The latest four-book series, Farms and Gardens, is cosponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council, and folks will read/discuss Jane Bronx’s Here and Nowhere Else: Late Seasons of a Farm and Its Family via Zoom Thursday, June 3, at 2pm with scholar Gina Logan. Please call or email if you would like to attend, as copies of the book are available for curbside pickup, and all are welcome!

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Become a Magician!

Cabot Library for info on Contact the this self-guided course in which you will learn enough magic and performance skills to put on a FABULOUS 30-minute magic show with simple props found at home. Included in the course is a 30-minute magic show with Tom Verner and Janet Fredericks, using the tricks. Thanks to all who participated in our Dig it at the Library! program, submit-

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N EWS

ting their thoughts about a current favorite book and winning Dinosaur eggs to “excavate”. Read on for some of our young patrons’ favorite reads: Orion Vitale: The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich: “I like The Birchbark House because I get to know what they did before now. I’d suggest other people read it if they want to know about Native Americans.” Elliott Churchill: My Encyclopedia of Very Important Dinosaurs "It has lots of really cool pictures and lots of meat eaters. I like the T-Rex and the Ankylosaurus." Abe Breer loves books about dogs because they have a dog and Manny Breer loves books about dinosaurs. Simone Kulsick: The Littles by John Peterson. “My favorite character is the little sister, Lucy. My favorite part is when the big brother fights off a mouse. I like this book because I think the Littles are really real and live in the walls of houses.” Clement Kulsick: My Big Dinosaur Book by Roger Priddy “There’s a big T-Rex, a Velociraptor and ALL my favorite dinosaurs in it!” Anthony Gagnon: by Tom Watson Stick Cat

“Stick cat saw some of goose’s cookies – they raced to the cookies and knocked them over. Edith put hot sauce on his cookies, and he spit it out super-fast.” Tails and Tales – Summer Reading Program – begins as soon as school is out. Call or email to pick up your summer reading packet and win t-shirts and prizes! Check out our website at www.cabotlibrary.com for the latest info on upcoming programs. Email cabotli-

Ask about downloading audio and ebooks for free through Listen Up! Vermont and remember we have Wi-Fi in the entire parking area. hanks so much to Amanda and Matt Otto for all their help putting together Cabot’s first StoryWalk in the Rec Field around the Pavilion. Stay tuned for more! Much gratitude to the Library Trustees for their many volunteer hours dedicated to the library: Linda Gabrielson, Jeannie McCallum, Angela Ogle, Kurt Steinert and Beth Wade. Wishing you all the best, Kathleen Hoyne Library Director

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GOOD NEWS!

The Twin Valley Senior center will re -open to the public on JULY 7. We are working very diligently to put all the pieces of the puzzle back together again. The center will resume our schedule of three days a week. We will go back to delivering three days’ weekly meals to our homebound. Of course there will be some slight changes and signage that still will have to be followed. The brighter side is we can handle those changes with seating and signage. Some of the requirements will be for unvaccinated (confidential information) guest which will require mask wearing and six feet distance from others. Fully vaccinated guests may go mask free (if they choose) and there will be no distance requirements to follow. Signage also will be posted at the center to help as reminders of the rules. Without any changes in the guidelines from CDC from now until we open, TVSC will be doing no screening. We are asking you to be on the honor system in doing your prescreening at home. We are also asking each person coming to the center to please be on the honor system, if not for your own safety then please for the safety of staff, volunteers, friends and family that may attend the center. Know we anxiously wait for the doors to fly open on July 7.

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Transportation Available

If you have not been to the center or if you would like to start attending the center and do not have transportation,

twinvalleyseniors@myfairpoint.net. you want to come to the center 1, 2 If or 3 times weekly and need transportation, you can attend. We have free bus service to and from the center, providing the bus has easy access to your home and a turnaround space for the bus. I am here so if you would like to chat with me about coming I am here for you any Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You can be receiving meals at home and still come to the center and have your delivered meals also. After the long, long months of isolation, you should welcome attending the center with wide open arms!

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C ENTER

Twin Valley was fortunate enough to receive a donation to use in our Meals on Wheels area. With that we are making the front area (next to the road) an easier loading and unloading station convenient to the inside Meals on Wheels prep area. The volunteer drivers will have a much safer and easier area to load and unload their deliveries. When departing from the center, they will no longer drive their vehicles with meals and milk out onto busy US Route 2 in the front of the building. The large trees in the front of the building will be taken down, with nice shrub replacements. The existing porch will be revamped for easier loading and unloading access. New stairs have been installed plus, we will be erecting a much needed new Twin Valley Senior Center sign. All in all, we hope this spruces up the front of the building to be more appealing to everyone that passes the center.

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Help is Needed:

With the opening of the center and to bring in many healthier living classes, art and other form of activities, we need you. Even with the opening of the center we will need extra help in the dining area, kitchen area, back up drivers for vacation coverage, class leaders and instructors. We can use men and women volunteers. Won’t you please contact me so we can talk about what there is we need right away, what you as a volunteer might be interested in helping with plus, if you have talent and have some form of activity, healthy living classes, etc. I would very much like to meet with you as we open our doors. Previous attendees in our classes who would be interested in volunteering to cover our 10am Bone Builders class please connect with me as soon as possible as I would like to reopen our classes. You can reach

iors@myfairpoint.net.

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Mark your Calendar.

On July 7 th we will be reopening our doors. However, we will be busy getting the attendees to the center re acclimated with the routine. We wish we could have an open house for all community members at that time but, not knowing how many volunteers and help we have the Board of Directors and I decided that we would have the following Wednesday, July 14 th a bank up Open House for everyone. Stay tuned and keep an eye on your Front Porch Forum for forth coming updates to TVSC upcoming opening, bus schedules and yes OUR OPEN HOUSE WE HOPE COMMUNITY MEMBERS WILL PULL TOGETHER AND ATTEND.

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← From the Cabot Chronicle