Volume 25 Issue 3 Summer ~ 2015 Free

by Joyce Marcel

There’s an old Jim Croce song that begins, “If I could save time in a bottle...” Well, you can, Jim. Or, at the very least, in a box.

Here’s the story. When a group of Dummer-ston family scrapbooks from about a hundred years ago came into the hands of Dummerston Historical Society’s Tom Zopf, he began to wonder how to save time.

continued on page 2

Lunch with Berniein Gitmo

By Will MurthaViews special correspondent Will Murtha, the fellow who has previously written about topics that have taken us away from our mundane lives in Dummerston to the far reaches of Iraq and Alaska, sends another story in about possibly one of the most unusual places on the face of the earth, the U.S. terrorist prison camp in Guantanamo, Cuba. Will has now completed his Naval Reserves obligation, and is enrolled in an advanced degree program at Yale’s Forestry School, and is doing an internship at the Environmental Defense Fund in New York City.

PETTY OFFICER MURTHA: REPORT TO THE SEASIDE GALLEY TOMORROW AT 12:00. YOU WILL HAVE LUNCH WITH A REPRESENTATIVE FROM YOUR CON-GRESSIONAL DELEGATION. YOUR NWU [NAVY WORKING UNIFORM] IS APPROPRIATE FOR WEAR.

RESPECTFULLY, HM1 HANEY

It was nearly midnight. Why was I receiv-ing the email now with little more than twelve hours’ notice? Could it be a joke? Probably

continued on page 11

Historical Society Plans to LaunchTime Capsule

Photos and text by Roger TurnerYou may have noticed that the Quarry Road was impassable for the month of June and a bit

of July while an old culvert was being replaced with a new one at the north end of the road. In the photo above, taken from the south side of Day Brook, Win Clark operates an excavator which sits in the new stream bed. Another excavator, operated by brother Archie Clark who stands at the far left of the picture next to employee Jesse Stillwagon, has brought this half of the new culvert over to the brook, and passed it off to Win. The culvert will be swung around and placed on the concrete walls, and bolted into metal boots which have been set in the concrete. This picture also illustrates the chasm that bicycle riders had to ne-gotiate when they pedaled up the Quarry Road with the intention of continuing on up to the East-West Road.

In the picture to the right, the new culvert sits over the old culvert, waiting to be placed on top of concrete side walls which were built in the Day Brook. The new culvert will enable the Day Brook to fl ow uninterrupted under the Quarry Rd, eliminating the three foot drop from the end of the old culvert into a plunge pool on the West River side of the road. Fish will now be able to swim as far up the brook as they wish. In addition to eliminating frustration for the fi sh, this project is designed to accommodate the greater volumes of water expected from climate change storms. The greater opening should also eliminate the possibility of debris getting crosswise to and blocking the end of the culvert, which has happened a couple of times in the past, resulting in road and driveway washouts. The project, funded by a $130,000 state structures grant for which the town had to contribute $13,000, was contracted to A.S. Clark and Sons of Newfane, who worked with Brad King Concrete of Putney. Roger Turner and Linda Rood had the longest detour of anybody affected by the project. Bob and Muriel Taylor, annoyed by people buzzing by their house then returning 90 seconds later (just about every time!), created the most signage to supplement the “road closed” signs put up by the town, hoping to discourage people who thought that their GPS knew better, and just kept going.

Road Crew Installs One Very Large Culvert

2 • SUMMER 2015 • Views of Dummerston

The Views of Dummerston is a quarterly publication of The Dummerston Community Center, and the citizens of Dummerston.

The steering committee for the Views includes: Roger Turner, Jody Norman-deau, Michelle Cherrier, Fred Lee, Jean Newell, Bob Sherwood, Sara Ryan, and Linda Rood.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: The Views is mailed free of charge to all Dummerston residents who are registered voters. If you are not a registered voter in the town of Dummerston, you may sub-scribe to the Views by sending a check in the amount of $5, made out to the Views of Dummerston, with your name and mailing address, to: Michelle Cherrier, 72 Miller Road, East Dummerston, VT 05346.

SUBMISSIONS:Articles: Please email to:

views@dummerston.com.

Please save as either “Word Document” (Microsoft Word), or as “Text Only”, us-ing Times New Roman font, size 10, in single-spaced lines, with no “all caps” or paragraph formatting. We also accept typewritten submissions sent to Michelle Cherrier, 72 Miller Road, East Dummer-ston, VT 05346.

Calendar: Email to Michelle Cherrier at views@dummerston.com, or by note to Michelle at 72 Miller Rd, E. Dummerston 05346

NEXT ISSUE:

Submissions due: September 22, 2015Mailing: November 13, 2015

AD RATES: All rates start in January and run for a term of four issues; the Views is pub-lished quarterly. A large or small box ad may be placed for one issue only at an adjusted rate. Checks are to be made payable to the Views of Dummerston.

Small Box Ad $55

Large Box Ad $85

Sponsor $25

To place an ad or for more information please contact:

Sara Ryan 387-0110

Dummerston Selectboard Meetings Recorded and televised by BCTV and online at www.brattleborotv.org. (Select “Watch”, select

“Watch On Demand”, select “Playlist”, scroll to “Dummerston”, select meeting.)

By Pam McFaddenTown Clerk

The 2015 tax bills were sent out the week of July 6th. The first payment will be due Thursday August 20, 2015. The offi ce will be open on Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to receive payments.

Important: Please remember that postmarks are not considered timely and although you may mail the payment check from Putney or Brattleboro, fi rst class now takes a minimum of two days for delivery. For guaranteed de-livery, please use Priority Mail or drop into slot by the front door.

Direct Debit tax payments are available. Please call the offi ce and we will gladly help

you get this set up. For those of you who have arranged to have Direct Debit, I will be sending out an email to notify you of the debit. If you have changed your email since last February, please let me know. I can be reached at town-clerk@dummerston.org.

Credit cards may be accepted through Of-fi cial Payments. There is a three (3) percent administration fee to use their service. Please go to www.offi cialpayments.com for details. In order to use their service, you will need to use the SPAN number on your tax bill. That number can be found in the upper right hand corner and begins with 186-059-….. The town identifi ca-tion number for Dummerston is #5512. I am available to answer questions concerning this so don’t hesitate to contact me at the offi ce.

Town Clerk’s Desk

Options For Paying Taxes

continued from page 1“In the past, they would take clippings from

newspapers about what was happening in their community—funerals, weddings, ceremonies, what’s going on in the school,” Zopf said. “Looking at these scrapbooks gives us a very good picture of what daily life was like back then. But this keeping of scrapbooks must have stopped a long time ago.”

Zopf’s idea was that the historical society should begin keeping a record of daily Dum-merston life. But the record should be contem-porary—it should start with the year 2015. To do this, he enlisted Jane Noyes and myself.

“My thought was to record history as it hap-pens, instead of trying to fi nd out after the fact what was going on at that time,” Zopf said. “As a historical society, we should become historians. We should let other people know about our history. The best way to do that is to let people know what’s happening now, so people in the future would know what’s hap-pening in 2015.”

Zopf bought a box, and in it we’re beginning to collect the “scrapbook” kind of things that refl ect our town’s daily life:

Copies of the Views of Dummerston, of course.

Land sales, possibly including photos of structures.

Perhaps interviews with new residents.Grange supper menus.Newspaper clippings about Dummerston

from The Commons and the Brattleboro Reformer.

The Dummerston Town Report.Selectboard minutes. School board minutes.

Minutes of other town committees.Newsletters from the Grange, Solarize

Dummerston, the Historical Society, the library.

Programs from Dummerston events like the Memorial Day celebration and the theater groups who perform on the Grange stage.

Notes from the Apple Pie Festival.Reports on different types of agriculture,

CSAs, produce, maple syrup production.Posters that pop up on bulletin boards.Other local activities and etc. etc. etc.“We need volunteers to collect this kind of

material,” Zopf said. “At the end of the year we’d have a whole box full of what’s going on, what were we doing, what were our livelihoods. And we’d just save that. And if we do it every year, after a while we’d have a good resource.”

School children could benefi t from partici-pating in this project.

“By getting involved, we learn about the importance of history,” Zopf said. “And we’ll discover things about our community that we might have overlooked if we weren’t thinking of it from a historical perspective.”

If you have an idea about something we should save that we haven’t thought of, or if you want to help, call Tom Zopf at 490-2562. Help us fi ll the box.

C O R R E C T I O NIn the spring issue of the Views calendar we incorrectly stated the due date for the fi rst payment of property taxes. The correct due date is August 20.

Historical Society Plans to LaunchTime Capsule

Views of Dummerston • SUMMER, 2015 • 3

Selectboard

Selectboard Welcomes Wilson, ReorganizesBy Gurudharm Khalsa

To the profound relief of all bored members, the smoking guns in the valley, the skinny dippers from the northwestern edge, and ram-paging bears from the western highlands did NOT come before the selectboard. The spring meetings passed without any fang and claw controversies, but the benign tranquility on the televised surface is belied by the fear that discord and division could break out at any moment should any actual town denizens show up at the meetings.

But the fear factor is lessened by new mem-ber Jerelyn Wilson coming on board, and when the selectboard reorganized its offi cers, Zeke Goodband was reelected as chair by popular demand, Joe Cook became vice-chair, and yours truly assumed the duty of clerk. All board members, except for the author, take absolutely no responsibility and will deny all foreknowledge of this article.

The selectboard fulfi lled its responsibility to appoint or reappoint committee members and town offi cers for this year; for example God-

frey Renaud as tree warden, Lee Chamberlin as road foreman, Laurie Frechette as selectboard assistant, Zeke Goodband and Wayne Emery as animal control offi cers, and Dawn Hub-bard as the town’s emergency management director. It took a special town meeting to appoint the town treasurer to act as collector of current taxes per state statue. For all those who willingly serve on the town committees and commissions, thank you, and be glad that you were not mentioned.

The Prospect Hill pasture trustees were reorganized to include all fi ve members of the Selectboard plus fi ve community members: Mary Lou Schmidt, Elizabeth Catlin, Betsy Whittaker, Ed Anthes, and Cheryl Wilfong. The trustees are actively pursuing ways to stop the spread of invasive plants on the sum-mit of Prospect Hill, lest the crowning view be lost. The intent is to restore the expansive vista at the top, by removing foreign intruders and maintaining the summit as a mountain meadow. I have nothing against climax forests, but lowbush blueberry is a perennial favorite of mine. Dummerstonians do love their views.

Each and every board member had a good say so in the goals for the year, and rather then enumerate these lofty ideals, they can be found on the town website in the select-board minutes section. Finding this minu-tiae is a good internet search exercise for all town news junkies. You can also just type in: http://dummerston.org/townclerk/sb-minutes/GOALS2015.PDF

Despite the lack of juicy controversies, the rubber will hit the road when the new dump truck, which was awarded to Patriot Motors to the tune of $82,668, hits the new pavement that was contracted to Vermont Roadworks at $70.86 per ton to skim and overlay a portion of Middle Road and School House Road.

The selectboard took bold action to repaint the community center white. The $11,800 job was awarded to Momaney Painters. Moe chas-tised the board for lack of exact specifi cations, but he made up for the lacunae with a detailed bid. When the ladders go up, raise a cheer.

In an effort to lure the villagers of West Dummerston to attend a selectboard meet-ing, the May 13th meeting was held at the Community Center. This show of democratic transparency did not attract any locals, so the board is trying the same failed strategy on September 30.

So unless you have other pressing engage-ments, every other Wednesday at the town offi ce at 6 p.m. sharp is where the action in town begins with a clap and ends with a sigh of relief that it is time to go home.

town government

By Sam Farwell

At its June meeting, the planning commis-sion approved the zoning bylaw update for the selectboard’s consideration. While I believe all the members of the commission take satisfac-tion in completing a task that was begun over six years ago, I think we also recognize that the bylaw will always be in need of improve-ment. We could not address every problem. As we neared the end of the process, the list of items put off until the next update grew longer. Refl ecting on the work of the commission on this update, the word that comes to mind is compromise. Each commissioner can point to something in the update that he or she does not agree with. And yet, this update has the full support of the commission because it is better than our current bylaw in many ways, and it conforms to our town plan more than our current bylaw.

By the time you read this, the selectboard may have already held its public hearing, and may have already adopted the proposed bylaw. In that case it is time to look ahead. In

the previous issue of the Views, I wrote about some issues the planning commission has taken up since completing the bylaw update: home business, telecommunications structure, variable lot size, and water.

Water is a town planning concern both as a resource and as a disposal issue. We need clean water to drink and we have many uses for plentiful water at home, in a business, and on a farm. And then we need to dispose of our waste water. Generally, this has been simple to engineer- dig a hole over here for clean water and dig another hole over there for your dirty water. In Dummerston we usually fi nd the water as well as the space to dump it- but not always.

The state Agency of Natural Resources regulates wastewater in Vermont by requiring permits for septic sytems. An isolation area is required around a septic system so that it does not contaminate another water system. If you need to replace your old (in many cases, very old) septic system you must place it the prescribed distance from any neighboring

continued on page 12

Dummerston Planning Commission

Zoning Bylaw Update Approved

Alan J. McBean 943 Park Laughton Rd.East Dummerston, VT 05346

VT Lic #536Cell 802-258-0971

Home 802-254-6975

Inground Mounds New Construction/Replacement

Water Supply Geologic ConsultingOnsite Septic Design, LLC

4 • SUMMER 2015 • Views of Dummerston

town government

Dummerston Conservation Commission

The Natural World Settles into SummerBy John Anderson

As I write there are still officially three weeks left of spring, but by the time you re-ceive this the great reproductive surge of the growing season will be fading into the quiet senescence of high summer. Much of the ex-plosion of new life will have already happened. Our extra-hominid neighbors have been busy, as have we of the conservation commission … in our own mundane way.

In April, Patti Smith presented a program entitled “Save the Salamanders,” which fo-cused on fi nding and training volunteers to man road crossings where amphibian mortality threatens the viability of entire populations. And, she pointed out, volunteering provides nearly our only opportunity to see such reclu-sive creatures as spotted and Jefferson’s sala-manders. This program was cosponsored by Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center.

Very little urging is needed to get me out into the cold April rain of an amphibian big night, and this year’s was one for the books. Salamanders were moving en masse. In an hour and fi fteen minutes I saw approximately 100 big mole salamanders making their oh-so-purposeful way toward the vernal pool where they would mate. Spring peepers and wood frogs were too numerous to count. It seemed that the whole world was on the move.

In truth my local salamander crossing is very low risk. Only one vehicle came by during the

time that I was there. The salamanders at this site didn’t need my help. However, there is a wild healthy exuberance to be experienced on an amphibian big night. There is something that is missing from the tattered remnants of many other species, a hint of the full wild, life-force that once was.

On the big night there was also a taste of the unexpected: a migration of common little red-backed salamanders. At least 50 crossed one short section of road, all moving in the same direction. I had never heard that red-backed salamanders made seasonal migrations so I checked with Jim Andrews of the Vermont Herpetological Project and he confi rmed my observations.

It seems that these salamanders, which breed and lay eggs in damp spots under rocks and logs, move seasonally. They winter in drier uplands and summer in lower, moister locals.

I never would have guessed!In May, Bill Schmidt organized a day-long

workshop entitled “Managing Woodlands for Birds.” Workshop leaders were Audubon Ver-mont ornithologists Steve Hagenbuch and Jim Shallow, and consulting forester George Weir.

This program stressed the important role Vermont’s forests play in bird conservation. It offered landowners the tools they need to assess both the number and the species of birds using a woodlot. It also outlined ways in which the habitat qualities of those woodlots could be improved through active management.

In a powerpoint presentation, a dozen se-lected avian species and their songs were introduced to participants. Called the Birder’s Dozen, these species were selected because they are easy to identify, wide ranging, in overall decline, and because they predomi-nantly breed in our North Atlantic forests. This distilled bird list helps owners assess the carrying capacity of their woodlands. A morning bird walk gave participants a chance to practice their bird identifi cation skills.

In the afternoon a Rapid Stand-level Habitat Assessment method was introduced. During a forest walk participants assessed the avian nesting potential of a plot, and then forester Weir outlined a variety of management tech-niques with which to improve that potential.

About two dozen people participated in this workshop, which was cosponsored by Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center, Southeastern Vermont Audubon Society, and Windham Regional Woodlands Association. Mary Ellen Copeland and Ed Anthes, the new owners of Deer Run Farm, hosted the event.

For me the day held an unexpected bonus: two clumps of showy orchids, a species I had never before seen in Dummerston. For those folk who get out and ramble through the woods and fi elds, life often seems full of such unex-pected rewards!

Now, having recapped educational events, I’d like to take a moment to offer a sincere thank you to all who contributed during the commission’s recent fund raising effort. For quite a while it had been evident that our desire to offer frequent high-quality educa-tional programs was in dire confl ict with our rather limited budget. There is now a much wider range of program options that we can realistically consider. Thanks once again for your generosity and for your faith in the com-mission.

Finally having wandered through the busi-ness of the last three months I’d like to ramble off into a brief book review.

Last winter I read The Once and Futurecontinued on page 5

Susanna and Michael Griefen

Linda Rood & Roger Turner

Nick & Joan Thorndike

Dick & Harriet Virkstis

Paul & Jody Normandeau

Florence Howe

Sponsors

Dummerston Realtor802-380-2077dan.normandeau@berkleyveller.com

Dan Normandeau

20% Off any one item

Support Locally

Thank you for your business

BrattleboroPharmacy

413 Canal Street

254-7777

FRENCH & FRENCH

ATTORNEYS AT LAW

802 • 254 • 9000

A GENERAL PRACTICE OF LAW

WALTER G. FRENCH

JODI P. FRENCH

POST OFFICE BOX 2, W. DUMMERSTON, VT 05357

Views of Dummerston • SUMMER, 2015 • 5

town government

By Carrie Ritson

We know you’ve driven by the Dummer-ston School on Sunday evenings this summer and seen them… the group of townspeople gathered on the fi eld. Some are sprawled out on blankets, enjoying a picnic dinner, while others are running around involved in some sort-of game. Looks like they’re having an awful lot of fun. What’s going on and who is it? Let us introduce you to the weekly Ultimate Frisbee games at the Dummerston School. If you haven’t already, it’s about time you got yourself down there and jumped in!

Dummerston Board of Recreation invites anyone with interest to come out to the Dum-merston School fi elds on Sunday afternoons at 4 p.m. for Ultimate Frisbee pick-up games. Everyone is invited, no experience needed. Bring along a picnic dinner or snack, a fa-vorite frisbee if you have one, and join the fun! Sunday Ultimate Frisbee pick-up games began on July 5th and will run every Sunday throughout the summer. Come out and have some relaxed fun and healthy exercise! Spec-tators are welcome.

Looking ahead to the fall season, the rec board will be holding sign-ups for the K-6th grade youth soccer league immediately at the start of the 2015-16 school year. Parents of children who have an interest in playing fall soccer should watch for notification

of registration date and time in the school newsletter, and via email if your child(ren) were involved last fall. Rec soccer is a great way to introduce children to the sport or hone the skills of more seasoned young players. By signing up for recreation league soccer, players participate in weekly practices as well as games with other towns.

We look forward to providing another

Dummerston Recreation Committee

Pick-up Ultimate Soccer Kicks in on Sundaysyear of town recreational offerings and hope you’ll return to participate in the old favorites and also keep an eye out for new start-up activities. With that in mind, we’re always looking for volunteers to help with our cur-rent programs or ideas for new ones. Watch the town website for meeting times and come share your thoughts with us.

VHome Cooked Snack Bar Fare and Fresh Seafood

Open May–October in the KOA CampgroundKitchen—Restored 1969 Vintage Camper

Outdoor Seating or Take-Out, Parking AvailableCALL OR VISIT WEBSITE FOR DAYS/HOURS

1238 US Route 5, East Dummerston, Vermont802 254-5908 • www.vintagevictualssnackbar.com

Vintage Victuals Snack Bar

Organic Vegetables and Fruits

Summer FlowersRoute 5, Dummerston 254-2051

www.therichardsgrp.com

continued from page 4World by J. B. MacKinnon. MacKinnon writes about nature as it once was, as it is now, and—most importantly—as it could be. He makes a strong case for what he calls rewilding, for choosing to restore as much as possible of what once was.

This is a book for people who are open to possibilities and for those who feel, as I do, that every time a scarce species has been allowed to naturally increase its population or a lost species was reintroduced into the Vermont landscape, the world felt more like home. Knowing a landscape that includes black bears, moose, wild turkeys, coyotes, and fi shers when I was born to a place where raccoons, red foxes and skunks were the top of the food chain has been a blessing. Rewilding opens up a wondrous array of possibilities. Being out rambling around our now somewhat wilder bit of the world feels expansive. It feels

healthier and in very real ways freer.And having personally witnessed one-day

flights of 1800 broad-winged hawks over Putney Mountain, and watched 100 mole salamanders cross a road in an hour and fi fteen minutes, I have to wonder what was once ob-servable from Putney Mountain or at the local salamander crossing? And what might be seen by future observers if we allow the world to rewild to a greater degree?

I urge everyone to read The Once and Fu-ture World, a book that makes a fundamental point: baselines can change either for worse or for better.

We don’t have to accept the inevitability of an ever more impoverished and therefore restricted world.

We have choices.For more information on the conservation

commission go to http://www.dummerston-conservation.com.

The Natural World Settles into Summer

Ronald Veenema, V.M.D.Ronald Svec, D.V.M.Theodore Johnson, D.V.M.

Jerilyn Jacobs, D.V.M.Tammy McNamara, D.V.M.Dan Abbott, V.M.D.

6 • SUMMER 2015 • Views of Dummerston

254-7077 www. vermontinsight.org

Vermont InsightMeditation Center

Off ering instruction in personal and interpersonal mindfulness practices.

JOHN & LORI BRUNELLE416 TUCKER REED ROADE. DUMMERSTON, VT 05346

OFFICE FAX: (802) 254-5818OFFICE PHONE: (802) 254-9788

JOHN CELL: (802): 579-9788LORI CELL: (802) 275-7111

JOHN@BRUNELLEANDSON.COMLORI@BRUNELLEANDSON.COMWWW.BRUNELLEANDSON.COM

Sponsors

John & Karen Abel

Arnold & Roberta Garland

Althea McBean

Susan Talbot & Herbert Rest

Orly Munzing & Bob Dunbar Elise Grace Sherburne 5-1-15

Birth

town government

By Alex Wilson, memberDummerston Energy Committee

In our last article in the Views of Dummer-ston we reported on some of the results from the Dummerston energy survey we sent out last year. That article focused on our energy use in the town, including how we heat our homes and water, whether we have air condi-tioning, our use of renewable energy systems, and what sort of energy improvements we have done on our homes.

In this article we’ll focus on resilience—how prepared are we for power interruptions and other disturbances that may come along in the coming years? As climate change advances, we can expect to experience more intense storms, increased fl ooding, more heat waves, and more frequent power outages.

The Dummerston Energy Committee wants to see our residents as prepared as possible, and the fi rst step is getting a sense of where we stand today relative to resilience.

First, the caveat from our last article bears repeating: while we got a very good response to the survey—397 returned surveys out of about 850 surveys that were mailed out (al-most a 50% response rate)—we didn’t get as many responses from the randomly selected subset of those residents as we had hoped. So, from a statistical standpoint, our fi nd-ings are not as robust as we wanted. But we got what we got, and we gained a wealth of

information about how well prepared Dum-merston residents are for power outages and other disruptions.

Most residents can still heat their homes during a power outage

If there’s an extended power outage that prevents us from operating our oil- or pro-pane-fi red boilers or furnaces, 61% of resi-dents will be able to stay warm with wood heat—either using a wood stove (55.6%) or a wood furnace or boiler (5.7%). About 11% can operate propane heaters without electricity (most furnaces and boilers require electricity to operate), and about the same number have back-up generators that can power the electrical components of their heating systems.

Only 20% of residents have no heat source when the power grid is down. Dummerston’s emergency management coordinator might want to take note of this; it may make sense to keep track of these vulnerable residents so that they can be checked on during a long-term, wintertime power outage or interruption in heating fuel.

Approximately 73% of residents indi-cated that they could close off a portion of their homes during a power outage, so that a smaller portion of the house could be kept reasonably comfortable.

Nearly one third of households have back-up generators

Dummerston residents are in pretty good shape during power outages. Approximately 30% reported having some access to back-up power, though a majority of those generators are not confi gured to operate electrical com-

Dummerston Energy Committee

More Results from the Dummerston Energy Surveyponents of oil or gas heating systems. Of the fuel-fi red generators reported in the survey results (101), 77% are gasoline-powered, 22% are propane powered, with just one diesel-powered generator reported. In gen-eral, gasoline-powered generators tend to be small, portable units that are not integrated into the household wiring, so they require us-ing extension cords to power electrical loads.

Because more residents reported having ac-cess to back-up power than reported specifi c fuel used, we assume that the others (about 8%) have solar systems and either battery banks or specialized inverters that can func-tion when the utility grid is down.

Access to water during power outagesIn rural places like Dummerston access to

water for drinking, cooking, washing, and toilet fl ushing is often the greatest challenge. Most of us rely on deep wells for water, using submersible, electric pumps to bring water into our homes; the well-water is stored in a pressurized tank that maintains the pressure needed to deliver the water to our kitchens and bathrooms.

During power outages, only 21% of Dum-merston residents are able to access water in their wells. The majority of those (88%) power their submersible pumps with back-up generators, while the others rely on solar pumping or a hand pump. A small percent-age of residents (11%) are able to rely on gravity-fl ow springs, 6.6% rely on harvested rainwater, and 21% carry water from another source. The largest block of residents, 68%, rely on stored water during power outages—this could be bottled water or containers they had fi lled in advance of a storm. (Note that these percentages do not add up to 100, since some residents have redundant water sources—a great resilience strategy!)

Heating water during power outagesWe asked how residents heat water during

continued on page 10

Views of Dummerston • SUMMER, 2015 • 7

organizations

By Muriel Taylor

The historical society has been busy since our spring report in the Views. Progress toward the building of the new schoolhouse addition is foremost on our list of accomplishments. We have engaged Brunelle and Son Construc-tion Company as our contractors. John and his right hand man, Jim Hadden, have not only offered us the best price, but have been friendly, well informed, and open to ques-tions and comments. Chuck Fish, building committee chair, notes that “They also have a sense of humor.” (Ahhhhhh!!! Priceless!!) With consummate patience, the delicacies of Act 250 and the Public Safety Board are being carefully and painstakingly addressed. We have applied for several grants to assist in the addition plans and have already received positive news from the Crosby-Gannett Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation that a grant in the amount of $1,000 has been ap-

Dummerston Historical Society

Schoolhouse Addition on Targetproved. Also, we will receive $300 from the Vermont Community Foundation through the Dunham-Mason Fund. It is our hope to break ground very soon. Stay tuned!

During our June walk-about, Carol Bessette took ten of us on a journey through time at the Guilford History Museum. Our main focus was to see the “Dummerston” (now called t h e “ G u i l -ford”) can-non. In 1784 t h a t 3 0 0 -400 pound weapon was b rought to Guilford by Dummerston men to fight the Yorkers. It got left be-hind as four feet of snow blanketed the area. According to “The Offi cial History of Guil-

ford”, the cannon was fi red on many holidays each year to the delight of the young men in town and the chagrin of the oldsters. In 1865 the noisemaker suddenly disappeared from the church where it was stored, not to be seen again until 1920 when it was discovered buried in a shallow grave on a neighbor’s farm. The thieves were never discovered, but the older generation wore a quiet smile! How quiet the local celebrations must have been in those post 1865 years!! We learned so much about local history from Guilford’s curator, Michelle Frehsee, as well as how their organization operates. Michelle gave our Society the Guil-ford History book as well as Guilford Sketches and a pamphlet on the Guilford Springs Farm. We returned the favor by offering a copy of our Dummerston Handbook and Dummerston 1753 – 1986. A day well spent.

The summer quarterly meeting took the form of a summer picnic. A brief business meeting was followed with entertainment by the versatile musician, Gin Mill Bill. Bringing his special gift of song and enthusiasm, the “old time favorites” he offered encouraged the dusting off of our rusty pipes and caused most to join in with varying degrees of vocal abandon.

Reminders: Jody Normandeau reports that our 2016 Scenes of Dummerston calendar is almost fi nished and will be available for pur-chase in the late fall of 2015. You won’t want to miss this one! The pictures sent in this year are extraordinary. Also, Dummerston Covered Bridge t-shirts are still available at the town offi ce or call Gail Sorenson at 254-9311. She will be happy to deliver your order. Summer’s here! The shirts are a nice gift for your visiting family members.

We hope to see you at our gatherings soon. You do not need to be a member to attend, al-though you are always welcome to “offi cially” join us. The historical society schoolhouse is handicapped accessible.

By Ann Davis

The Morris Dancers welcomed spring at the Community Center. They, as always, put on an energetic and uplifting show! We are hoping they will make a return appearance next spring and will have a larger audience.

New paint is in the near future for the Com-munity Center! Won’t it look great with a new white coat to go with the nice green doors, and our newly refurbished sign (thank you Dennis Tier)!.

We held our spring tag sale on May 15th and got rid of a lot of stuff. Now we can clean out the large room and do some painting and fi xing-up. It’s just like home—there is no end to what needs to be done.

Our coffee break at the Welcome Center was on Friday June 26. This was one of our major fund raisers and we did well. Thanks to all of

you who baked, and donated time and money. We couldn’t have done it without you.

We are pleased to announce that our 501© non-profi t status has been reinstated!!

Please remember the Dummerston Com-munity Center when planning those parties, workshops, classes, and gatherings where more space is needed. The handicapped ac-cess, kitchen, playground, and ample parking make it ideal for all. To make your reservation, call Jean at 802-254-9212.

Please remember to be a responsible pet owner and clean up after your four-legged friends.

As always we thank our many supporters; without you we wouldn’t be here.

Dummerston Community Center

DCC Paint Job Coming Soon

Bruce & Catie Berg

Shorty & Mary Forrett

Gail & Lew Sorenson

Barry & Elsa Waxman

David & Nina Hutchison

Kevin & Sara Ryan

Sponsors

Robert E. Dunklee & Sons72 Flat Street

Brattleboro, VT 05301254-5663

FOR SALEThe History ofDUMMERSTON

1884David Lufkin Mansfi eld

Pub. By A.M. Hemenway$150.Good Condition

Mary Lou Schmidt-802-257-0233

8 • SUMMER 2015 • Views of Dummerston

organizations

Carolyn Mayo Brown & Gregory Brown

Mark and Lee Tice

Michelle Cherrier & Philip Goepp

Len Oppenheim

Sponsors

By Susannah GriefenPastor

Plans are underway for the 46th Apple Pie Festival of the Dummerston Congregational Church. It will be held on October 11th from 10 a.m. to sold-out. Pies are made on an assembly line: peeling, slicing, rolling the dough, and baking in the bank of pizza ovens which can handle 36 pies at a time. Begin-ning September 28th, meetings are canceled, house work is left undone, and all energy goes into pie-making. Even the church school makes pies on the Sunday before the festival. Scores of people make the festival possible. Come any weekday from 9-noon or 4 to 9 p.m. and visit with your neighbors while you work. There’s room for everyone. Dwight Miller and Sons Orchard donates apples, neighbors from Dummerston and beyond help make pies, Randy Hicken organizes the ice cream making by the youth group, Green Mountain Orchard donates refrigerated space to store pies—it’s a community effort. And it is one of the reasons that the Dummerston Church is able to thrive when many churches are closing. It takes a village to support a church, and the church supports the village.

F r a n z R o b e r t , church organist, will go to the Manhattan School of Music this fall on a scholarship.

Plans for Pie Festival Are UnderwayThe church will celebrate his last Sunday on August 30th. A search for a new organist/music director has begun.

For the fourth year, the church is orga-nizing “Alice’s Lunch,” a summer meals program to replace free school lunches for eligible families. As of June 9th, the program has 21 children signed up. Multiplied by fi ve lunches a week for ten weeks, that’s 1050 lunches to be packed for weekly pick-up. Donations to help defray costs may be sent to: Alice’s Lunch, 32 Park Laughton Road, Dummerston 05346.

The spring Caring and Sharing clothing give-away served over 100 people. Fall Car-ing and Sharing will be November 13th and 14th. Donations of housewares, linens, and good, clean winter clothing for adults and children will be gladly accepted this fall. No books, electronics, or children’s toys or fur-niture may be accepted. This is a wonderful semi-annual event, and a good way to clean out your closet and help your neighbors. Children’s clothing is especially needed.

The deacons’ fund has been very active this year, supporting Dummerston families in crisis. The church also provided several summer camp scholarships for Dummerston children. The wood pantry, organized by Charlie Richardson, gave away fi ve cords of wood to neighbors who needed help. The summer food drive, fi ll-a-pew, is well under way. Food, personal care items, and household supplies may be left in the front pew for the Drop-in Center food pantry. The Dummerston Women’s Association oversees

the Juliet Miller Loan Fund, available to any Dummerston resident for post-high school schooling or training. For more information, contact Ruth Barton, 254-1128. The church supports many local non-profi ts by donat-ing meeting space. Space is also available for rental for a nominal fee for community groups and individuals.

The church’s youth group, under the direc-tion of James Brown, has been active this year. The growing group of 5th graders and older meets for planning, service, fundrais-ing, and fun. Church school is held year-round, during worship. This summer students are focused on worship and sacraments: tie-dying stoles, making bread, creating stained-glass windows, planning worship, and having a “Sunday vacation Bible school” experience. Fall class kick-off with a church school family sleepover at Green Mountain Camp on September 12th and child-led wor-ship on September 13th.

The Dummerston Congregational Church in Dummerston Center is an Open and Af-fi rming and Green Justice congregation of the United Church of Christ. Worship is at 9:30 April through December, and 10:30 January through March. The church is a community church committed to service to anyone in need. All are welcome to wor-ship and to all church activities. For more information, please contact Pastor Susanna Griefen, 257-0544, susanna@griefen.com. or go to www.dummerstonchurch.org and the church Facebook page.

Alvino & Bea FantiniAllan & Sally SeymourMilt & Barbara Gilmore

Sam & Gincy BunkerRip Lhamon & Frita Ferguson

Marcy Hermansader & Jonathan Flaccus

Sponsors DUMMERSTON CONGREGATIONAL CHURCh UCCWORSHIP & CHURCH SCHOOL 9:30 a.m.

Apple Pie Festival OCTOBER 11TH • 10AM

Pie Making Starts September 28THREV. SUSANNA GRIEFEN

257-0544 • susanna@griefen.comwww.dummerstonchurch.com

Views Now Available in Your Inboxby Sara Ryan

Are you someone who likes getting your news on your laptop, iPad, or phone? Are you trying to reduce the size of your recycling pile? Well, the Views has a new option for you. You can start getting your copy of the

Views in your email inbox instead of your mailbox! To start receiving your copy of the Views in digital format, simply send an email with your name and mailing address to ViewsOnline@dummerston.com and it will be done. So easy! Now relax and enjoy your Views.

Views of Dummerston • SUMMER, 2015 • 9

school news

Dummerston School Graduates Sixteenby Jo Carol Ratti

Principal

Sixteen students graduated from Dummer-ston School on Tuesday, June 16, 2015. The graduates were led by marshals Jesse Jerome-Wrenn and Silas Sherman. The student class speaker was Jackson Buettner. Hailee Mattson introduced this year’s guest speaker, Nancy Clements. Awards and scholarships were presented to the following students:

The Travis Sweetser Award was given to a dedicated member of Dummerston School’s soccer, softball, and/or baseball teams. Abi-gail Sargent was presented with the Sweetser Award for soccer and Nate Lewis for base-ball. The Dummerston Women’s Association Awards were given by Winnie Vogt to the boy and girl with the highest scholastic achieve-ment. Sarah Gallagher and Jackson Buettner were the recipients. The Ruth E. Knapp Me-morial Fund Awards are presented to one girl and one boy for citizenship, scholastic improvement, and concern for others. This year’s awards went to Abigail Sargent and An-thony Piergentili. Ellen Rago presented Kata Blakeson with the Jenny Rubinstein English Award. This award focuses on achievement and creativity in English and is given each year in memory of the Rubinstein’s daughter (and former Dummerston School student), Jenny. Linda Rood presented the Margaret T. Irsch Writing Award to Sarah Gallagher for excellence in writing. Janet Avery pre-sented the Art Avery Award, in memory of her husband, to a student who exemplifi ed many of the qualities that Art brought to the Dummerston community. The award is also known as the “Unsung Hero Award” and it was presented to Natalie Gadowski. The Arlene G. Forrett Memorial Award for class citizenship went to Anika Kapral and was presented to her by Mary Goodemote. Charlie Gerard was presented with the Jean Shaw Creativity-in-Science Award for apti-

tude and creativity in science. Emmett Dews was awarded the Timothy Garland Scholar-ship for distinguishing herself in the area of mathematics. This year, Hailee Mattson won the Melinda Bussino Community Service Award in memory of Melinda Bussino who, as the Director of the Brattleboro Drop-in

Front Row (l-r): Hailee Mattson, Lexi Miner, Anthony Piergentili, Olivia Ortlieb, Ty Allembert, Anika Kapral, Kata Blakeson, Jackson Buettner Back row (l-r): Sarah Gallagher, Emmett Dews, Natalie Gadowski, Abigail Sargent, Cyrus Chambers, Nate Lewis, Diana Roffman (hidden), Charlie Gerard

By Christian AvardDummerston School Board member

The following staff members retired from the Dummerston School at the end of the 2014-2015 school year.

Stella White was the front offi ce secretary at Dummerston School for 28½ years. She was always friendly, helpful and caring to every-one. Ms. White will have plenty to do during her retirement. She will spend more time with her grandchildren, fi x her house, tend to her gardens, make pickles, jams and jellies, and knit and sell crochet.

“I will miss the students and staff. They are all just so wonderful,” Ms. White said.

Ann Davis of Dummerston was a parapro-fessional for 16 years at Dummerston School. She started out as a special education assistant and worked with a specifi c student for four years. She later assisted with kindergarten classes and every grade since then. “It was a natural progression. I just worked with kids, did work for the teachers and helped the kids who extra help. It was fun,” Ms. Davis said.

Ms. Davis has not made any plans after Dummerston School. Like Ms. White, Ms. Davis’ plans are wide open. “I’m not going to consider my next plans until the school buses start rolling again in August,” Ms. Davis said. “I love the kids. I’m really going to miss them. We have such great kids in Dummerston.”

Rick Walsh was the school custodian for the last 16 years. Thanks to Mr. Walsh, the school was well-maintained, sparkling clean

and safe for all students. He also traveled to Dummerston School every day from his home in Colrain, Massachusetts , an hour’s drive each way.

Mr. Walsh will spend more time with his two daughters, two grandchildren and his mother-in-law. Like, Ms. White and Ms. Davis, Mr. Walsh will also miss the students … and the town of Dummerston. “I’ll miss Dummerston. It’s a small community like Colrain. Everybody is nice to each other. I’ve been very happy here,” Mr. Walsh said.

The Dummerston School Board wishes Ms. White, Ms. Davis and Mr. Walsh the very best. You will all be missed!

Stella White

Center, dedicated her life to helping others fi nd housing, food or clothing.

Ross Momaney, Tori Svec, and Maggie Buettner received PTFO Awards as gradu-ates of the BUHS Class of 2015 who attended Dummerston School and will continue their education in the fall.

Three Staff Members Retire from School

10 • SUMMER 2015 • Views of Dummerston

By Jo Carol RattiPrincipal

Dummerston School held its annual Rec-ognition Ceremony on Friday, June 12, 2015. Students in grades five through eight were recognized for citizenship, team member-ship, club participation, athletic ability, and exceptional achievement in a variety of aca-demic areas. Academic achievement awards in grades six and seven are given to students who hold grade point averages of 95 or above in all core subject areas.

Academic Achievement AwardsThis year’s Grade 6 Academic Achieve-

ment Awards went to Grace Learey, Caro-line Naylor, and Lucy Flynn. The Grade 7

Academic Achievement Awards went to Jesse Jerome-Wrenn, Megan Rabideau, and Bram Tabachnick.

Grade 8 Achievement AwardsThe eighth grade academic achievement

awards were awarded by discipline to students who carried a grade of A or above for all three marking periods.

The Grade 8 Math Achievement Awards went to Ty Allembert, Jackson Buettner, Kata Blakeson, Emmett Dews, Natalie Gadowski, Sarah Gallagher, Anika Kapral, and Abi-gail Sargent. The Grade 8 Science Achieve-ment Awards went to Kata Blakeson, Jackson Buettner, Emmett Dews, and Sarah Gallagher. The Grade 8 Humanities Achievement Awards went to Kata Blakeson, Jackson Buettner,

school news

Dummerston School 2015 Recognition Ceremony Award Recipients

Anika Kapral, Sarah Gallagher, and Abigail Sargent.

Awards for Outstanding EffortAwards for Outstanding Effort were given to

students who work hard and consistently give 100% in all subject areas. In addition, these students always complete their homework assignments. The Grade 6 Outstanding Effort Awards went to Ty Smith and Ruby Powers. The Grade 7 Outstanding Effort Awards went to Megan Rabideau and Kelsey Houghton, and the Grade 8 Outstanding Effort Awards went to Anika Kapral and Natalie Gadowski.

Citizenship AwardsCitizenship Awards are given to students

who were positive role models for their class-mates. These students demonstrated leadership and school spirit. Teachers and classmates considered them good all-around students. The Grade 5 Citizenship Awards went to three students this year: Sylvie Normandeau, Olivia Lafayette, and Reed Sargent. The Grade 6 Citizenship Awards were presented to Grace Learey and Livia Lewis. The Grade 7 Citi-zenship Awards went to Silas Sherman and Jesse Jerome-Wrenn (Marshals for the Class of 2015), and the Grade 8 Citizenship Awards went to Jackson Buettner and Abigail Sargent.

Physical Education AwardsKim Lane, Dummerston School’s physical

education teacher and athletic director pre-sented Kata Blakeson and Emmett Dews with the Physical Education Awards for sportsman-ship. She also presented the Athletic Awards to Jackson Buettner and Anika Kapral for their athletic ability. Nancy Clements gave Art Awards to two eighth grade students: Sarah Gallagher and Charlie Gerard. Lois Reed, the Student Council Advisor, gave 3-year partici-pation awards to Olivia Ortlieb, Lexi Miner, Hailee Mattson and Abigail Sargent.Make sure to get yours

at the Town Offi ce or by calling

Jody Normandeau (380-9027) or Gail Sorensen

(254-9311)

Brattleboro N. KOA CampgroundCabins • Tents • RVs

Campground Birthday Parties1238 US Route 5, E. Dummerston, VT

802 254-5908 www.brattleborokoa.com

continued from page 6power outages. Roughly 28% of residents

had no way to heat water, while 43% could use a gas range or cooktop, 21% could use a wood stove or outdoor grill, 7.6% could use a back-up generator, and 0.5% could use solar.

Cooking during power outagesFinally, we asked how residents cook dur-

ing outages. Slightly over half (51%) rely on a gas range or cooktop, 38% can use an outdoor grill, 26% can use a wood stove, 4.4% rely on electric cooking powered by a back-up gen-erator, 0.5% rely on electric cooking powered

by solar, and 1.6% rely on Sterno fuel. Just 9.3% reported being unable to cook at all. (These percentages do not add up to 100, due to multiple cooking options for some.)

Bottom lineIn the face of more extreme weather and

a changing climate, Dummerston should do what it can to become more resilient. The Dummerston Energy Committee will continue to focus on this area and would welcome an opportunity to engage with others in the town to brainstorm about strategies for enhancing our community’s collective resilience.

2016 Scenes of Dummerston Calendar Ready for Sale in the Fall

More Results from the Dummerston Energy Survey

Views of Dummerston • SUMMER, 2015 • 11

Old Town Reports Available

The Historical Society has extra copies of Dummerston Town Reports from the 40’s through the 90’s. If you are looking to com-plete your collection, contact Gail Sorenson at 254-9311 or gails@svcable.net.

continued from page 1not. In line with most of my superiors, Haney hewed to military traditions of brevity and directness when conveying orders.

The setting, too, was not one conducive to jokes. I was deployed to Guantanamo

Bay, Cuba, a.k.a. “Gitmo,” called up from the Navy Reserves to serve nine months as a medic inside the detention facilities. It was February 2014, and I worked the night shift. The computer on which I received the email sat in the middle of a medical bay, which itself sat in the middle of a windowless maxi-mum security prison. The prison “blocks” radiating out from the center housed men of varying ages, nationalities, and alleged of-fenses. The unifying factor: almost all had arrived at Gitmo a dozen years ago and still awaited trial or transfer.

Towards the end of the shift, I rubbed my eyes and read the email again. “…a represen-tative from your congressional delegation.” Did that mean “representative” as in House of Representatives? Would I be having lunch with Peter Welch? On the other hand, the use of the term “congressional delegation” seemed to open up the possibility of either a congressman or senator. I hadn’t heard anything from Senator Leahy’s offi ce, and I

had interned for him in Washington, D.C.; I doubted it would be him. That narrowed the options down to two.

6:30 a.m. arrived, and I trudged through the security gates to the road fronting the prison. I fl agged down one of the dilapidated

school buses driven by Jamaican contractors and rode back to the barracks. I needed sleep.

I arrived to the Seaside Galley, like any good soldier or sailor, at 11:45 a.m., fi fteen minutes early. After loading my tray with a sandwich, I navigated to a corner of the dining hall where cards on the tables listed states: Montana, North Dakota, Iowa, and Vermont. I took my place at the Vermont table with seating for four (not many Ver-monters at Gitmo, apparently) and waited.

Close to noon, a white shuttle pulled up

to the entrance of the cafeteria. It had tinted windows and looked air-conditioned – a sure sign of VIPs. A collection of khakis and oxfords soon descended upon the buf-fet line, forming typical Washington power circles in the process: VIP in the center with staff aides hovering about in close orbit. I recognized Senators Jon Tester of Montana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, and Tom Harkin of Iowa.

And then: Bernie. He strode in unaccom-panied, looking a bit like a bemused cruise ship tourist who had wandered ashore at the wrong port. He picked out a salad and made his way over to the Vermont table. We ex-changed initial pleasantries, talking about the Gitmo heat (beastly), the food (not so bad), and the Green Mountains (missed by both of us). I suddenly realized that, despite having grown up in Vermont and worked for Sena-tor Leahy, I had never before met Senator Sanders. I knew of his wild-haired reputation and ability to hold forth for hours, but it soon became clear that he was in Gitmo to listen.

He asked about my job at Gitmo. I an-swered that I served as a medic in the deten-tion facilities. He asked if that brought me into frequent contact with the detainees. I answered yes. He asked if that meant I had established any sort of rapport, relationships, with the detainees. I answered that it was hard not to, as some of the medical proce-dures carried out in the prison required me to sit with a detainee for up to two hours. Did I need an interpreter? No, not often. Most of the detainees picked up a level of conversa-tional English after years of interacting with guards and medical staff.

We were just warming up when an Air Force officer joined us. She was a public affairs staffer for the base and part of the entourage. While she didn’t live in Vermont, her mother did (Springfi eld)—good enough for admission to the table. I suspected she was there to keep tabs on me. There was no need. My conversation with Bernie never veered towards the larger questions about the prison, in part because I believe Bernie did

continued on page 12

Lunch with Bernie in Gitmo

123 Ryan Road

Bernie Sanders is obviously pleased to be spending time with Petty Offi cer Murtha

12 • SUMMER 2015 • Views of Dummerston

continued from page 3well or spring. There have been a few cases in recent history in the West Dummerston village where fi nding space for a residen-tial septic system has been very difficult because of this requirement. Currently, one house does not have septic, there is one system shared by more than one house, and a planned new home will need to pump wastewater uphill a considerable distance to

fi nd the space required. It seems we should be looking into options for wastewater other than individual household septic systems in the West Dummerston Village.

On June 2, Gurudharm Khalsa from the selectboard and Sam Farwell from the plan-ning commission, attended a wastewater committee meeting at the Windham Regional Commission offices. This committee was created to help towns upgrade their waste-

continued from page 11not want to put me in a compromising posi-

tion, and in part because we already agreed about the answers. I knew Bernie’s stance that the prison had signifi cantly damaged the United States’ moral standing, undermined our foreign policy, and encouraged terrorism rather than effectively combated it. As a petty offi cer in the U.S. Navy, I supported the posi-tion of President Obama, my commander-in-chief: Guantanamo needed to close.

Our salads and sandwiches fi nished, we made our way outside to snap the requisite photos. Bernie asked me about my plans after the deployment fi nished. I responded that graduate school would be next, fi nanced largely through the revamped GI Bill he had helped usher through Congress as a member of the Veterans’ Affairs committee. I thanked him for his work, and he thanked me for mine. As the congressional contingent fi led its way back to the bus, we both expressed our desire to have lunch again soon, ideally not in Gitmo. It was agreed—I would host in Brattleboro.

Bill McKimPIANIST

Classical Music or Show Tunes For Any Occasion

257-7767

water systems. WRC director Chris Campany proposed using anticipated federal funding to provide assessments where the lack of wastewater capacity is inhibiting growth.

If this or any of the other issues you have read about in the Views’ planning commis-sion column interest you, please come to a meeting. The planning commission’s regular meetings are on the fi rst Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the town offi ce. The agenda and minutes are posted on the com-mission’s page of the town website. Meetings are always open to the public. We have had an open seat for the past year, so please come and see what we do.

Please do not hesitate to contact any com-missioner with questions. Our current mem-bers are: Andrew MacFarland, Annamarie Pluhar (secretary), Beverly Tier, Cindy Wil-cox, Debra Forrett, Maria Glabach, Richard Cogliano (vice-chair), Sam Farwell (chair). Written comments are also very welcome and can be emailed to planning@dummerston.org or mailed to the town o ffi ce.

jonathan@mindelmorse.com

Cheryl Wilfong & Bill McKim

Mary Lou & Bill Schmidt

Ron & Jo-Ann Tier

Tonia & Whit Wheeler

Elizabeth Catlin & Jared Flynn

Sponsors

ATTENTION: ALL DUMMERSTON RESIDENTS

Did you file your HS-122 Homestead

Declaration and HI-144 Income Sensitivity for 2015??If not: it is now required each year so HURRY and don’t miss the late filing

date of October 15th to be eligible for your REBATE. For questions/information Call the town office • 802-257-1496.

Talking shop over lunch with the senator.

Zoning Bylaw Update Approved

Lunch with Bernie in Gitmo

Views of Dummerston • SUMMER, 2015 • 13

by Linda Rood

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (Penguin Books, 2013) certainly lived up to all the recommendations I received from friends and family. The non-fiction story of the US Olympic rowing team of the 1936 Berlin Olympics gives us Depression era history, underscored with dark reports of pre-war Nazi Germany, a charming biogra-phy of one inspiring young man, a detailed study of the sport of rowing, and skillful sports writing all rolled into one. If you were a fan of Seabiscuit, book or movie, you will like this book. It’s a tale of a classic underdog team, an astute coach, and a genius boatbuilder/guru who all come together in the same place and same time to overcome great odds and make sports history together.

The author got the story fi rsthand from his neighbor and central character of the story, Joe Rantz, seventh oar on the team; he then spent years of research through diaries, let-ters, interviews with other surviving team members and their families, news articles and old photographs, and the archives of the University of Washington to bring this fascinating story to life. I knew nothing about the sport of rowing, which was once a popular sport in the U.S., drawing national media attention and attendance of thousands at the major competitions, but I didn’t need to know much to enjoy the book. The de-scriptions of the intercollegiate and Olympic races were so thrilling I could hardly read fast enough. You can watch old footage of the races on YouTube and there will be a fi lm of the book directed by Peter Berg of Friday Night Lights fame. Can’t wait.

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin, 2013) is an entertaining historical novel set in the early 19th century and centers on the world of botanical re-search. The main character, Alma Whittaker, is the daughter of a wealthy man who made his fortune in the early days of pharmaceuti-cals by discovering quinine and distributing

Good Books

Story of 1936 Olympic Crew a Gripping Readit to the world. Alma, who never marries, devotes her life to botanical research and recognizes the science of evolution at more or less the same time as Darwin. This might sound a bit dry, but the author’s extensive research into the cultural history of the times allows her to bring in some historically accu-rate, intriguing, even titillating information about the private lives of her characters. We learn what it must have been like to travel with Captain Cook, sail on a whaling voyage to the South Seas, reside in Tahiti in a mis-sionary outpost, and a wealth of information about mosses, orchids, and the early science of botany.

Gilbert, following the model of Hillary Mantel’s Wolf Hall books, wanted to write a contemporary novel about the historical past, to see the past through a contemporary lens, so the story does not feel old-fashioned and certainly not the least bit prim. Gilbert has said that she was trying to write the story of a woman whose life was “saved by her work” which speaks to a decidedly modern concern. Although I found the writing uneven at times, I enjoyed the rich plot and the variety of en-gaging characters. Gilbert is known mostly for her best-seller memoir Eat, Pray, Love (which I loved, full disclosure), but if you

are one of those who did not think much of that book, I suggest that you overlook your bias and try this one. It’s a good read.

I’m currently reading the elegant clas-sic memoir of colonial Africa, West with the Night by Beryl Markham (North Point Press, 1942, 1983), have The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton up next, and am looking for suggestions. If you’re interested in more reading about rowing, Alex Beam of The Boston Globe recommends The Amateurs by David Halberstam (Morrow, 1985), Flat Water Tuesday by Ron Irwin (St. Martin’s, 2013), True Blue: The Oxford Boat Race by Daniel Toploski (Doubleday Canada 1989), and The Red Rose Crew: A True Story of Women, Winning and the Water by Daniel J. Boyne (Hyperion, 2000).

Corum Mabie Cook Prodan Angell & Secrest

Estate Planning and Administration, Family Law, Real Estate, and the General Practice of Law

45 Linden Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301(802) 257-5292 • gcmlaw@sover.netwww.southernvermontattorneys.com

DAN SNOW STONEWORKSForty years a’building

Dan Snow & Elin Waagen

Compliments ofPriscilla Svec, P.T.

Practicing Holistic Physical Th erapy126 Main Street, Putney

387-4799

Kelly McCueMeg Murtha

Jack & Judy DavidsonJohn Sommer

Tom ZopfWinifred Vogt

Sponsors

The Landmark Trust USAStay in Rudyard Kipling’s

Naulakhaor 3 other historic Dummerston properties.Great accommodations for visiting

friends and family.707 Kipling Road 254-6868

Scott Farm Orchard & MarketHeirloom apples, Cider,

PYO, WorkshopsHeirloom Apple Day

OCTOBER 11th707 Kipling Road 254-6868

Cliff Adler & Lynn LevinePaul & Lou Nelsen

Eleanora Patterson & Gordon FaisonGordon & Linda EvansHeather & Gene Rostov

Akara Draper & Linnie Jones

Sponsors

14 • SUMMER 2015 • Views of Dummerston

Dummerston Calendar of EventsAt the Dummerston Town Offi ce:Selectboard 6:00 pm

Every other WednesdayPlanning Commission 6:30 pm

1st TuesdayConservation Commission 7:00 pm

2nd ThursdayEnergy Committee 6:00 pm

1st MondayDevelopment Review Board 7:00 pm

3rd TuesdayAt the Community CenterCommunity Center meetings 7:00 pm

1st MondayAt the Dummerston SchoolSchool Board Meeting 6:30 pm

2nd TuesdayPTFO Meeting 6:30 pm

3rd Wednesday, in the libraryAt the BUHS Learning CenterBUHS Board Meeting 7:00 pm

1st & 3rd MondayAt the Historical SocietyHistorical Society 7:30 pm

3rd Thursday of Jan./April/July/Oct.At the Lydia Taft Pratt LibraryBook Club various—call 6:00 pmStory Time Every Thursday 10:30 amAt the Evening Star Grange

Senior Congregate Meal2nd and 4th Wednesday

Information/reservations:Shirley Perkins, 254-2249

Community Center Jean Momaney 254-9212Conservation Commission

www.dummerstonconservation.comCouncil on Aging Ruth Barton 254-1128

Springfi eld Offi ce 800-642-5119Dummerston Cares Assistance

Shirley Perkins 257-5800Dummerston School 254-2733

Web site www.dummerstonschool.org Dummerston PTFO dummerstonptfo@yahoo.comEmergency Mgmnt Coordinators

Eric (Rick) Davis 380-6533 Evening Star Grange Ruth Barton 254-1128

or mrgjb@sover.net Fire Chief Rick Looman 258-1731Fire Warden Marty Forrett (h)387-2180

(w)254-9877Deputy Fire Wardens Charlie Richardson 254-6963 Laurence Lynch Sr. 254-2517

Wayne Emery (h)254-8708Lydia Taft Pratt Library 258-9878

Hours: Tue. 2:30-7; Thu. 10-5; Sat. 9:30-Noonhttp://library/dummerston.org

Meals on Wheels Chris McAvoy 257-1236Selectboard selectboard@dummerston.orgTown Garage Lee Chamberlin 254-2411Town Offi ce Pam McFadden 257-1496

townclerk@dummerston.orgVermont Theatre Company 258-1344 views@dummerston.comWSESU 254-3730Websites: Offi cial Town www.dummerston.orgMunicipal Calendar http://calendar.dummerston.org

Local Interest www.dummerston.com

Ongoing

Dummerston Town Calendar: http://townclerk.dummerston.org/tc-cal.html

Ultimate Frisbee pick-up games at Dum-merston School fi eld, Sundays, 4 p.m.

Community pot-luck supper and games2nd Fridays of most months from 6–8 p.m. Dummerston Congregational Church

August15 Peach shortcake supper

Evening Star Grange, 5–7p.m.20 Property taxes due

September26 KOA Vintage Camper Rally (free)

KOA Campground, 1–4 p.m. 28 Pie making for the Apple Pie Festival

Dummerston Congregational Church, weekdays from 9-noon or 4 to 9pm

October11 Fireman’s breakfast

Dummerston Fire Station, 7–11:30 a.m.11 Apple Pie Festival

Dummerston Congregational Church 10 a.m.11 Indoor craft fair and lunch

Evening Star Grange, 10 a.m.1-31 Sharing and Caring Donation

Dummerston Congregational Church

November13-14 Fall Caring and Sharing

Dummerston Congregational Church

PRESORTED STANDARDU.S. Postage PAID

Putney, VT05346