Views of Dummerston - 2015#4 - Fall

Volume 25 Issue 4 Fall ~ 2015 Free

By Sallie J. May, Board Member, Dummerston Historical Society

How quickly time travels by us, and once again, it is time to let you know what is hap-pening at the schoolhouse. The addition to the schoolhouse is shaping up rapidly, and by the time you read this edition of the Views, we hope that the majority of the work is fi nished.

Aside from our building project, we partici-pated as much as we could in the apple pie fes-tival, always a fun event, and e n j o y e d t h e changing of the season, with its pumpkins and colored leaves to brighten our days.

I would like to bring folks up to speed on a new project that we are pursuing at

Dummerston Historical Society

Society Creating Annual History Boxesthe historical society. Led by Tom Zopf, we are creating a history record of what is hap-pening in our town now, so that in 50, 60 or 100 years, whenever the next history of Dum-merston is written, we will have hands-on information for the writer(s) to utilize, helping with the accuracy of the history and the ease of researching same. Tom has created a box for 2015, and we will have one for each year in

continued on page 12

Schoolhouse Addition Nearly Complete

By Chuck Fish

By the time you read this report, the Dum-merston Historical Society’s schoolhouse addition should be completed except perhaps for some interior painting. As of today’s date in mid-September, the structure has been framed and roofed; soon to come are shingles, windows, and siding.

As you may know, the addition consists of a 16x16-foot main room with an 8x24-foot shed section attached. Both parts will accom-modate assorted shelving, cabinet storage, and work surfaces, all sorely needed to house our growing collection and to provide more effi cient work space for the preparation of exhibits. With this activity shifted to the ad-dition, the existing space will be even more pleasant and useable for our exhibits and pro-grams, which are open to the general public.

Many people have cooperated to make all this possible: Sam Bunker whose generous gift of his father’s memorabilia made the addition possible; Jonathan Flaccus who organized the material for auction; the town selectboard and offi ce staff who supported the effort and agreed to the arrangement whereby the society can use the town offi ce restroom and the town can use the society’s meeting space; John Brunelle, expert builder, whose generosity makes him a donor as well as a contractor; and the society’s building committee who have worked hard to bring the project to fruition.

The Bunker gift covered most of the basic construction cost, but the society must draw on other funds and look for outside sup-port to provide for the heat pump (our heat source), a number of storage items, and a new computer and photo printer. For details, please call Chuck Fish, 254-2554, and spread the word. The schoolhouse serves the entire community.

Photo courtesy of Randy Holhut

By Roger Turner

Larry Lynch once knocked at our front door on Quarry Road and announced with a quiet smile on his face that he was stopping by to deliver batteries to those in town who had weather/emergency radios. I knew who Larry was from seeing him at town meetings and at my kids’ school dances when he was the Dummerston School Custodian. I’d also call him when I needed a burning permit. He did a lot of things for Dummerston. The license plate on his truck was WDFD, a nod to his

involvement with the fi re department, and to his commitment to Dummerston.

“He was a very dedicated fi re person. He did a lot of work on prevention and with the kids over at the school,” Charlie Richardson told me. The fi re department had a “smoke house” which Larry would use to show the school kids how to get out of a burning house full of smoke. Larry also went to homes to check wood stove installations, and help people get outfi tted with an appropriate fi re extinguisher. “The fi re department was his life,” Charlie

continued on page 9

Larry Lynch Death A Big Loss to the Community

2 • FALL 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:

[email protected].

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 [email protected], or by note to Michelle at 72 Miller Rd, E. Dummerston 05346

NEXT ISSUE: Submissions due: January 6, 2016Mailing: February 18, 2016AD 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 $55Large Box Ad $85Sponsor $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

As we have for the past several years, in this year’s tax bills, we included an insert from the Windham Windsor Housing Trust, with information on programs they have available to help property owners in our town. Unbeknownst to us, the company they

listed on the back of the form is in direct competition with one of Dummerston’s own, Farnum Insulators. We sincerely apologize to Chad and Amelia for this misunderstanding.

Because of this issue, we will not be in-cluding any inserts from outside parties in future tax bills. Thank you for understanding.Laurie Frechette & Pam McFadden

Town Clerk’s Desk

Apology from the Town Offi ce

By Dawn Hubbard, Dummerston Emergency Management Director

The State of Vermont is announcing the implementation of the VT Alerts emergency alerting system. This system is designed to send emergency messages in the event of an emergency. You determine if you want to be notifi ed via cellular, home phone, text, and/or email. You may register at https://users.vtalert.gov/.

The Town of Dummerston is starting the planning process from primarily radiologi-cal response to other disasters and emer-gencies that may impact our community. The emergency operations center staff, fi re department, highway department, and other stakeholders within the town are identify-ing the disasters and emergency situations and appropriate responses to them. Some

examples include weather, fi re, transporta-tion, and medical disasters and emergencies.

The emergency management center is comprised of volunteers who are willing to give up a small amount of their time when there is not an emergency, but able to provide on-going support during the time of disaster.

Currently we are looking specifi cally for an individual who can answer the phone, send/receive faxes, and operate a radio to communicate with other operations centers. You don’t need experience as we can train you to perform these tasks. We are always looking for general staff to learn how to take on roles as back-up to other various functions.

If you are interested in learning more about what we do, or how you can help in any way, please contact the emergency management director Dawn Hubbard at 802-257-4431.

VT Alerts Can Keep You In the Loop

Richard Cogliano, CaptainWest Dummerston Volunteer Fire Department

We believe in making our town safe. We strive to protect the lives and property of our neighbors. We risk our lives to save yours. We have helped your family for over 60 years, and now we need your help.

As I’m sure you have read in the paper, seen at a selectboard meeting, or heard around town, the West Dummerston Volunteer Fire Department needs a new fi re station in Dum-merston Center. Some of you may be won-dering why we need a new station. Due to changes and enhancements in codes, fire trucks are being built bigger than they used to be. Our Engine 2, which we received just a few years ago, will not fi t in the center station. In addition, moisture from the surrounding en-vironment gets into the building and degrades our gear, shortening its life expectancy. The moisture also causes issues with the trucks

and the equipment stored there. What does this mean for you? We hope to

raise enough funds through donations and fundraising to cover most, if not all, of the costs of the new building. At the time of this writing, our 50/50 raffl e tickets are selling well. We are also selling tee shirts to show support for our department. For questions re-lating to donations, fundraising, or to purchase tee shirts, email us at [email protected]. Look for more information about ways to support our department and station in the coming months.

The preliminary plan for the new station is a single story building with room for larger apparatus, a meeting room, and more stor-age space. We hope to start construction in the spring of 2016. For the latest information check our website (www.westdummerstonfi re.com) or our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/westdummerstonfi re).

Thank you for your support.

West Dummerston Volunteer Fire Department

WDVFD Needs Help to Build New Station

DIGITAL VIEWS AVAILABLETo receive the Views in digital format only, send an email with your name and mailing address to:

[email protected]

Views of Dummerston • FALL, 2015 • 3

Selectboard

Sheriff’s Contract Shows Slight IncreaseBy Steve Glabach

Traditionally, the selectboard can sort of relax during the summer and doesn’t anticipate our meetings to be lengthy or controversial, but this summer and early fall have been very busy.

Early in the summer, we were notifi ed that our contract with the Sheriff’s Department would increase $1134 over the budgeted amount. The board voted to accept this in-crease for the 2015/16 contract.

There has been much discussion regarding the speeds on our roads, particularly East West Road, Schoolhouse Road, and Middle Road. The Windham Regional Commission was asked to do a traffi c study on East West Road just be-low the Center. Some very interesting data came

out of the study. A few interesting points were that the average daily traffi c was 654 vehicles, 85% of the traffi c was traveling at less than 38 MPH, and 93% were traveling more than 25 MPH, which is the posted speed in that area.

Several projects have been completed this summer including paving some of Middle Road and Schoolhouse Road. The culvert on Quarry Road was completed. The Community Center exterior painting was also completed this summer. We purchased a York Rake. The selectboard along with the other Prospect Hill trustees contracted to have the top of Prospect Hill cleared of invasives to restore the view and open the meadow back up.

On the recommendation of the cemetery committee the board increased plot prices to

help offset the maintenance costs. The new plot prices are single $400, double $600, and four $1000.

We would like to thank the planning commis-sion for their work on the new zoning bylaws. Many people served on subcommittees, and many residents as well gave input on the fi nal draft which was passed by the selectboard.

Also, thank you to our WSWMD representa-tives for helping the selectboard and our resi-dents understand and incorporate recycling into our daily lives as Act 148 requires.

Soon we will be back to work on the town’s 2016/17 budget.

We welcome you to our meetings every other Wednesday at 6 p.m. If you can’t make the meetings, they can also be seen on BCTV.

town government

By Sam Farwell

If you are one of those Views readers who can’t wait for the next installment of the plan-ning commission story, this may be anti-climactic: the selectboard adopted the zoning bylaw update at its meeting on September 2 directly after holding a public hearing. Viewsarticles have tracked the glacial pace of this update since work began in 2009. Some people may have thought it would never get done, but as of September 23, 2015 the new bylaw has been in effect. The most notable change is in the districts. Whereas most homes were in Rural Residential district with a two acre minimum lot size, the new district map is much more varied, using a number of new districts with lot sizes from half an acre to ten acres. Check out the map on the town website and look up your home. The bylaw can be viewed and downloaded from the website, and you may request a printed copy from the town offi ce.

At our September meeting, we welcomed new member Sarah Bergh. Sarah, who grew up in Dummerston and resettled here a few years back, submitted a letter of interest for the seat which has been vacant for over a year, and was appointed by the selectboard in August. We are very pleased to have to be back to our full count of nine members.

Previous planning commission articles have touched on some of the issues we are currently

looking into: water issues, variable lot size, and home business. Two other issues involve types of development going on in this area right now which are primarily regulated by the state public service board. Solar projects and cell phone towers are usually permitted by the PSB with little input from the town. However, some things are changing which may give towns more infl uence.

In the last session, the legislature changed the permitting process to require the PSB to take into account screening requirements in a town’s zoning bylaw for solar projects. Dummerston does not currently have this requirement (for example, planting a hedge to hide the view from the road). Do you think we should? We will be looking into this over the next year. How much screening should be required? Are solar panels ugly? The legisla-tion says we can’t require more screening of solar panels than we do of other commercial development. We do give the development

Dummerston Planning Commission

Revised Zoning Bylaw Adopted by Selectboard

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review board the power to require screening of some commercial development. Is that a good idea?

If you want to install a cell phone tower, you have the option to get a permit from the PSB which would bypass local regulations, and probably defl ect local opposition more easily. However, this provision is scheduled to sunset in 2017 in which case the permitting will fall to the municipality. Dummerston has an ordinance for cell phone towers, and they are permitted in our zoning, although the town has not issued any permits for a number of years. Currently, these towers are not allowed in the “Conservation” district, but that includes much of the high ground in Dummerston where a tower may be more effective. We will be working with the selectboard on updating the ordinance and bylaw this year. Do we want to allow for towers on our hilltops and in undeveloped areas? Do we want better cell

continued on page 11


town governmentDummerston Conservation Commission

Climate Change Affecting Polar AnimalsBy John Anderson

As I write, the ruby-throated hummingbirds of summer are fast disappearing, although an occasional juvenile still lingers, and for all practical purposes the wildfl ower season is behind us. However, by the time this reaches your mailbox the leaves will have fallen, deer season will be luring people into the woods, and snow will have dusted our hills, though to what degree is, as always, unpredictable. The seasons march steadily on.

In September, Susan Morse, ecologist, photographer, and founder of the wildlife monitoring program Keeping Track®, gave a presentation entitled “Animals of the North: what will global climate change mean for them?” Using an array of her stunningly beau-tiful photographs, Morse showcased a spec-trum of cold specialized Arctic mammals that are being negatively impacted by warming temperatures.

From polar bears and whales down to picas and lemmings, all of the far North’s mammals are having to adapt to increased parasites, loss of the ice shelf and melting of the permafrost, changes in their age-old migration timing and to the timing of the salmon runs upon which many animals depend, and a host of other disruptions caused by rising temperatures.

Even trees will either adapt or die as warm-ing makes increasingly large chunks of the

northern forest vulnerable to insect infesta-tions.

As a local example of the type of stresses she sees in her extensive travels through the far North, Morse cited the decimation of southern New England’s moose herd by the winter tick. The winter tick is a parasite favored by warmer winters; the moose is a mammal stressed be-yond its capacity to survive by its increased parasite load.

Morse sees such stresses in the mammals of the far North and understands that many may not be able to adapt as fast as the climate is changing. And she hopes to inspire us to car-bon moderation through her photography and her obvious love of the creatures she studies.

As she points out, parts of the Arctic are experiencing disproportional impacts from man-made global warming. They are warming faster than the rest of the globe and they are giving us a canary-in-the-coal-mine warning of the disruptions to our habitats that we are just beginning to acknowledge after decades of denial.

This was a well-attended presentation. Morse’s photography, her extensive knowl-edge of her subjects and her quirky humor put a very positive spin on her presentation despite its underlying ominous note. About three dozen people turned out to experience this rare opportunity to hear Morse’s message and see her pictures.

And now, for no better reason than my pro-pensity for rambling, I’d like to review a pair of recently written fi eld guides.

The fi rst is a new edition of Peterson’s Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America by David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie. This is my go-to resource when I want to identify a moth. At some 600 plus pages it would seem fairly comprehensive. However, the world, especially the world of insects, is unbelievably vast. It would be nearly impossible to produce an all-inclusive moth fi eld guide.

As the introduction states, “More than 11,000 species of moths are currently recog-nized in North America.” It goes on to say, “we selected nearly 1,500 of the most common or the most eye-catching of the moths in this area to be included in this guide.”

This is a book that I love for both its use-fulness and for the glimpse it provides into a seemingly infi nite taxonomic group. A book like this speaks as much to those species not chosen for inclusion as it does to the species included. It gives hints of life’s true com-plexities.

Geographic ranges and known host plant species are listed for each included moth species. As I said, this is a go-to book. It’s a great resource.

The second guide is Beetles of Eastern North America by Arthur V. Evans. The preface to this guide tells us, “Most of the 1,409 species that appear in this work are quite conspicuous and found throughout the region … however, it must be remembered that the species presented within these pages represent fewer than 10% of the eastern beetle fauna.”

This book also includes some minimal infor-mation about geographic ranges and preferred habitats. It’s another go-to book, a book I love for its usefulness and for the glimpses it gives into an even greater taxonomic group, one having by their estimation, 14,000 species in eastern North America.

Continued on page 5

Susanna and Michael GriefenLinda Rood & Roger Turner

Nick & Joan ThorndikeDick & Harriet Virkstis

Paul & Jody Normandeau Florence Howe

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town government

By Michelle Cherrier, Supervisor for Dummerston to Windham Solid

Waste Management District

As of July 1 in Vermont, recyclable items cannot be included with your trash. They are supposed to be kept in a separate bag or container. This is when the questions started.

A number of residents have described to me that they still don’t understand “what’s happening” to trash and recyclables. Here is an explanation of the gritty recycling details:

According to the state:Your trash is still trash – it goes to a landfi ll.

You must remove recyclable materials from your trash. There are two ways to dispose of your recyclables.

1. Do It Yourself (DIY): You can take these recyclable materials to our local Windham Solid Waste District material handling facility (WSWMD MRF) in Brattleboro, or to the two local roll-off bins next to the town garage (bins are provided by WSWMD). You need to sepa-rate your plastics (1-7), glass, and cans from your dry paper, cardboard, and magazines. (This is called DUAL STREAM recycling).

2. Use a hauler: You can have your trash hauler take recyclable materials. By law (Act 148), they must now provide this service. They will tell you their schedule for pickup and how to bag or box up your recyclables. This may be weekly or every other week, with or without trash pickup; the schedule is specifi ed by the

hauler. The law instructs the hauler to pick up plastics (1-2), glass, and cans and dry paper, cardboard, and magazines. Note: The hauler is only required to pick up plastics 1 and 2. It is highly likely that your trash hauler will tell you not to include plastics 3-7.

If the hauler brings the recyclables to WSWMD they need to be separated (as noted

Windham Solid Waste Management District

Recycling Changes: The Next Stepabove in DIY).

If the hauler brings the recyclables to any other material handling facility (MRF), they probably do NOT require separation. (This is called SINGLE STREAM recycling).

Are you confused yet? Here’s what is now clear since July 1:

For DIY recyclers, the WSWMD accepts Continued on page 6

Continued from page 4These are fascinatingly weighty books. Their

chosen subjects are vast, so vast that editorial choices were imperative for the distillation of a manageable guide including only scientifi c names, pictures, and a minimal bit of informa-tion on range, host plants and habitat for each species.

Both are great books. Go-to books. Books I refer to often.

And both leave me amazed and humbled. Amazed by the amount of information included. Humbled by how much could not be included and by how much we don’t know, and may never know about the thousands upon thou-sands of other species.

And not one of those species lives in isolation.Each and every one of them is interacting

with, and co-dependent on, numerous other life forms in the course of its daily life. The complexities of those interactions are, in most

cases, unknown. And yet we speak of making informed choices when deciding to “control” other species by the spraying of insecticides or the release of non-indigenous predatory insects.

We routinely and rather glibly make such choices. However I suspect that we have yet to ever make a truly informed choice. The glimpses into the complexity of life provided by these two books should leave us humbled by our ignorance.

There is a vastly complex real world beyond the narrow spectrum within which we function, the spectrum of which we are cognizant. It’s quite an amazing and humbling place.

Now, having rambled through worlds not exclusively ours, I’m going to put down my pencil and head out into the woods and fi elds for a brisk late fall bit of exercise.

For more information on the conservation commission go to http://www.dummerstonconservation.com

Climate Change Affecting Polar Animals

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.

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Sponsors John & Karen Abel

Arnold & Roberta GarlandAlthea McBean

Susan Talbot & Herbert RestOrly Munzing & Bob Dunbar

town government

By Stan (Smokey) Howe, Solarize Dummerston Task Force

and Dummerston Energy Committee

Solarize Dummerston was launched by the Dummerston Energy Committee in the spring of 2014. It builds on the Solarize model that has been growing in popularity nationwide, since it fi rst emerged in Portland, Oregon in 2008.

The basic idea with Solarize is to aggregate purchases of solar energy systems and have a local group select a vender (or venders) and participate in education and marketing so that system costs can be kept down. Homeowners are often more comfortable talking with volun-teers about solar options than with venders, and knowing that the local volunteers have vetted the venders creates greater trust.

The core Solarize Dummerston task force consists of Bruce Clauson, Larry Doucette, Michael Fedoruk, Dan Hovis, Smokey Howe, Pam McFadden, and Mike Pletcher, with a few

other satellite members. While we benefi ted from the experience of

other Solarize groups around the country and within Vermont, as well as an excellent resource produced by the U.S. Department of Energy (the Solarize Handbook, which can be down-loaded at www.nrel.gov/docs/fy12osti/54738.pdf), we veered from standard practice.

Rather than selecting one installer, as is typi-cally done, we ended up with three, each offer-ing somewhat different options. In selecting these fi rms, we looked for not only price. We also looked for lots of experience and quality installations and we wanted to support local businesses. These were just some of the criteria in our request for proposals (RFP) that went out to installers. We also wanted residents to have a choice whether to install a system at their homes, or to buy into a “community solar” system that would be located somewhere else.

The RFP was released to potential installers on April 9th, proposals from installers were

Solarize Dummerston Task Force

Solarize Dummerston Contracts Taken by 23 Residentsdue May 7th, and three installers were selected in early June. We chose Soveren for com-munity solar, Integrated Solar for roof top and fi xed-ground-mount systems, and Solafl ect for ground-mounted solar trackers.

Since then, the committee has been working to generate interest and sales leads in Dummer-ston, and then work to monitor progress with the chosen venders. To do this, the committee has met weekly throughout this period. We created a web site www.solarize.dummerston.com, we printed up yard signs promoting the program, and we’ve held two pubic events: a Solarize kickoff event on June 30th followed by a Solarize 101 tax and fi nance event on August 27th at the Evening Star Grange—with a large turnout at both events.

With a deadline for contracts of September 30th, we’ve had tremendous success. To date, 128 people have signed up for the free site as-sessment, and 23 have signed contracts for a total of 103 kilowatts (kW) of solar.

Continued from page 5recyclable plastics 1-7.

For haulers, the state ONLY requires them to pick up plastics1 & 2. You now have a choice: you can still take plastics 3-7 to WSWMD, or regrettably, throw them into your trash.

So, as a law-abiding citizen, what should you do? Use your hauler for recycling, only dispose of your plastics 1-2 and throw away plastics 3-7, which will keep fi lling up valuable landfi ll space? Or Do It Yourself and use WSWMD, which will take all plastics 3-7, but may not be nearly as convenient?

This is the beginning of the confusion for some residents. The state and recycling fa-cilities know that recycling plastics 1-2 is both good for the environment and the economy. These plastics are worth money; they are still actively used in manufacturing. Plastic 1 (PETE

or PET) is reused for polyester fi bers (Polar Fleece), thermoformed sheet, strapping, soft drink bottles, tote bags, furniture, carpet, panel-ing, and (occasionally) new containers. Plastic 2 (HDPE) is reused for bottles, grocery bags, milk jugs, recycling bins, agricultural pipe, base cups, car stops, playground equipment, and plastic lumber. Plastics 3-7 are rarely reused these days, so they have little or no market value.

A facility that accepts recycled plastics will bale (bundle and compress) them. They will certainly remove plastics 1-2, and bale them separately. Plastics 3-7 are generally all baled together. Then the facility operator contacts all its buyers to ask the current price being offered for each type. Plastics 1 and 2 always get sold, but the price being paid for them can vary. Plas-tics 3-7 are often worth nothing or perhaps one

or two cents per pound. If they don’t get sold, sometimes they end up in landfi lls anyway. All the work to handle trash and recyclable materials costs the consumer – for pickup, transportation to a material handling facility, labor (separation by humans or machines), transportation from a material handling facility to either a buyer or a landfi ll, and landfi ll fees.

At this time (October 2015) the WSWMD is still able to fi nd an occasional buyer for plastics 3-7, so they do not end up in a landfi ll. This condition could change, as the methods for reusing these materials changes.

We are experiencing the shift from consump-tion back to sustainability and conservation of resources, and it will take a couple of gen-erations before we’re used to these changes. Keep the questions coming! I’m confi dent that together we’ll get through this.

Recycling Changes: The Next Step


organizations

Dummerston Community Center

Community Center Gets a Wonderful Facelift

Bruce & Catie BergShorty & Mary ForrettGail & Lew SorensonBarry & Elsa Waxman

David & Nina HutchisonKevin & Sara Ryan

Sponsors

Robert E. Dunklee & Sons72 Flat Street

Brattleboro, VT 05301254-5663

By Ann Davis

The Community Center is sporting a new paint job and is now bright and white. It also has had a little ground work done around the front of the building which neatens things up a little. A big “Thank You” to the United Way volunteers.

Renovations to the library storage room have been completed. This has been long

overdue. It is now bright and shiny, with a new window, light, and paint.

Gin Mill Bill entertained us with his coun-try songs and wit. Unfortunately we had to move everyone inside due to the heat. On the upside, there were no bugs and you could hear Bill much better. Bill will be with us again to share his songs, both country and gospel, in the near future. Join us for the fun of it!

Archer Mayor will be here for his annual book talk; this is always entertaining. Come and ask Archer all those questions you’re just dying to know the answers to. Just be aware - he is very evasive. The date for this event has not yet been scheduled. Keep checking. It will be in time for you to purchase the lat-est Joe Gunther mystery as Christmas gifts.

Just a reminder to those of you who walk your pets at the Center. Please remember your pooper scooper! The children and those who mow and/or rent the facility will thank you.

As always a very special thank you to those who support us in their many ways. Without you we wouldn’t be here.

Remember the Center when planning those parties and get togethers. It’s also a great place to hold conferences and meetings. With the handicap access, it’s available to everyone. The kitchen and playground are an added plus.

By Sallie J May, Secretary

It does not seem possible that another summer is rapidly drawing to a close, yet the leaves starting to color on the trees is a constant reminder that cooler weather is certainly right around the corner.

Evening Star Grange is at this moment gearing up for apple pie festival time and our well-attended Columbus Day Sunday craft fair, done in conjunction with the WDFD and the church.

Our suppers this year while well-attended, did not quite measure up to last year in at-tendance, due in part to other activities, weather (heat and rain), and perhaps bore-dom with the meal? Those who did come certainly did not go away hungry. We had to purchase a new freezer in September due to the untimely demise of one of ours. This was paid for in part with a special fund set up after the passing of long-time member Luella Frechette, and a plaque noting this will be purchased and placed on the door to honor her and her many years of service to the Grange and to our suppers and other

functions. We have movement classes going on at the Grange on Friday mornings this fall and the Vermont Theatre Company will be doing their fall production of Neil Simon’s California Suite in November. Directed by Newfane’s Robert Ducharme, this is a really great comedy so hopefully many of you will attend for a fun night out.

We look forward to a winter filling up with rentals for dances, meetings, and par-ties, so if you are thinking about reserving the Grange for a family party, wedding, etc., please call Ruth Barton, events coordinator, at 254-1128, and reserve your time. New members are always welcome. Call Sallie at 257-0387 for details and an application, or feel free to come to a meeting on the 2nd or 4th Monday at 7 p.m., and we will fi ll you in on all the details.

Evening Star Grange #154

Grange Freezer Purchase Honors Luella Frechette

123 Ryan Road

Brattleboro N. KOA CampgroundCabins • Tents • RVs

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

802 254-5908 www.brattleborokoa.com

DAN SNOW STONEWORKSForty years a’building

Dan Snow & Elin Waagen


organizations

Carolyn Mayo Brown & Gregory BrownMark and Lee TiceMichelle Cherrier & Philip GoeppLen Oppenheim

Sponsors

By Susanna GriefenPastor, Dummerston Congregational Church

The Dummerston Congregational Church thanks all of our members, neighbors, and friends who helped make the apple pie festival such a wonderful community event.

This fall, the church has formed a search committee in anticipation of the retirement of Pastor Susanna Griefen next year. While there have been poignant moments, the church wishes Susanna well and looks to the future with confi dence and hope.

Advent begins November 29th. The town tree will be lighted at 4 p.m. with caroling, followed by cookies and hot chocolate in the church kitchen.

Sunday, December 6th the greening of the church will happen after worship and a simple lunch. All are welcome to come make wreaths and swags and prepare the church for the season.

The church mitten tree will be in the back of the sanctuary from December 6th through 20th. All are invited to bring warm socks, gloves or mittens to donate to the Drop-In Center.

The church school is preparing the pageant The Worst Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. All children of the com-munity are invited to participate or attend. This will involve after school rehearsals. Please call the church offi ce for more infor-mation.

Christmas Eve services will be at 4 and 7

Dummerston Congregational Church

Pie Festival a Community Success!p.m. The early service of lessons and carols and candle lighting is very child-friendly. The later candlelight service will include music by the choir and a Christmas story by Mark Brown. The Christmas Eve offering will go to the Drop-In Center.

The church youth group meets at church most 1st and 3rd Sundays from 11-1 p.m., and for fun and service projects at other times. All youth in grades 5-10 are welcome regardless of church affi liation.

The will be community pot-luck and games nights on November 20th, January 15th, and February 12th. All are welcome. Bring a dish to share and a favorite game or puzzle.

The church collects food and non-perish-ables for the Drop-In Center all year. Dona-tions may be left in the church entry.

Meeting space is available for private rental for a nominal fee and for community groups.

Weather cancellationAs a church on a mountain, we cancel wor-

ship in hazardous driving conditions. Check WTSA 96.7FM or WKVT 92.7 or call the church offi ce. Worship is at 9:30 a.m. through December and 10 a.m. January through March.

The Dummerston Congregational Church an Open and Affi rming Congregator of United Church of Christ. It is a community church committed to service to anyone in need. It is a warm and friendly fellowship with an active church school and youth group. All are wel-come to worship and to all church activities. For more information, please contact Pastor Susanna Griefen, 257-0544, [email protected]. Or go to www.dummerstonchurch.org

and the church Facebook page.

Black Lives MatterAs part of an interfaith witness in response

to the deaths of unarmed black people at the hands of law enforcement offi cers, after thoughtful discussion the Dummerston Con-gregational Church placed a “Black Lives Matter” sign on the church lawn. Some asked, “Don’t all lives matter?” Of course they do. The church mission statement read, in part, “every person is a beloved child of God.” But it also commits us to” be compassionate, generous and faithful servants in our work for justice and peace; and not be silent in the face of prejudice, injustice, and exclusion.” In a time of tension and despair, we felt it important to join our voice to those protesting the prejudice and injustice of recent events. “Black Lives Matter,” should be a truism. All of us agree that they do. The controver-sy in the slogan comes from an assumption that it means “only black lives matter.” But someone explained that if you were at dinner and everyone was served but you, you might protest, “Hey, I need to eat!” If the response was, “Everyone needs to eat,” that would not address the problem you were protesting. The implied word in your complaint was, I need to eat too; not only I need to eat. All lives matter. Police lives matter. Black lives matter. This is not the only witness the church will make in our commitment to “not be silent in the face of prejudice, injustice, and exclusion.’ But it is an important one. The sign has been stolen twice, in our small town. We’d like it back. It is important to us.

Alvino & Bea FantiniAllan & Sally SeymourMilt & Barbara Gilmore

Sam & Gincy BunkerRip Lhamon & Frita Ferguson

Marcy Hermansader & Jonathan Flaccus

Sponsors D!""#$%&'( C'()$#)*&+'(*, C-!$.-An Open and Affi rming Congregation WORSHIP 9:30 A.M. through December

10:00 A.M. January—MarchChristmas Eve 4 P.M. and 7 P.M.

REV. SUSANNA GRIEFEN 257-0544 • [email protected]

www.dummerstonchurch.org

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 • [email protected]

Bill McKimPIANIST

Classical Music or Show Tunes For Any Occasion

257-7767


organizations

Compliments ofPriscilla Svec, P.T.

Practicing Holistic Physical ! erapy126 Main Street, Putney

387-4799

By Karen LaRueLibrarian

Editor’s Note: The last two submissions to the Views from the library were mysteri-ously misplaced, and did not appear in print. We apologize to Karen LaRue and to the devoted following of the library for this oversight. We are printing the following paragraph from the summer issue article to let the community know of the many businesses and individuals who contributed to the success of the library’s annual geranium festival. The weather cleared up at exactly the right

time for our geranium festival on May 16th and remained beautiful for the whole day! We had a successful book sale going on in the big room of the Community Center, a silent auc-tion happening in the library, a food tent with a barbecue, and, of course, had colorful gerani-ums for sale. Our gratitude to the many Silent Auction donors including; Brown & Roberts, Putney Co-0p, Agway, True Value, Baker’s Hallmark, Landmark Trust, Hannaford’s, Lisa Blake, Ramunto’s, Paws to Claws Pet Grooming, Panda North, Basketville, Over the River Day Spa, Vermont Artisan Designs, Paul LaRue, and David Patriquin. Thank you to the wonderful volunteers who helped make it happen and to everyone that came out to support the Library!

• • •The kids are back at school now but we

had some great programs for them this sum-mer with our hero-themed summer reading program. A special thanks to the Windham County Humane Society for visiting with Mavis and to Trevor Houle, the West Dum-merston fi refi ghter who came over with a fi re truck and showed off his knowledge and the fi re equipment. We also enjoyed seeing the live hawk and other animals that Mike Clough brought over from the Southern Vermont Natural History Museum. You can see some pictures of these and our other programs by going to facebook.com/dummerstonlibrary. You don’t need to have a Facebook page to

Lydia Taft Pratt Libray

Many Contribute to Geranium Day Successview our public page and it is a good way to fi nd out what is going on at the library. You can also go on our new webpage at library.dummerston.org. As a reminder, from our webpage you can access the library’s online card catalog that I am in the process of creat-ing. You can also search the catalog by going to directly to it at http://opac.libraryworld.com/. Enter Lydia Taft Pratt Library for the name, no password is necessary. Search for new additions by typing LTPL and the year and month followed by an asterisk like this, LTPLN 201504*. By the time you read this I hope to have most of the fi ction titles entered

into the online catalog system. In case you are still looking to read Harper

Lee’s Go Set a Watchman (I really enjoyed it), we have two copies available. By the time this is published the latest installments from Archer Mayor, David Baldacci, and Louise Penny will have arrived. If mysteries aren’t your thing, come check out Jonathan Fran-zen’s Purity, Garth Stein’s A Sudden Light, Hannah Rothschild’s Improbability of Love or many others that will be new additions to your library. With summer over we have resumed Saturday hours with the help of our wonder-ful volunteers. Stop in. We’d love to see you!

continued from page 1said, which was clearly reflected in his license plate. “He was also in-volved with the Grange and emergency manage-ment. When he could, he helped out with deliver-ies for the wood pantry. He was a good guy.”

Sallie Mae told me that Larry has been a member of the Grange since the early 90’s. “He’s been a rock, she told me. “He was on the executive and building committees, and was the chaplain who was in charge of the annual memorial program to honor members who died in the past year and who took part in the opening and closing ritual of the meet-ing. He was cool, calm, and collected, and if something needed to be done for the Grange, he’d take care of it. His shoes aren’t going to be fi lled.”

Jean Momaney worked with Larry on emergency management; he was the emer-gency management director. His visit to our house with the batteries for the radio was part of his emergency management re-sponsibilities. But Jean’s memories of Larry were personal. “He loved Dummerston and any way he could help, he did. He used to collect day old bread at the bakery and take it around to people who he knew needed it. He had a neighbor who had heating problems. He’d go to Larry and Larry would take him down to get kerosene. He was always doing

good deeds – always. If somebody needed something, he’d help him in a flash, and never expect a thank you.

“We always talked about hunting, but I didn’t know before the funeral that he never shot a deer. He loved hunting, he loved blue grass, and you always knew where he’d be on Saturday night – at the car races. He’d come to the Community Center with Carol when Gin Mill Bill was playing because he loved country music.”

“He was an old Vermonter,” Jean con-cluded. “He was a really nice guy. He always seemed to know what you were interested in – like hunting for me, or politics, and would say, ‘Hey Jean, what do you think about…’ He was easy to get along with and never had a bad word to say about anybody. We were privileged to know a special person.”

Rest in peace, Larry. You were a good neighbor to all of us and served your com-munity in so many ways.

Larry Lynch Death A Big Loss to the Community


[email protected]

school news

Dummerston School Welcomes New Staffby Jo Carol Ratti

Principal

There are exciting changes that mark the 2015-2016 school year. Some of this year’s more notable changes are in staffi ng. Stella White, Dummerston School’s Administra-tive Assistant for 28 years retired in June and was replaced by Jenn Martyn. Mrs. Martyn brings both administrative and information technology (IT) experience to her new posi-tion, and she is the fi rst person you will see when you enter the school’s main offi ce. We also welcome Matt Hatfi eld as our new head custodian. Mr. Hatfi eld brings a good deal of building management experience to Dum-merston School, and both Mr. Hatfi eld and Mrs. Martyn took extra care this summer to ensure that the school looked clean, safe and welcoming for students’ fi rst day.

Jenn O’Neill is our new school counsel-or. She is here on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays each week. Ms. O’Neill came to us from Academy School where she served as the Assistant Principal for the past fi ve years. She brings a wealth of classroom, administra-tive, and counseling experience to her new role and we’re excited to have her here. In addition, Deborah Ayer is fi lling in for our 4th

grade teacher, Molly Stoner, who is on leave through November.

This year you will also see a familiar face in a new location. Mrs. Glabach Royce (Mrs. G.) is our 6th grade homeroom teacher and our grade 5 and grade 6 science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teacher. She is fi lling in for Mr. Glennon while his leave of absence continues. Mrs. G. worked with our upper grade team this summer in our ef-fort to expand our middle school humanities instruction and defi ne a more inclusive STEM program in grades 5-8.

The Dummerston School sports teamsare alive and well and playing some serious soccer this season. Our soccer coaches, Ron

Svec (girls) and David Dunn (boys), worked hard getting our teams in shape for league and tournament play and it appears to be paying off. Thanks again to all the parents and friends who transport our students to games and who come out, regardless of the weather conditions, to support our teams.

To parents with preschool-aged children…Dummerston School has partnerships with a number of preschools and daycare providers in the area. These partnerships allow access to funds for preschool certifi cation, profes-sional development, and tuition incentives for parents. If you have questions about preschool

partnerships with Dummerston School, you can call Janice Stockman, our Early Childhood Coordinator at 802-254-3755.

In closing, please know that Dummerston School welcomes your participation in our school community. Dummerston is blessed with a large group of wonderful parents and friends who generously contribute their time, talents, and energy to our school. Please con-sider being an active part of all that goes on here. You can fi nd more information about our school on our website: www.Dummerston-School.com.

Our 8th grade scientists: bottom row (l-r): Bram Tabachnick, Corey Dunn, Dylan Carrasquillo; center row (l-r): Ethan Bristol, Jesse Jerome-Wrenn, Ilen Pandelaki, Megan Rabideau, Kelsey Houghton, Marika Vandervalk, Amelia Glickman; top row (l-r): Jacob Chambers, Travis Meggiolaro, Silas Sherman, Brandon Dulmaine, Maxwell Albright

Cheryl Wilfong & Bill McKim

Mary Lou & Bill Schmidt

Ron & Jo-Ann Tier

Tonia & Whit Wheeler

Elizabeth Catlin & Jared Flynn

Sponsors


by Linda Rood

When I learned that Go Set a Watchman, the fi rst novel of Harper Lee, was going to be published by HarperCollins for the fi rst time this past spring, I cynically decided I wasn’t going to read it, but when my sister-in-law, whose opinion I respect, said she enjoyed it, I gave in. If you listened to all the media hype, then you know that in this book Scout Finch is an adult, and Atticus is in his seventies, and Maycomb is experiencing the changes wrought by Brown vs. the Board of Education in 1954 and the boycotts and sit-ins of the civil rights movement. Atticus, struggling with these changes, is revealed to be a racist (though not a white supremacist), and I had decided I didn’t want to have my hero tarnished.

In my opinion, the hype was just that; ex-aggerated spin to drum up some interest and controversy (and profi ts). Watchman is a fi rst draft and as such is of uneven quality. That in itself makes it interesting to read because it allows us to learn something about the fi ction writing process. Harper Lee’s astute editor knew this book wouldn’t succeed, and advised her to write the childhood story, from a child’s point of view, and that’s how we got To Kill a Mockingbird. In Watchman the fl ashbacks to Scout’s childhood are the most vivid and skillful sections, and we can recognize the Harper Lee we know from Mockingbird. Plus, we get to read some more stories about Jem and Scout, and fi nd out some things we didn’t know.

In the new book, Scout comes home to Maycomb from New York City at age twen-ty-six, and, seeing her hometown through new eyes, understands realities that she had not been able to comprehend as a child. In what is surely a universal adult experience, she learns to see her father as a human being, and not the paragon she had always thought him to be.

Not to worry; Atticus is still himself in his dignifi ed and understated way, and I did not

Good Books

Atticus Finch Character Deepened in New Lee Bookfeel disenchanted as I had feared, just more informed. If you loved To Kill a Mocking-bird, I think you will fi nd Watchman worth reading. It might even be a good idea to give Mockingbird a quick re-read to prepare. I’d love to discuss it.

The greatest pleasure of my summer was the re-discovery of Wallace Stegner. I read Crossing to Safety (Penguin Books, 1987), a novel he wrote toward the end of his life.

In it, the main characters are in their mid-sixties, visiting their old friends at their summer home in northern Vermont. This situation provides the opportunity to tell the story of the close friendship between two couples, and to ponder love that endures, loyalty among friends, and the qualities of a good life. The prose is refreshing, the voice is wise, the descriptions are exquisite, and it was a soothing treat to experience this book. I’m now reading his Pulitzer Prize winner, Angle of Repose (Penguin, 1971), set in 19th century California, and I am totally engaged.

Two travel memoirs were good reading this past summer as well: Travels With Epicurus by Daniel Klein (Penguin, 2012) and Travels in Vermeer by Michael White (Persea Books, 2015). Both of these books came to my attention through the Sunday New York Times. Daniel Klein studied phi-losophy in college, and at the age of 72, travels to the Greek island of Hydra, which he had visited throughout his life. Wishing to learn about the best way to live out old age, he brings along his philosophy books to see what the ancients had to say on the subject, and also observes the people of the island who are famous for aging well. He does fi nd some answers, which I won’t spoil for you, and it’s an engaging discussion of a subject that has come to be of interest to me lately for some reason.

The other book, by Michael White, a poet who teaches at the University of North Carolina, tells the story of a project that he engaged in as a way to heal himself after a painful divorce. On a trip to Amsterdam, he

wanders into the Rijksmuseum and discov-ers the magic of Vermeer. He decides to spend the next year visiting 20 of the only 35 Vermeer paintings in existence in the world. I happen to love Vermeer, so this idea intrigued me. He travels to The Hague, Delft, London, Washington DC, and New York City to accomplish his goal. His approach is scholarly, and we learn much about the artist in addition to learning the author’s responses to the paintings. We learn the touching story of his life, observe his dubious endeavors to fi nd companionship via match.com, and dis-cover the outcome of this passionate search for healing. I’m tempted to follow his trail, to see the paintings, and would take this book along as my guide.

What’s next? More Stegner for sure.

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

""".#$%&'($)&*+,&-.(./

continued from page 3service in Dummerston? How shall we write our regulations so that they balance the priority to protect undeveloped land with the need to make phone calls?

If you have the answers to any of these questions, or are interested in any issues that may have to do with our town plan or zon-ing, please come to a meeting. The planning commission’s regular meetings are on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the town offi ce. The agenda and minutes are posted on the Commission’s page of the town website. Meetings are always open to the public.

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), and Sarah Bergh. Written comments are also welcome and can be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to the town offi ce.

Revised Zoning Bylaw Adopted by Selectboard


Passings

Rozalin Bandish 6-12-14

Pauline Mary Smith 6-14-15

Anna Bond 6-21-15

Larry Lynch 10-5-15 Briele Skylin Smith 7-10-15

Birth

continued from page 1the future, in which we will place newspaper articles, pictures, written accounts, post-ers, etc. of happenings in Dummerston. Hope-fully someone from the church, the Grange, the Community Center, and the public in general, will bring to Tom (or anyone connected to the histori-cal society), anything pertaining to happenings in Dummerston, their families, organizations, charities, etc., so that it can be placed in this box, which will be kept until such time as it is needed. The more people who par-ticipate, the more accurate a record will be available. Call Tom at 257-0950 or Gail Sorenson at 254-9311 to arrange to leave something for the box.

Are you looking for a holiday gift, or just a gift in general, a little something that can be mailed without great expense? If you are, our 2016 calendars are

available as are our Dummerston Covered Bridge tee shirts in both red and blue. Both are available at the historical society or by

contacting Jody (254-9037) or Gail (254-9311) to arrange to pick something up. Calen-dars will be available at the town offi ce as well.

Braving the rain to break ground for the historical society’s schoolhouse addition are (l to r): Ruth Barton, Cindy Wilcox, David, Ryan, Jody Norman-deau, Gail Sorenson, Chuck Fish, Muriel Taylor, Sallie Mae, and Carolyn Goldsmith.

DUMMERSTON

Wood PantryDry ! rewood available for those in a pinch

Contribution in return to the Dummerston Church Deacon!s Heat Fund appreciated, if able.

Donations of wood to the Pantry stockpile also appreciated.

To request wood or arrange a donation of wood, CONTACT: Charlie Richardson, 254 6963

Society Creating Annual History Boxes

Church and community volunteers work together to sell 1471 pies at this year’s apple pie festival.

Photos courtesy of Roger Turner




By Bill Schmidt

Many of us in town heat in whole or part with wood and so now, with winter at hand, we need to fi nish bringing in the wood or completing our woodpile if we haven’t al-ready done so.

This winter’s fi rewood is now mostly in for Mary Lou and me. We need 6-7 cords to get us through the winter with a wood furnace, wood stove, and fi replace that heats our 1791 house and an offi ce in another building. We ended last winter with about 2 cords left over to give us a start on this winter’s sup-ply. Work on the remaining 4-5 cords that are now needed began in November 2014 when I put down some hardwoods – maple, beech and black birch – that were poor qual-ity, timberwise, or needed to be culled out in favor of better nearby trees. These trees were then bucked and the chunks were split, stacked along a log road, and covered. I was more than halfway to my goal of 4-5 cords for winter 2016.

Last winter’s severe cold, snow, and then very wet and muddy log roads with three places in them that my tractor couldn’t ne-gotiate without getting stuck, kept me from getting back into the woods until May, at which time I felled fi ve good size trees for the remaining fi rewood I needed. I worked them up and stacked and covered most of the wood soon thereafter. This wood extended the stacks I made the previous fall.

In late August I got an offer I couldn’t refuse. Three young men were available to help me bring the fi rewood in to the house basement. This is work I had done mostly by myself in previous years but having turned 80 this year, fi rewood work is getting a bit more challenging physically. This is defi nitely the case when it comes to bringing in 11-12 loads in a pickup. Much as I’ve enjoyed all aspects of fi rewood work and the exercise I’ve gotten in it over the past 30 years, I’m ready now to share some of this exercise with others, especially when it comes to bringing wood

in. I didn’t turn down the offer.As an aside it’s worth noting here that each

piece of fi rewood after a tree is felled and bucked – is handled a minimum of 5 times, and some pieces 8 or 9 times by the time they go into the furnace, a wood stove, or the fi replace. Firewood work is WORK!

Now comes the puzzlement. As I helped load the truck I noticed that some of the pieces were very light. It was as if they had dried out over two or three years, not a few months. They were unusually dry. I’m refer-ring mostly to maple here, some of which

Exceptionally Dry Firewood: A Mystery

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 [email protected].

was put down last November and the rest in May. Why this is so baffl es me. I like dry fi rewood but not this dry. Wood that’s too dry produces little heat, doesn’t last long and can cause creosote problems. My aim is to have fi rewood with 20-30% moisture content. The moisture content of some of this wood is well below that.

I’m looking to fi nd out how this happened. It’s a situation I’ve never encountered in my experience with fi rewood over the years. If anyone has had a similar experience or has thoughts about it, let me know.

Make sure to get yours at the Town Of! ce

or by callingJody Normandeau

(380-9027) or

Gail Sorensen (254-9311)

2016 Scenes of Dummerston Calendar Now for Sale

By Bruce WhitneyWindham & Windsor Housing Trust

The Home Repair Program through the Windham and Windsor Housing Trust helps homeowners address critical health and safety issues as well increase the energy effi ciency of their homes.

Through low cost loans, fl exible terms and support with identifying a contractor and project oversight, the Home Repair Program may be just the help you need. The program covers the following:

• Rehabilitation to resolve health and safety issues such as roof, plumbing, electric, and heating repairs.

• Well and septic repair or replacement.• Rehabilitation needed to meet Housing

Quality Standards or correct municipal or state code violations.

•Access modifi cation for elderly or disabled

homeowners through collaboration with the Vermont Center for Independent Liv-ing.

• Energy effi ciency improvements.The Home Repair Program staff will help

you:• Fill out your application• Determine the scope of work• Obtain bids from contractors• Monitor the construction processTo get started visit http://www.w-wht.org/

homeownership-center/rehab-loan-program/ or call Tara at 802-246-2119

This program is generously funded by a VCDP grant awarded by the Vermont Depart-ment of Housing and Community Affairs. We are also grateful for funding from the Towns of Brattleboro, Rockingham, Weathersfi eld, Putney, Newfane, Dummerston, and Ludlow, as well as a generous grant from Neighbor-works America.

Help with Home Repairs Available Through WWHT Program


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 [email protected] Mgmnt Coordinator

Dawn Hubbard 257-4431Evening Star Grange Ruth Barton 254-1128

or [email protected] Fire Chief Rick Looman 258-1731Fire Warden Marty Forrett (h)387-2180

(w)254-9877Deputy Fire Wardens Charlie Richardson 254-6963 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 [email protected] Garage Lee Chamberlin 254-2411Town Offi ce Pam McFadden 257-1496

[email protected] Theatre Company 258-1344Views of Dummerston [email protected] 254-3730Websites: Offi cial Town www.dummerston.orgMunicipal Calendar http://calendar.dummerston.org

Local Interest www.dummerston.com

OngoingDummerston Town Calendar:

http://tcalendar.dummerston.org

Movement classes Evening Star Grange, Friday morinings

Community Pot-luck and Games Nights Dummerston Congregational Church, Fridays: November 20th, January 15th and February 12th. All are welcome. Bring a dish to share and a favorite game or puzzle.

November6–8, California Suite by Neil Simon12–15 Vermont Theater Company

Evening Star Grange29 Christmas tree lighting

4 p.m., Dummerston Center

December6-20 Mitten Tree at DCC

Dummerston Congregational Church. Bring socks, glove or mittens

February 201620 Town property taxes due by 5 p.m.

March 20161 Town meeting

Elementary School 10 a.m.

PRESORTED STANDARDU.S. Postage PAID

PO Box 468West Dummerston VT

05357

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Views of Dummerston - 2015#4 - Fall

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