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(10/22/20 1:56pm)
Civil rights activist Angela Davis will speak to the college over Zoom on Wednesday, Oct. 28 from 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. The event will be largely audience-driven, focusing on pre-submitted questions followed by a live-audience question and answer session. Community members can submit questions at go/askangela.
“Angela Davis is perhaps the foremost living civil rights icon,” said Elizabeth Callaway ’21, co-executive of the Middlebury College Activities Board (MCAB) Speakers Committee. “She is a renowned academic and trailblazer in every line of work that she engages in.” Callaway is an organizer of the event alongside co-executive Anna Spiro ’21.
Davis is a founding member of the Critical Resistance, an organization dedicated to abolishing the prison-industrial complex in the United States. She was also a leading member of the Communist Party USA, appearing as their vice-presidential candidate on the ballot in 1980 and 1984. Her academic work focuses on the intersection of race, sex and social consciousness.
“We think that she is a wealth of information that students would really enjoy engaging in at this time,” Callaway said. “We and our co-hosts decided that it was extremely necessary to have this event before the election.”
MCAB, the Black Student Union and Distinguished Men of Color will co-host the event.
For more information about the event, visit go/angela.
(07/14/20 4:28am)
Over 160 students have signed a petition requesting that the college allow students currently abroad to participate in the July housing draw with other students.
The petition came after an announcement on June 26 from the Residential Life Office that all international students and students currently abroad, regardless of their plans for fall semester, will only be allowed to participate in the later housing draw occuring in August. The college has since clarified that statement, saying in an email on June 30 that students who know that they can return in the fall should participate in the July housing draw.
“We cannot and will not be isolated from our domestic peers in an aspect so defining of our college life as our residential experience,” the petition read. The document, co-authored by members of the International Students’ Organization (ISO) executive board, asked for one of two solutions — either allow students to participate in the July housing draw, or set aside specific spaces for international students. By isolating certain students to the August housing draw, the initial announcement prevented roommate groups from including both domestic and international students.
“One overarching goal [of the petition] was to highlight that international students, and students abroad in some cases, are affected disproportionately because of certain decisions made by the college,” said Smith Gakuya ’23, a co-president of ISO, in an email to The Campus. “Since these groups face unique challenges, we want to ensure that their needs are considerably met.”
Arthur Martins ’22.5, the other co-president, agreed. “International students always feel as if we are an afterthought in whatever decisions are made by the administration,” Martins said in an interview with The Campus. “The problem was solved by adding one sentence to the email.”
To exemplify this feeling, the petition referenced the evacuation of campus in March, a process which was particularly stressful for international students.
A second goal of the document was to highlight the ways in which international students are sometimes treated as a homogenous group with identical needs. “People are tired of feeling that they’re not valued,” Martins said. “And I think it sends us a strong signal, especially right now when we’re in such a vulnerable position.”
The petition also asked for clarity surrounding the July 6 deadline to withdraw from the fall semester. A second follow-up email, sent to international students on July 1 by Kathy Foley, the director of International Student and Scholar Services, clarified that international students who are unsure of their travel plans do not have to decide by that deadline.
Some students, such as Michelle Liu ’22, the director of programs at ISO, think that the college’s response is insufficient.
“I believe the administration is passive on this issue and should be taking more active steps and demonstrating some genuine effort to help the international community and everyone at Middlebury,” Liu said in an email to The Campus.
Martins encouraged all Middlebury students to take part in the conversation. “If there are a lot less international students on campus and it’s a less vibrant and colorful campus,” Martins said, “then let that be a reminder that we are part of this community, and we all have a responsibility to ensure that everyone in this community is supported and valued.”
Middlebury students can sign the petition here.
(06/25/20 8:36pm)
The race for Vermont governorship continued for the Democrats last week in a debate between the three candidates, Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, former Vermont Secretary of Education Rebecca Holcombe and attorney Patrick Winburn. The three gubernatorial hopefuls discussed issues including re-opening the state, police reform and climate change in a forum hosted on Facebook on June 15.
The debate was hosted by the Addison County Democrats and Dave Silberman, who is running for High Bailiff of Addison County. John Flowers of the Addison Independent and Hattie LeFavour of The Campus moderated the debate.
Holcombe remained focused on larger, systemic issues throughout the debate, opening with a call for sustainable solutions to crises of democracy, the economy, racial justice and the environment. She voiced strong support for police reform, climate change initiatives and expanding early childhood education, linking each to broader issues such as raising minimum wage, finding affordable housing, reinvesting money in Vermont and creating jobs by committing to renewable energy sources.
“If we are going to be an equitable state, we need to work at every level and every sector to do that,” Holcombe said when asked about police reform. “We have been systematically dis-investing in opportunities and in social services for over thirty years.” Holcombe emphasized the need to collect accurate data on policing, as well as examining disproportionate discipline in schools based on race and class.
Holcombe differed from Winburn and Zuckerman on dairy farm bailouts, which Winburn strongly supported. “Dairy farmers have been the lifeblood of Vermont since the beginning of Vermont,” said Winburn. Throughout the debate, Winburn also took opportunities to affirm his commitment to healthcare for all, as well as regulating and taxing cannabis and redistributing part of the funds towards drug and alcohol education.
Zuckerman took more chances to focus on the need to defeat Governor Scott throughout the debate. When asked about Governor Scott’s reopening plan, he explained Scott’s failure to include business owners in discussions about reopening. Zuckerman also expressed that Scott should have been more proactive in unemployment compensation after the system experienced backlogs.
While all candidates supported climate change initiatives such as renewable energy, Zuckerman also advocated for joining the Transportation and Climate Initiative and investing in affordable, weatherized homes in Vermont towns to allow Vermonters to live where they work. Zuckerman is endorsed by Bill McKibben, the co-founder of 350.org and a professor at Middlebury College, while Holcombe was recently endorsed by Sunrise Middlebury.
A recording of the debate can be found on Facebook here.
Editor’s Note: Hattie LeFavour ’21 is one of the Managing Editors of The Campus. LeFavour played no role in the reporting. Any questions may be directed at campus@middlebury.edu.
(06/15/20 11:00am)
In 1928, Ben Corson and Roger Stoughton were investigating the reaction between carbonyl compounds and malononitrile in Warner Hall at Middlebury College when they discovered 2-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile (CS). Even though it garnered little attention when published in the Journal of American Chemistry Society, CS gas is now one of the most widely-used components in tear gas, a riot control agent that has been used in recent weeks on protesters against police brutality and systemic racism.
It also recently dominated the headlines after President Trump used it to clear protesters in Lafayette Square.
According to Dr. Simon Cotton, a chemistry professor at the University of Birmingham, most tear gases are not technically gases; they are made up of tiny, solid particles of substances like CS that are released in a spray or fog. These tiny particles act as an irritating agent, sending warning messages to the brain that primarily affect our respiratory systems and mucous membranes and causing burning sensations, tears and nausea. Tear gas will also adhere to any nearby surfaces, including the ground or buildings.
“Tear gases are designed to attack the senses simultaneously, intentionally producing both physical and psychological trauma,” said Dr. Anna Feigenbaum, a professor at Bournemouth University, in an email to The Campus. Part of Feigenbaum’s research focuses on how tear gas transitioned from being used by the military in World War I to being used as a riot control agent by law enforcement.
“Protest often involves a contest between activists and the state,” said Jim Ralph, professor of history at Middlebury. In an email to The Campus, Ralph described a confrontation that took place in Boston in March 1770, when the British fired at and killed five protestors who were upset at the military occupation of their city.
“As this example suggests,” said Ralph, “governments have often turned to the display (and the use) of force to seek to control crowds.”
While chemical weapons were first used by the French during World War I, CS gas was not used until the 1950s, almost thirty years after Corson and Stoughton discovered the compound. The British began investigating the properties and effects of the chemical at Porton Down, one of the oldest chemical warfare investigation sites in the world with a history of accusations of unethical human testing.
“I had a searing hot pain in my chest for two minutes,” reported one man who was exposed to CS at the research facility for five minutes. “My eyes watered a great deal, despite the goggles, and I was salivating markedly.” The British then shared their findings with the United States.
This sharing coincided with the rise of riot control forces that were distinct from other law enforcement in the 1900s. “The underlying theory of police response to crowd control into the 20th century was that the crowds quickly turned into mobs,” Ralph said. In 1968, this modus operandi was demonstrated as protestors at the Democratic National Convention were fired at by police officers, even as some police departments were beginning to develop tactics to prevent police from escalating conflicts.
“After civil unrest — and its repression — in the 1950s and 1960s, riot control became an industry of its own,” Feigenbaum said, describing the ways in which CS and other tear gases began to be marketed as a safe and humanitarian method of dispelling and defending against crowds in the United States.
“The idea has always been that using these chemicals for crowd control might actually be a more progressive way to use them,” Dr. Stuart Schrader said in an interview with The Campus. Schrader studies policing, counterinsurgency and racism at Johns Hopkins University. When asked whether police should use tear gas on protesters, Schrader said that police should not.
“At the same time, I do think it’s important to recognize that if the alternative is police firing guns into crowds, then CS is perhaps better,” Schrader said.
Part of the argument for the use of tear gas involves using it as a defensive tactic as opposed to an offensive tactic. According to Schrader, this rationale was used by the Johnson administration to justify the use of CS gas in Vietnam beginning in 1968, as they claimed that it was used in crowd control or to de-escalate situations.
“That was a misleading argument,” Schrader said. “Just as today, in what we’ve been seeing over the past couple of weeks, these chemicals are not being used in a de-escalatory or defensive fashion.” As the military realized the capabilities of CS gas in Vietnam in the late 1960, domestic law enforcement began using CS gas in similar ways against civilians.
In 1997, tear gas was banned from use in warfare by the Chemical Weapons Convention. However, there is a provision that allows tear gas to be used in riot control by domestic law enforcement, which has allowed for its legal use in the United States. When asked about the chances of a nationwide ban on the use of tear gas in the United States, Schrader was not optimistic.
“A national ban might be a pretty high hurdle,” Schrader said, citing the difficulty of passing any legislation through Congress, “but I do think it might be possible at a municipal level.” According to the Los Angeles Times, some lawmakers in Congress plan on introducing a bill to ban tear gas, while some cities, such as Dallas, have begun to ban tear gas.
When discussing the legality of tear gas, the terms “lethal” and “less lethality” tend to spark significant debates.
“CS is supposed to incapacitate, and it is supposed to be non-lethal,” Cotton said. “It is supposed to be lethal if you use it in confined spaces.” In recent protests, police have appeared to spray a gas to trap protesters in confined spaces, such as when a protest in Philadelphia moved to a highway on June 1.
Feigenbaum discussed the effectiveness of the term “less lethality” as a way to describe the relative violence associated with a weapon.
“If I shoot you in the foot, you are less likely to die than if I shoot you in the head,” said Feigenbaum. “However, this does not mean that the foot bullet is a ‘humanitarian agent’ whereas the head bullet is a violent weapon.”
In Cotton’s opinion, Corson and Stoughton should not be faulted for creating a harmful chemical compound.
“Chemistry is neutral in the sense that a molecule is not good or bad,” said Cotton. “Whether chemicals are good or bad depends on what they are used for.” He noted that the two chemists presented their findings publicly in the Journal of American Chemistry Society.
“Think about this,” said Cotton. “If they had found it with the intention of using it as a weapon of war, would they have reported it publicly? Of course they wouldn’t.”
Schrader, however, has a more nuanced perspective of the responsibility of chemists creating compounds that can be used for nefarious purposes, claiming that scientists do need to acknowledge the consequences of their discoveries.
“If it’s a profoundly unjust, racist world, then these technologies might be used to bolster or strengthen those inequalities,” Schrader said. However, Schrader also acknowledged the 30 year gap between the discovery of CS gas in Warner Hall and its use for crowd control.
“I don’t necessarily think that the responsibility rests on Middlebury’s shoulders, because there also needed to be policymakers who took this chemical and used it in the way that it was used.”
(05/14/20 10:00am)
After a period of indefinite delays due to the pandemic, the Middlebury Bridge and Rail Project has received approval from the state to restart on Monday, May 11. The project was first shut down on March 25, when the governor halted all nonessential construction projects across the state of Vermont as part of his “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order. Middlebury Bridge and Rail is currently the only project with out-of-state workers approved to restart in Vermont.
“The Middlebury Selectboard swung into action quickly after that to advocate for reopening the project,” said Jim Gish, community liaison for the project, in an interview with The Campus. According to Gish, the Selectboard immediately began holding meetings with senior management at Vermont Agency of Transportation and Vermont Rail, as well as Kubricky Construction, one of the main contractors for the project.
“Downtown shut down very quickly once the college sent students home,” Gish said. “The thinking was that this is an ideal time to get this done.” The project was supposed to shut down Main Street and Merchants Row to vehicle traffic for 10 weeks during the summer before the closure, but the town was also wary about closing down Main Street at the beginning of the economic recovery from the pandemic.
“The governor has been highly concerned with incidents of Covid-19 in New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire,” Gish said. “So he’s very keen to protect our borders, and make sure that the virus is not coming from out of state.”
This posed some problems for the project, as many of the workers for Kubricky live in Essex County, NY and commute to Middlebury. Kubricky came up with an extensive health and safety plan, including social distancing measures, requiring masks and gloves, testing the crew for Covid-19 before coming to Middlebury and monitoring the wellness of the crew once they arrived.
“The state was also asking that if workers came from out of state that they stay in Middlebury for a period of time, 12 days,” Gish said. “Just so that they’re not commuting back and forth.” Construction workers will be staying in Inn on the Green and Swift House Inn, two locally-owned inns in Middlebury. Lodging is considered part of the costs of construction and will be paid for by the Vermont Agency of Transportation.
“I think what will play an important role here is to see how the governor’s restrictions are eased over the next two weeks,” Gish said. “And to see how Kubricky and subcontractors make out in the field as they adapt to this new way of working.” A timeline for road closures has not yet been set.
The first crew to arrive this week in Middlebury is from Maine Drilling and Blasting, a subcontractor who will continue to install minipiles, small post-like structures, as part of supportive excavation work. In the coming weeks, Kubricky workers will begin to receive 40-ton precast concrete blocks at the south marshaling yard near Fifield Farm. These blocks will be organized and stored there for the summer shutdown.
“The town has made a real effort here to work with the state,” said Gish, “And we’re really pleased that the state has shown a willingness to work with us.”
For more information, visit Gish’s blog about the project at https://www.middleburybridges.org/project-blog.
(04/22/20 3:30pm)
Love — for food, for Middlebury and for each other — abounds in Middlebury restaurants. Whether nestled in an alcove by Bakery Lane or settled across from the railroad tracks on Seymour Street, business owners find joy in serving the Middlebury community alongside their favorite people.
Some businesses, such as Royal Oak Coffee, started with an incredible (and apropos) meet-cute. “We met at a coffee shop in Connecticut nearly a decade ago,” says Alessandra Delia-Lôbo, co-owner of Royal Oak Coffee. “It was an open mic night and I was performing. I saw Matt behind the counter and asked for his number!”
Matt and Alessandra, now married, opened Royal Oak Coffee almost a year ago, and serve a small menu of artisan coffee out of a space on Seymour Street. This fall, Recently, they opened a second location, Lost Monarch, to cater to college students.
“Our plan was always to open and run a coffee shop together, so it's been a dream come true,” said Matt and Alessandra in an email to The Campus. “We're really glad to be able to spend time together.” Before opening Lost Monarch, Matt and Alessandra would often serve coffee together. Since they opened their second location, Matt has mainly worked at Lost Monarch and Alessandra has focused on Royal Oak.
For others, it was Middlebury College and the town that brought them together.
“My mom and dad were both Middlebury grads. My dad was class of ’69, and my mom was class of ’72,” said Paris Rinder-Goddard, the current owner and manager of Fire and Ice Restaurant. “They both stuck around in Middlebury after graduation and both ended up working in area restaurants, Dog Team Tavern and Mister Ups.”
After partnering with Middlebury resident Adele Peirce, Rinder-Goddard’s parents opened Fire and Ice in 1974. Fire and Ice serves local- and regionally-sourced food amidst a collection of antiques, artworks and other memorabilia.
“Like many people, they dreamed of opening their own place,” said Rinder-Goddard of his parents. “Back then, it was a pretty small bar with live music.”
It was also this mutual love of food — and making it — that brought Caroline and Matt Corrente '06 together to create The Arcardian and Haymaker Bun Company.
“We met at Pistou restaurant in Burlington,” Matt Corrente said. “I was cooking and Caroline was a server. True to form, the only way to meet someone in the restaurant business is to work with them.”
Matt Corrente said that, at Pistou, the couple learned that they work really well together — both professionally and as a couple.
“We knew it would work, so we got married,” he said. “After a few moves and a quick stint in the nonprofit sector for Caroline followed by pastry school in Paris, we pretty much settled on the idea of doing our own thing some day.”
The Arcadian and Haymaker Bun Company opened in the fall of 2018. The space at 7 Bakery Lane hosts both a parisian-style bakery and a fine-dining Italian restaurant experience. In the mornings, Caroline takes over with the Haymaker Bun Company, a metropolitan-style cafe with coffees and pastries. At night, Matt takes over with The Arcadian, serving home-made pastas and fresh seafood.
Working in this type of setting, however, is not without its challenges.
“We love working together because it allows us to be a part of the same story and to grow our businesses together,” said Matt, “but those hours and the lack of time that we overlap with each other might also be the worst part.”
Rinder-Goddard also reflected on some of the challenges growing up at Fire and Ice.
“I started here when I was 11, washing dishes,” said Rinder-Goddard. “When you grow in a restaurant family, holidays mean different things to you — they mean working longer hours, longer days than you normally would.”
When asked about the challenges they face at their jobs, the owners of Royal Oak talked about their artisan approach to coffee.
“We take a tremendous amount of care when we're making our drinks and we have a pretty small but specialized menu,” said Matt and Alessandra Delia-Lôbo in their email to The Campus. “It's not a place that has a huge amount of offerings and that can be jarring to people that are used to a different kind of coffee shop experience.”
However, they knew that Middlebury was the right place for their coffee shop.
“We fell in love with the town and where it's situated,” said Alessandra. “We loved walking to the farmer's market, the kindness we experienced from strangers … and the town here nestled between two mountain ranges. It seemed perfect (and I think we were right)!”
At Fire and Ice, Rinder-Goddard runs the show with his half-brother, while his dad and step-mom are partners.
“[My parents] were both brought to Middlebury by the college itself, but they fell in love with the community that’s here,” Rinder-Goddard said. “I’ve joked with people that I’ve tried to move away, but have never succeeded.” Rinder-Goddard said some of his customers have been visiting Fire and Ice for around 50 years.
“People right away were so supportive and continue to be,” said Matt and Alessandra Delia-Lôbo. “It's really heartwarming and seriously amazing to feel the love from our customers in the way we do!”
Matt Corrente also feels a deep commitment to his customers at The Arcadian. This commitment motivated the restaurant’s recent move to takeout and delivery.
“We are built on customer service,” he said, “and the idea that at any given moment, in times of sickness or health, we need to be doing whatever we can to help bring comfort, joy, nourishment and pleasure to our guests and our community.”
Fire and Ice restaurant is temporarily closed. The Arcadian and Haymaker Bun Company are open Tuesday-Saturday 12–6 p.m. Call (802) 989-7026 or order online here. Royal Oak Coffee is offering order-ahead, window pick-up only service. Order online here or through the app Cloosiv, found here.
(04/16/20 10:00am)
What’s the current status of the project?
The Middlebury Bridge and Rail Project was delayed on March 25 by Governor Scott's Stay Safe, Stay Home order. The order stopped all non-essential construction projects in addition to mandating that Vermonters stay home unless performing essential tasks. It was recently extended through May 15.
The Middlebury town selectboard appealed to state officials on April 2 to ask the state to consider the Middlebury Bridge and Rail Project a “critical infrastructure” project. Approval would allow construction to continue on the project while downtown traffic is limited. The formal request included letters from the project contractor and Vermont Rail detailing the precautions that will be put in place to protect the health of workers if the project were to continue.
Jim Gish, community liaison for the project, confirmed in an email to The Campus that the project still has not been approved by state officials as of April 14. Unless the state approves construction to continue, progress will cease until May 15.
What is the Middlebury Bridge and Rail Project?
The Bridge and Rail Project, overseen by the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), will allow a passenger rail service to run from Rutland to Burlington for the first time since 1953. The project was originally estimated to cost around $71 million and is expected to be completed by 2021.
The project was supposed to close down Main St. and Merchants Row to vehicle traffic for ten weeks during this summer, prompting concerns from local businesses about losing customers during the busy summer season, as well as staff who would see their commutes changed. Depending on the state’s decision, this construction schedule may be altered.
The project’s main focus is replacing an old railway line with one that is continuously welded, resulting in smoother, faster transport for passenger rail. The latest stage in construction involves excavating a drainage manhole for stormwater between the two bridges and installing micropiles, small post-like structures, into the ground along Merchants Row. These micropiles are meant to support the rail corridor excavation.
Upon completion of the project, a tunnel that allows the rail to pass under Triangle Park will replace the two temporary bridges currently on Main Street and Merchants Row.
For more information, visit the Middlebury Bridge and Rail Webpage at www.vtrans.vermont.gov
Correction 7/30/20: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the Bridge and Rail Project had an estimated cost of $71 billion. The correct figure is $71 million.
(04/02/20 10:00am)
Middlebury businesses are facing increasing hardship after Governor Phil Scott issued a “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order for the state of Vermont on Tuesday, March 24. Issued as an amendment to the state of emergency declared on March 13, the order prohibits the in-person operation of non-essential businesses, forcing stores to resort to delivery and curbside pick-up when possible.
Certain organizations are exempted, including pharmacies, law enforcement and grocery stores. Generally, however, Vermonters are being asked to stay in place until at least April 15 — although Governor Scott can extend it at any time.
“I fully recognize the emotional, financial and economic impact of these decisions,” Scott said in a press release on Tuesday, “but based on the best science we have available, these measures are necessary.”
In a town where most stores rely on foot traffic and business from college students, these changes have precipitated lay-offs and other austerity measures.
Nancie Dunn, owner of Sweet Cecily, closed her business on March 18, “which was difficult and confusing and hurt my heart.” Sweet Cecily is located at 42 Main Street and sells unique gifts and artwork hand-picked by Dunn.
Like many business owners, Dunn had to lay off her employees upon closing. “Several [employees] have applied for unemployment benefits to tide them over, and I will be grateful when their first check arrives,” Dunn wrote in an email to The Campus.
Dunn will try to continue to make sales on Sweet Cecily’s social media accounts and website by shipping gifts to customers. Other stores, such as The Vermont Book Shop, have taken similar measures.
“We’re closed,” said Becky Dayton, owner of The Vermont Book Shop located at 38 Main Street. “Previously, we did curbside pick-up and delivery, but we can no longer continue to do so.” Even though customers cannot have books delivered directly from the store, they can continue to support the store by buying from their affiliated page at bookshop.org.
Hotels and other accommodation businesses, like the Swift House Inn, were forced to shut down completely.
“[The order] didn’t really affect us very much, because we have no reservations for the next three weeks, so we were closed by default anyway,” said Dan Brown, the innkeeper and owner of the Swift House, which closed on March 24.
While Brown says that the Stay Home mandate is the best solution to avoid overcrowding limited state resources, he acknowledges the strain that it puts on businesses.
“Expenses don’t stop when the closed sign goes up,” said Brown, who is hoping to receive support from the federal and local government. “We’ve laid off all of our personnel, but there’s recurring fixed costs that don’t go away.”
Restaurants in Vermont have been restricted to curbside-only service since March 17.
Some restaurant owners, such as Justin Wedge of Noonie’s Deli, feel pressure to continue serving customers to keep their businesses afloat. While Noonie’s laid off all employees on March 18, Wedge has continued to deliver and provide curb-side pick up to customers with the help of his wife, Meagan Oberly.
“I have elderly parents whom I live with, and it’s tough coming here,” Wedge said. “I’m trying to be as careful as I can.”
Wedge’s wife also suffers from an immunodeficiency called sarcoidosis, which may place her at heightened risk for Covid-19.
“We have to be here or else we’ll lose our deli,” said Wedge. “[My wife] is willing to take the risk, and I’m willing to take the risk. It’s a lose-lose situation for everyone.”
Despite these worries, Wedge tries to remain optimistic. “Hopefully, everyone will make it through. Things will get better,” he said.
Dunn of Sweet Cecily agreed.
“I know we will survive this,” said Dunn, “and at some point I’ll be reopened, planting pansies in my flower boxes and taking deliveries again with my staff, busy and happy.”
Click here for The Campus’s comprehensive guide to business closures in Middlebury.
(03/20/20 11:49pm)
It was the same message, again and again: this is going to hurt.
Town businesses are now floundering amid the outbreak of Covid-19 in Vermont — and most recently in Addison County — triggering responses from the state government and from local institutions. Middlebury College’s decision to transition to remote-learning after an extended March break has sent many potential customers packing, interrupting the normal flow of business. Local events and gatherings have also been cancelled en masse, creating unprecedented disruptions to the town’s commerce.
Take-out only
On Monday, Governor Phil Scott ordered all restaurants and bars across the state to close by Tuesday afternoon. Many restaurants in Middlebury are now under financial pressure in the face of these mandated closures.
“We’re going through a mass layoff,” Nate Davis of The Mad Taco told The Campus in a phone interview Wednesday night. “We offered all of our staff unemployment. We took out a payroll loan in the chance that further layoffs occur.”
[pullquote speaker="Nate Davis, The Mad Taco" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]We’re going through a mass layoff. We offered all of our staff unemployment. We took out a payroll loan in the chance that further layoffs occur.[/pullquote]
The Mad Taco, which opened last November, offered its employees a return date of April 6, but Davis believes the closure will last longer.
“Covid-19 has affected us dramatically,” Davis said. “We are wearing gloves, we’re wearing face protection — business has dropped off significantly.”
Mad Taco moved to a take-out only service, which is permitted under Scott’s shutdown, as of 6 p.m. on Sunday. This allows local businesses to continue their operations while mitigating the health risks employees may face during the outbreak.
For anyone looking to order from local restaurants in the coming weeks, Davis has a few pieces of advice: “If you’re going to call into any restaurant, Mad Taco or otherwise, pay over the phone with a card,” he said, suggesting patrons wait outside and call the restaurant when they arrive. “The less contact points, the better off we all are.”
The Arcadian, Haymaker Bun Company, Sabai Sabai Thai and American Flatbread all announced on Wednesday that they will also be closing their dining rooms and will move to take-out service only. Among these cancellations, the Middlebury Farmers Market announced on Facebook that it plans to host its outdoor market on Saturday per usual, from 9–12:30 p.m at the Exchange Street location.
https://www.facebook.com/MiddleburyFarmersMarket/posts/1563021190520811
Empty rooms expected
Although recent state regulations have yet to target the hospitality industry, Middlebury Inn General Manager John Zahn made it clear that the regulatory impact has spilled over into his sector. The Middlebury Inn closed in-person dining services at Morgan’s Tavern, the restaurant attached to the Inn, earlier this week, although it allowed customers to order food to their rooms.
Zahn said that with the closure of Morgan’s Tavern, lots of employees lost hours of work. “We’re hoping the ban doesn’t go past April 6,” he said. “We are trying to help [our employees] as much as possible.”
The inn is still offering rooms as usual, according to Zahn. Although the spring time is not their busiest season, Zahn noted that the inn receives lots of business from college parents travelling to and from athletic events, as well as for graduation in May. Zahn expects to lose customers due to the outbreak.
“It is very painful for our business, but our owners are committed and they want to do what’s right for the community and what’s right for employees,” he said. “We’ll just try to survive and hope the government helps with low interest loans.”
Zahn said that the outbreak of Covid-19 has been one of the most drastic events to the hospitality industry in his lifetime, along with the Gulf War and the fallout from the September 11 terrorist attacks. “I’m hoping that this is more short-term than those were,” he said.
Quiet aisles
Middlebury’s retail businesses also expect to suffer a lack of customers. Neat Repeats on Route 7 announced on Monday that it will be closed until the end of the month. The Makery, located at Hannafords Market, announced it would be closed until further notice as well.
Middlebury Discount Beverage owner Joe Cotroneo said in an interview last week that although he is lucky to have a mix of town and college customers, many retailers in town rely heavily on college patrons to support their businesses.
“With the months of April and May without sports, and without parents coming up on the weekend, that will be huge for some businesses that rely on just college business,” he said.
Dan McIntosh, owner of Forth N’ Goal on Main Street, told The Campus that the store will remain open unless forced to close.
“Sales will be down,” McIntosh said. “We are seeing lots of internet sales on our MiddleburyShop.com website, and it seems like maybe some parents or alumni who aren’t coming to town are shopping on our website. Hopefully, that will help us stay in business.”
For McIntosh, his biggest worry is the potential cancellation of Middlebury’s summer programs.
“The summer school is the most important piece of money that comes to the town of Middlebury during the whole year,” McIntosh said. “The summer school spends more money than the regular school — they come into town. They eat at the restaurants.”
Middlebury College has not announced any plans to cancel the 2020 Summer Language School session.
Performances postponed
Events spaces hosting events, pop-up stores and workshops, such as Bundle, have seen major cancellations and postponements for the month of March and April. Carrie Root, a local stain glass artist and Bundle’s interim-manager, says that the event-space non-profit began canceling events last week. This included her series of stained-glass workshops that was set to be held this Friday.
“Last week, I had to call it,” Root said. “Financially, it was a real hit,” she said, mentioning that she runs workshops after the holiday season due to slow sales.
A Middlebury College musician and high school student performers were among the Bundle cancellations. For an organization that books events 60 days out, Root said that management will have to wait to see what the outbreak does before they can reschedule events.
“The premise of Bundle is to connect community members and businesses, which is something that can’t happen right now,” she said. “We hope to come back when this is all over and still support small businesses and artists and the local community.”
For a complete list of Middlebury Businesses and their current status, visit experiencemiddlebury.org.
(03/05/20 11:10am)
Hundreds of Middlebury residents gathered at the town meeting at Middlebury Union High School on Monday night, approving all seven proposed articles. The town meeting, a manifestation of direct democracy, involved the discussion of several proposals, followed by a voice vote. Residents also reviewed and discussed information on three more legislative articles that were decided on Tuesday via Australian ballot.
The meeting featured first-time Moderator Susan Shashok, who replaced former Vermont Governor and longtime town meeting moderator Jim Douglas ’72. Shashok has previously attended the town meeting as a member of the selectboard — the town’s governing group of seven elected members — and was endorsed by Douglas last year after he announced he would not be running again for the position of moderator.
“[Douglas’s endorsement] felt pretty good,” Shashok said in a phone interview Wednesday. “He’s been a very good mentor to me during this process. Even though it’s big shoes to fill, I told everybody I’d have different shoes. Jim’s okay with that and so I’m okay with that.”
At the meeting, Middlebury Selectboard Chair Brian Carpenter read a year-in-review report, which mainly focused on progress of the Middlebury Bridge and Rail Project.
The town budget was approved without dissent and included increased funding for the replacement of public works equipment, such as the town’s 25-year-old street sweeper. Tax surpluses will be used to fund downtown projects like the railroad platform and updates to light fixtures.
The two most contentious articles of the night were Article 4 and Article 2, both of which allocated additional extra-budget funds to first responder services. Article 4 requested a $63,721 increase in appropriations for Middlebury Regional Emergency and Medical Services (MREMS).
Some residents expected money requests for first response care to be part of the town budget, and not presented as a separate article. But the the selectboard said it had not had enough time to review the MREMS allocation request to add it to the budget beforehand.
Opponents were concerned about giving such a large sum of money to a non-profit without the selectboard spending time to review the proposal. Advocates for the article however, claimed that emergency and medical services are essential.
“I understand and appreciate the concerns expressed regarding municipal appropriations for independent, non-profit entities,” said Ben Fuller, vice-chair of MREMS, in an email to The Campus. “That said, I also believe that the critical, life-saving services we provide put us in a slightly different category than most other non-profits.”
These concerns led to a motion to postpone consideration of the item, an action that Shashok said she hadn’t anticipated.
“We had one motion to lay the item on the table, and that’s very rare,” Shashok told The Campus. “I knew what to do, but I had to stop the meeting and double-check my notes just to make sure I had it right.”
The motion to table eventually failed, and Article 4 passed with an amendment to limit the increased funding to one year.
“I think it was the best solution to support them this one time, and make sure that the selectboard had full authority to vet and include what we feel is appropriate in next year’s budget,” Carpenter told The Campus.
Article 2, which allocated $80,000 to the Middlebury Police Department (MPD) for the purchase of new police cruisers, also incited discussion at the meeting. Residents pointed out that funds for vehicle replacement are an annual expenditure, not a one-time purchase. Police Chief Tom Hanley agreed and said during the meeting that he is not sure why the police vehicle allocation has not been added to MPD’s budget.
Discussions centered around the high wear and tear on police cars, which can be used for four years before requiring heightened levels of maintenance. In focusing on environmental concerns, the police department replaced one of its cars last year with a hybrid car. Though the cruiser is not yet in service in Middlebury, the department is considering purchasing two more hybrid cruisers this year.
Other articles dealt with 2020 tax collection dates and allocation of funds from the Cross Street Reserve Fund for water system improvements. The selectboard's goal is to complete the water system improvements before the state begins a repaving project throughout town.
“Ideally, we would not replace the roads and then dig them up again,” said selectboard member Heather Seeley at the meeting.
The meeting ended with discussion of other articles that would appear on the Australian ballot the following day, including Article 9, a proposition that allocates funds to flood resilience projects in East Middlebury. Article 8 proposed allocating $5,000 to the Turning Point Center, a non-profit that provides services to those suffering from substance abuse, and Article 10 proposed using $850,000 to rehabilitate dilapidated buildings near the police station. All articles passed with healthy margins on Tuesday, according to Carpenter.
Dave Silberman, attorney and Middlebury resident, spoke multiple times during the meeting.
“Democracy only works when people participate in it,” Silberman said. “I really feel that I’m exercising my civic duty.”
For Vermonters like Silberman, who values democratic participation, and Shashok, who considers herself a “democracy geek,” town meeting presents an opportunity to take advantage of an important tradition.
“I love Vermont’s town meeting,” said Fuller, the vice-chair of MREMS. “It’s an iconic tradition that helps preserve the sense of community in our towns and allows for the most direct and transparent form of democratic government.”
(03/05/20 11:02am)
The Middlebury Bridge and Rail Project, promising a passenger rail from Rutland to Burlington by 2021, will necessitate road closures on Merchants Row and Main Street between May 4 and Aug. 5. The town is currently working with Middlebury College administrators, in conjunction with the College’s 15-member Staff Council (MSC), to mitigate the potential effects of the project on staff commutes this summer.
Stacie Marshall, a member of the Staff Council who works in the Office of Advancement, said staff are most concerned about the increase in traffic the process will cause. Employees are also worried about delays, congestion and increased risk of accidents, according to a survey sent out by the MSC.
“Typically, I do need to get over the bridges somehow,” Ryan Clement, a data services librarian at Davis Family Library, told The Campus “[The project] will make me figure out a longer route around depending on the time of day.”
“Traffic will be much more congested throughout town with only having one bridge.” said Jennifer Pottinger, a customer services coordinator for facilities services.
At the Staff Council’s Jan. 31 meeting, it presented some written recommendations to the Senior Leadership Group (SLG), President Laurie Patton’s advisory council. These recommendations included providing options to work remotely, as well as shared office spaces north and south of town. Employees also proposed incentives for biking or walking to work, encouraging staff to use the bus or providing a shuttle for places south of town.
It is uncertain as to when the Staff Council will hear back from the SLG regarding these suggestions.
“I go across the Cross Street Bridge,” said Erin Goodrich, associate administrator of student life. “I assume that traffic will be very backed up.”
Merchants Row will be closed to traffic starting on May 4, with Main Street closures following on May 27. At that time, workers will begin replacing the two bridges with a tunnel and expanding Triangle Park. There will be no construction over Memorial Day Weekend.
In addition, Franklin Street, which runs from Davis Library to The Mill, will become one-way starting May 1 so that the town can add more parking spots within close walking distance of downtown.
“Parking is already hard if you don’t know where it is, ‘’ Clement said.
Both roads will reopen by Aug. 5, restoring all downtown parking.
Jim Gish, the community liaison for Bridge and Rail Project, predicts that the worst congestion will be during the first five to six weeks of construction due to extensive construction traffic in addition to the road closures.
“Middlebury and the Agency of Transportation have planned extensively for the downtown detour,” Gish said. “We will also be relying on the patience and good humor of the motorists who will have to contend with this temporary disruption.”
Some staff members are not concerned about the traffic changes. “I don’t have concerns for my own commute, because I live close to town,” said Carolyn Dahm, administrative coordinator for International Student and Scholar Services, who uses the bridges in her commute.
“I remember when the project started, they were building the temporary bridges,” said Clement, “and the impact was not as much as I’ve worried it will be.”
Throughout this spring, construction will entail installing timber lagging under and around the Main Street bridge, while sheet piles, used to stabilize railway lines, are installed near Seymour Street.
Jess Crossman, who works in Atwater Dining Hall, said she foresees an effect on local commerce. “I can definitely see it affecting small businesses,” said Crossman, who also works at Cafe Provence in Brandon. She said that an ongoing construction project in Brandon completed in summer 2019 had a negative effect on business at the cafe.
Still, Crossman echoed the sentiment reported by many local Middlebury business owners in The Campus this October. “I think the end result is pretty great,” she said, “if you can suffer through it.”
Road closures will coincide with the beginning of Middlebury language schools and Middlebury Reunion 2020, but Gish emphasizes that all stores will still be accessible. “All sidewalks will be open,” she said, “and Middlebury’s stores and restaurants will need their business.”
“I think if people really want to go somewhere,” said Dahm, “they will go somewhere.”
(02/27/20 11:00am)
Investigations are ongoing as police look for suspects in an armed robbery in East Middlebury. The initial incident occurred on the night of Jan. 6, when a man wearing green and dark-colored clothing, carrying a handgun, entered Mac’s Convenience Store a few minutes before 9 p.m. The suspect fired a round into the floor before confronting the clerk and taking an unknown amount of cash from the register. Upon leaving the establishment, the suspect fired an additional round at the ceiling, then fled on foot.
On Thursday, Jan. 9, the police were again called to the store to investigate another burglary, in which a suspect forced open a window and a door. The police are withholding what was stolen in this second incident.
For a town that experienced only five instances of violent crime in 2018, the robbery comes as a surprise. “Nothing like that happens out here ... This is usually a pretty quiet village,” said East Middlebury resident Linda Kelton. “It felt like we’ve been invaded – and we still don’t know if it’s someone from town [who is] and living among us, which is pretty unsettling.”
According to the Middlebury Police Department, no-one has expressed to the department feeling particularly unsafe or expressed heightened concern.
Mac’s was previously robbed in 2008 by Addison County Resident Anthony Carosella. According to a Middlebury police report, Carosella, 23, entered the store on Sept. 16 and demanded cash from the clerk while displaying a firearm. He fled the scene with an undetermined amount of cash. That fall of 2008, Carosella was involved in a involved in a conspiracy to distribute heroin and crack cocaine in Vermont that was led by individuals from Bronx, N.Y. During this time, Carosella also held up several pharmacies in Addison and Chittenden counties to steal pharmaceuticals. In 2011, Carosella pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 120 months in prison. He also has to pay $98,460.62 in restitution to businesses affected by these crimes.
In light of January’s robberies, Kelton, the East Middlebury resident, said that she has stepped up security measures at home — she makes it a point to lock doors and turn on her home alarm system every night — and has been more cautious with her belongings following the robbery.
“[The fact that it was an] armed robbery shook us up a little more than if it wasn’t [an armed robbery],” she said. “It made us realize [that] some people are just so desperate that they feel the need to do these things.”
The investigations are still ongoing, and anyone with information about either incident is asked to contact the Middlebury Police Department.
(12/05/19 11:01am)
The nationwide tiny house movement has come to Middlebury in the latest solution to affordable housing. Homes First, a grassroots organization founded and based in Middlebury, is hoping to bring a village of tiny houses to town as a form of affordable, dignified housing.
“It all started with one woman about a year and a half ago,” said Mary Beth Simons, one of the original members of Homes First. “She wanted to do something about the housing problem in Middlebury, and so she went to a housing coalition meeting.” That woman, Middlebury resident Andrea Galiano, was then introduced to Ingrid Pixley, a member of the Counseling Service of Addison County and dedicated Charter House Coalition, who shared similar ideas to Simons. They decided to team up to try and find a solution to affordable housing in Middlebury.
After reading an article about Homes First in the Addison Independent, Simons decided to join the team, which has met every two weeks for about a year. The meetings thus far have centered around how a tiny-house village can be feasible in Middlebury. According to Simons, Homes First is “just a small group of people that want to show a different model of sustainable housing for Middlebury.”
One of the main obstacles currently facing the tiny house movement is the lack of available land on which to build. Simons hopes that by talking to community members, she can convince people with excess land to consider building tiny houses. Other options include working with the town to acquiesce public land, whether the land is bought or is given as a gift.
Tiny homes can also defy local zoning laws, as most municipalities have a minimum square footage for new homes. Allowances to zoning laws may have to be made by the town of Middlebury.
Pushback from the general community, however, has not been an impediment to Homes First thus far. “People have good intentions in Middlebury,” Simons said. “The values of Vermont, values of Middlebury are geared towards this type of thing.”
Homes First’s immediate plans include, first and foremost, introducing its idea to the Middlebury community. It held its first general meeting on Oct. 30 at Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society. “It was beautiful,” Simons said. “There was about twenty people there, and they represented all different parts of the Middlebury community.” Other plans to spread the message include putting up posters in town and increasing awareness of the Homes First Facebook page.
Simons recently took six high school students and two college students on a cross-country tiny homes tour as a part of a journalism education program called Conversations from the Open Road. According to their website, Conversations from the Open Road “are a student journalism, digital media crew probing the challenging issues and individual stories in our communities.” Students visited tiny homes villages in Syracuse and Ithaca, N.Y.; Detroit, Mich.; and Portland and Eugene, Ore. Afterwards, they made short videos about what they learned. These shorts, accompanied by an introduction by Simons, will be shown at The Marquis Theater on January 22.
Simons found certain aspects of each tiny village they visited helpful in envisioning a tiny village for Middlebury. Detroit, for example, has a mixture of rental-only properties and rent-to-own properties available for residents in their tiny house village. Simons also liked the aesthetic appeal of certain tiny house villages.
“In Detroit and Eugene,” Simons said, “the priority is dignified, beautiful housing.”
Another commonality between the tiny house villages was the level of input from the community. “We want everyone to feel like they can be a part of it,” Simons said. Most tiny house villages are funded by grassroots campaigns like this one and are are designed by volunteer architects and built by volunteer carpenters. Simons plans to reach out to the Architecture Department at Middlebury College to potentially form a partnership.
“It’s just wonderful to work with high school and college students,” she said, “because of that righteous understanding that we need to do something.” The best way for college students to be involved is to show up to meetings (to be posted on their Facebook page) or contact Simons with any creative ideas or for more information.
Simons remains optimistic about the future of the tiny house village.
‘“It’s not scary; it’s going to work, and it’ll be beautiful,” she said.
The founders of Homes First can be reached at the following email addresses. Mary Simons, mary.beth.simons@gmail.com; Andrea Galiano, dreagaliano@icloud.com; Ingrid Pixley, ingrid.pixley@gmail.com.
(11/07/19 11:02am)
The Henry Sheldon Museum celebrated its exhibit, “Conjuring the Dead,” with an array of spooky festivities on the night of Wednesday, Oct. 30. Among the hair-raising activities were fortune telling, tarot card readings, dream interpretations, ghost stories and a live music performance by Middlebury College students.
“I thought it was perfect to do this right before Halloween,” said resident Gretchen Ayer, who attended the event with her children and their friends. One of her favorite activities involved the dollhouse on the ground floor, where she and her guests collaborated in creating their own murder mystery.
Attendees also enjoyed having their dreams interpreted by dream analysts, an activity that can serve as a form of therapy and a way to unlock hidden emotions. The most popular event of the night, however, involved ghost stories. Around a glowing orb in the upstairs bedroom, attendees shared their spookiest tales.
One such ghost story involved the former location of a used bookshop in town, which used to be housed in an old storage center by the railroad tracks. Workers would hear whistling in the basement while they were supposedly alone, or would find books thrown onto the ground upon opening the store. It was later discovered that the storage facilities had not only had several deadly fires, but that they also once held dead bodies before the bodies were transported to morticians.
Ethan Mitchell, another attendee, shared his ghost story about a night he spent in a burial mound in Europe. “I really think that the idea of gathering together to share stories fills a need in this community,” he said. “This is something that Middlebury has been missing.”
Wednesday night’s event was a celebration for “Conjuring the Dead: Spirit Art in the Age of Radical Reform,” an exhibit curated by Eva Garcelon-Hart, the Sheldon Museum archivist. The exhibit originated with the spirit photography of Solomon Wright Jewett (1808–1894), a resident of Weybridge who became enamored with the spiritualist movement. Jewett’s spirit photographs include images where he appears to be visited by spectral figures of historical importance, such as George Washington and Prince Albert. The exhibit also includes a letter in which Jewett accurately predicts that Sheldon would die in 1907.
“I still get shivers when I read it,” Garcelon-Hart said. Jewett died exactly 125 years before the night of the event, a strange coincidence; Garcelon-Hart did not know the date of death before planning the event.
Spiritualism was a part of several radical reform movements that took hold in Vermont and the United States in the late 1800s. Women such as 19th century spiritualist Achsa Sprague gained prominence in this era, with many becoming advocates for social reform and participating in events such as the 1858 Rutland “Free Convention.” The exhibition included letters and pamphlets distributed by these women.
“The exhibit is kind of unusual because of the unusual aspects of historical documents,” Garcelon-Hart said. “It shows what people were interested in during certain points in history.” The exhibit also features one of Garcelon-Hart’s favorite pieces, a religious chart created by William Miller. Miller founded the Millerism religion based on the second coming of Christ in the mid-19th century. By studying the Book of Daniel and creating this chart, he predicted that current life and the current world would cease to exist on October 1844.
Upstairs, the exhibit includes 18 original drawings created by friends of Jewett, Wella P. Anderson and his wife, Lizzie “Pet” Anderson. Wella was a spiritual artist who drew the figures that would visit Lizzie, who was a medium who could channel spirits. The drawings were then photographed and circulated as small cards (carte-de-visites). However, the photographs in the Sheldon were never photographed or circulated.
“Other museums only have carte-de-visites,” Garcelon-Hart said. “The only other original drawings are in Scotland.”
“The collection is just a snapshot of the amazing objects that relate to this county in Vermont,” said Associate Director Mary Manley. “They tell a wonderful story.” Manley has been involved with the Sheldon for the past 21 years.
“The Sheldon has outstanding town archives,” said Danielle Rougeau, Middlebury College archivist and president of the Sheldon Museum Board of Trustees. “They are remarkable, and every bit the caliber of anything they have at Middlebury.”
When asked how Middlebury college students can get involved, Silvia Gonzalez, a member of the board of trustees, had a few ideas. “Visit, for one,” she said. “Become familiar with the collections, and volunteer.” Museum intern Taylor Rossini ’20 added that students can access the Sheldon town archives for no charge.
Board member Lucinda Cockrell emphasized the sense of community on which The Sheldon focuses. “We’d love for people to come and visit,” Cockrell said. “This is their community museum as much as it is ours.”
(10/31/19 10:02am)
WARREN — The solution to the affordable housing crisis may come in small sizes. Hundreds gathered at the Tiny House Fest despite pouring rain on Sunday, Oct. 27 to engage in discussion and celebrate the tiny house movement. The festival, held at Sugarbush Ski Resort in Warren, boasted three stages for speakers, exhibitions, a tiny house village and a food truck roundup.
Tiny homes form a new trend in the movement for affordable and sustainable living. Most consist of less than 400 square feet of living space yet are functional — stocked with appliances, storage and heating and cooling systems. Some are also made for transport, equipped with wheels or mounted on a trailer. Attendees of the festival learned from others, regardless of their experience in this tiny house world.
According to the Tiny House Fest website, Erin Maile O’Keefe, Betsy Hall and Lisa Kuneman began the Tiny House Fest in the spring of 2016 in Brattleboro, Vt. The goal was to open up a conversation surrounding attainable housing, focusing on “housing, housing equity, right-sized housing, sustainable housing and the like.”
The event included speakers and panels on three stages, focused on design, community vision and storytelling about tiny houses. Talks ranged from “Don’t Get Sketched-Out over SketchUp” to “The Journey to Going Live on AirBnB with Your Tiny House: Steps from A to Z.” One of the panelists, Mary Beth Simons, created Homes First, an initiative to start a dialogue about tiny homes in Middlebury. Simons was featured on a panel titled “Tiny Houses — Wedging Open the Conversation About Housing and Community” and is hoping to start a tiny house village in Middlebury.
People had various reasons to attend this year’s festival. “I came here to see what other people are doing,” Andrew Bernard said, “and to help build the web of connection in tiny living a little bigger.” Bernard, who works for Ridge Top Carpentry, brought his tiny house to Warren to be displayed in the festival’s tiny house village. His house is made on a stripped-down 76 chaster frame he found and consists partly of materials he was able to scrounge up from his community. His inspiration was drawn from old carriage builders from the late 1900s in New England.
Tyler Pastorak was part of a group of students from Green Mountain College who built a tiny home with the help of a professor. The home, which currently houses one of the students on the property of the professor, was also displayed in the tiny house village. “For me, what I was studying in school was adventurary education,” Pastorak said, “and it really helped me examine my lifestyle because you have to boil your whole life down into a backpack or fit on a bicycle.” He emphasized that anyone, including inexperienced students, can build a tiny house with the help of YouTube videos. “The tiny house is this nice bridge between full-on backpacking and having a giant house,” Pastorak said.
“There are always new innovations,” said Casey Hess, a volunteer at the event who studies environmental law at Vermont Law School. “I’m looking to get involved in energy efficiency and sustainability,” she said.
“It’s a punk rock movement,” said Michael Zebrowski, owner and lead designer of Up End This, a nomadic lifestyle brand that custom designs mobile tiny homes. “This is the core of what I’ve wanted to do since I was a teenager — it’s broody, and municipalities don’t like it.”
Zebrowski approached one of his students, Kris Brown, when Brown was a junior in college to begin Up End This.
“I said hell yeah, let’s do it,” Brown said. “Simplistic is the best way to clean your mind. If you want to refine your peace, simple, small and tiny is the way.”
Other exhibitionists included designing services, products including toilets, windows and pottery and financial help. Architects also offered 25-minutes “speed design reviews” for attendees hoping to build their own tiny house.
Rebekah Owens attended the event to do market research for her start-up company, Tiny Homes Helper Inc., which is set up as a benefit company to help people design, build and live a tiny house lifestyle. “I believe very strongly in the tiny house movement,” Owens said. “I want to see everyone who wants to live in a tiny house be successful at it.”
Attendees remained optimistic about the momentum of the movement and the role it will play in the future of housing. “As much as tiny houses offer a solution for those of us who have too much, it is also a solution for people who don’t have enough,” Owens said.
“I think it’s a great thing we got going on here,” Bernard added. “I’m more than happy to be a part of it.”
(10/17/19 10:00am)
With several years of work remaining on Middlebury’s Bridge and Rail Project, downtown merchants are determined to outlast dwindling patronship that has posed a challenge since the project began.
The Bridge and Rail Project, aiming to bring passenger rail service from Rutland to Burlington by 2021, will close down Main Street to vehicles from May 27 to Aug. 5 this summer, limiting parking for visitors and potentially decreasing foot traffic and sales. Examples of recent work include the replacement of the Main Street and Exchange Street bridges and blasting tunnels in preparation of the replacement of 3,500 feet of rail.
Nearby businesses are often caught in the crosshairs of the disruptive process.
“It’s been a real challenge,” said Theresa Harris, manager of Edgewater Gallery. “Everyone knows that Middlebury is going through a big construction project, and people bypass the town.”
Despite seeing the long-term benefits, Harris noted the immediate effects: “In the short term, we think it’s very destructive and troubling for businesses.”
Jutta Miska, the founder of second-hand clothing store Buy Again Alley, was a social worker at a teen center in Addison County when she would run clothing swaps at the local high school. As participation grew, students suggested she opened up her own store. While she initially predicted that she would open a store in six months, she managed to open in three months due to the enthusiasm of high school and college students in the community. Miska felt worried about the ten weeks of road closures. “The only way to survive is to adapt and come up with new ideas, and I really hope it will be okay,” she said.
Others, however, are less worried about construction.
“I think they’re doing a phenomenal job with the downtown construction,” said Dan McIntosh, owner of Forth N’ Goal Sports. “If your business is doing poorly, it’s very easy to blame the construction.”
For Dana Franklin, owner of Vermont’s Own Products, his business’ location situates him away from some of the problems associated with construction.
“I don’t see this as a big thing for me, because we already have another bridge, Cross Street Bridge,” he said, “but I can see how a business closer to the construction site can have problems with parking and stuff like that.”
Some merchants spoke to other reasons regarding dwindling patronship. Paula Israel, owner of Wild Mountain Thyme, contributed the slowing of business to a greater focus on Main Street, not the Bridge and Rail Project.
“There’s always parking available, and you’re still going to get amazing service when you walk through the door,” Israel said.
Israel called for more students from the college to patronize local businesses. “It would be nice if college students have more awareness of their surroundings and shopping locally,” she said, “and giving back to a community that has more than welcomed them.”
Scott Gemignani, owner of Tinker and Smithy Game Store, spoke of his frustration with the delay of project’s start date to 2017.
“I think the onus and the ownership is on our community as a whole, because we could have had this done years ago,” Gemignani said. “But now that we’ve waited this long, there’s that much more work, time and money.”
Despite these challenges, business owners remain hopeful that the Middlebury community will continue to help town businesses thrive.
Danforth Pewter also has a cohort of dedicated customers.
“We are very connected with a lot of local folks, as well as tourists and college people,” said Karen Douse, manager of Danforth Pewter’s downtown location. “We have a lot of people who come in for wedding gifts and then come back for baby gifts, so it’s a lot of fun.”
“There’s a lot of things that attract people,” said Gemignani of the town of Middlebury. “We are sort of a destination location for people looking to get away yet still have nice amenities and still enjoy their vacation and decompress without having to go to a big city.” For Gemignani, part of the appeal of opening a game store came from a place of nostalgia, since Middlebury used to have a game store.
The narrative around the construction project is one of endurance and hard work. Middlebury has had a history of surviving long construction projects, with many businesses being established as early as the 1970s. In many cases, shopkeepers are determined to stay.
“Old Mountain Thyme is the oldest business in town that has been singularly owned for as of this month, 48 years,” Israel said. “I used to come here when I was in college with my roommate.”
“I started [Vermont’s Own Products] in Shelburne in 1986,” Franklin said. “Fourteen years ago, I moved to Middlebury. I’ve gone through worse things than this already, so I plan on staying for a while.”
Despite both the short-term and long-term effects of construction, merchants feel a sense of community with each other.
“Our plan is to keep [Danforth Pewter] open kind of in solidarity with everyone else — we need to stick together and stay open,” Douse said.
(09/26/19 10:02am)
The Office of Health and Wellness Education has recently expanded its staff from one full-time employee to four full-time employees and one part-time employee. This expansion will help the office further develop existing programs, as well as focus on new initiatives.
Previously, the office focused primarily on Green Dot trainings, running the MiddSafe program and offering education for students with alcohol and drug infractions.
Barbara McCall, the director of Health and Wellness Education, said this restructuring occurred as part of Workforce Planning.
“I had been laying the groundwork through conversations and program tracking to increase the number of staff in the office for a number of years,” she said. “Every time I had to turn down an opportunity to facilitate a training or participate in an event, I logged it.”
The new positions in the office include a violence prevention and advocacy specialist, an alcohol and other drug education specialist, the assistant director for the office.
“The job descriptions for all of the health educators in the office were built around the existing programs and the unmet needs that students, faculty, and staff had expressed over the last five-six years,” McCall said.
With the additional employee-power, the office’s will take on new initiatives intended to promote health, prevent illness and reduce personal, campus and institution-wide health risks.
Before this expansion, McCall was solely responsible for running the office, and has been since she took on the practitioner-director position in 2013.
McCall’s role will now focus on institution-wide initiatives, such as the JED Foundation collaboration, a non-profit which partners with colleges to improve mental health, substance abuse and suicide prevention initiatives. She is also planning on expanding Health and Wellness Education to the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, various summer programs and in the Schools Abroad.
McCall said she is excited to promote health topics that Middlebury has not previously focused on, such as the importance of sleep and flu prevention.
“A challenge that I think we are overcoming is a cultural and workforce shift to prioritize proactive, preventative work,” McCall said. “It is very easy to only focus on responding to problems as they arise, even though we know that providing early support, skill-building opportunities, and health information can help members of our community reach out earlier and more effectively for help.”
In the past, the majority of the office’s resources have been dedicated to Green Dot, a prevention-focused bystander education initiative, and MiddSafe, a student-operated crisis hotline.
“We have developed some flagship programs, like Green Dot and MiddSafe, but know that there’s plenty of room for additional programming to truly approach violence prevention holistically,” McCall said.
Emily Wagner, the college’s first violence prevention and advocacy specialist, will start hosting events for students in October, which is Dating/Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Kareckas is focused on expanding the scope of wellness education. In his new role, Kareckas will work with students to create proactive initiatives to normalize substance-free activities. This differs from the office’s former approach, which focused primarily on education for those who had already received an infraction for substance abuse.
New staff members were also brought on to focus on mental health, including Madeline Hope, the office’s assistant director
“We have heard loud and clear that students need mental health support beyond counseling services,” McCall said “Madeline Hope’s new portfolio within her role as the assistant director is to engage programs and supports to do just this.”
Hope’s role will include shifting the scope of the suicide prevention program to include training for faculty in assisting students in distress. According to McCall, the goal for this new position include increasing stress-management programming, which will now occur throughout the whole year, as opposed to just during finals weeks.
Hope will also be involved in the Peer Support Training Skills program, a “J-term workshop aimed at building student empathic listening skills to support friends who might be struggling with mental health challenges.”
The final employee included in this expansion is Erin Goodrich, a full-time Middlebury employee who spends half her time with Health and Wellness and the other half with Student Activities. Goodrich will be supporting the office administratively by creating a new online education software program, as well as helping with general planning and support.
Overall, McCall hopes her office’s expanded potential will help increase healthy living habits on campus and give students the resources they need.
“Health is the capacity of individuals and communities to reach their potential,” McCall said. “Health promotion and prevention is essential to students’ community engagement, participation in immersive learning, and development of skills as global problem solvers in support of Middlebury’s mission.”
(09/19/19 10:00am)
Construction on the Middlebury Bridge and Rail Project continued through the summer, with further work set to take place throughout the next year. The $71 million Bridge and Rail Project, overseen by the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), will allow a passenger rail service to run from Rutland to Burlington via Middlebury for the first time since 1953. VTrans expects the project to be completed by 2021.
Despite heavy construction in and around Main Street, project administrators anticipate a positive impact with the return of a passenger rail.
“Not only will we keep our businesses, we will add to the benefits of new businesses coming in downtown once we get through to 2021,” said Jim Gish, Middlebury’s community liaison for the project.
Kubricky Construction and Maine Drilling and Blasting are currently in the process of replacing 3,500 feet of rail line running through downtown Middlebury, track that only freight trains have used in recent years. The new rail line will be continuously welded, resulting in faster and smoother transport for passenger rails; however, this process will require crews to strip the existing rail, excavate below it, and install new tracks. Due to the extent of this construction phase, Main Street and Merchants Row will be closed to all traffic for ten weeks next summer.
Upon project completion, the two temporary town bridges will be replaced with a tunnel, with the rail passing under a green space that will expand Triangle Park. This reclaimed space can be used for Middlebury town events, such as the farmer’s market.
While many are excited for the convenience and opportunities that the passenger rail will offer, some merchants and community members are worried about the effects of a lengthy construction project.
When asked about the disruption to businesses, Gish acknowledged the concerns of local residents. “It’s hard to characterize the entire community, but certainly the owners of the downtown businesses have been concerned about this project from day one,” he said. Construction has limited parking and has the potential to impede local businesses further with road closures next summer.
To offer a counterbalance to the effects of construction, VTrans awarded the town of Middlebury a $230,000 grant. Part of this money is used for Bundle, a workshop and retail space that holds periodic events to highlight the talents of Middlebury and the advantage of a Main Street retail space. Bundle recently relocated to 51 Main St., with Buy Again Alley moving into Bundle’s former space. Gish emphasized that the best way for students to help downtown Middlebury is to continue to shop at stores throughout the next few years.During the toughest part of construction next summer, there will be a special sale held throughout Middlebury every Wednesday to help facilitate patronage at downtown stores. These events are mainly organized by Neighbors Together, a community action group hoping to minimize the impact of construction in Middlebury. Better Middlebury Partnership is the fiscal agent behind this group.
While the current construction can be tough for downtown businesses and residents, Gish remains optimistic. “Once we get through it, it’s going to look beautiful downtown.”
For project updates and construction schedules, visit https://vtrans.vermont.gov/projects/middlebury.
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(05/09/19 10:36am)
Bundle recently hosted the Reloved and Maker’s Market on May 5 at its downtown location. The market featured items such as handmade jewelry, herbal medicine and secondhand clothes from artisans and businesses in the surrounding areas.
Bundle, an organization that hosts pop-up shops, workshops and galleries, opened at 60 Main St last month. Organized by the Better Middlebury Partnership, Bundle’s goal is to revitalize downtown Middlebury and combat decreased foot traffic and business following the start of the rail and bridge construction.
Their most recent events have included the “ReBag” workshop on April 24, in which participants made reusable bags to decrease the use of disposable ones, and a workshop hosted by Carrie Root of Root Studio on April 27, which gave participants the opportunity to make hanging felt mobiles. By showcasing crafts and other goods from businesses from a broader geographic region, the Reloved and Maker’s Market intended to spur economic growth in downtown Middlebury.
“The hope is to drive business into our town by inviting people from out of town, too,” said Kelly Hickey, the manager of Bundle and founder of Edie and Glo, a local business which specializes in handmade vintage clothing.
“Teaching the class was fantastic,” reflected Root on her April felt workshop. “We had them fill out a questionnaire, and one of the things that came up most when asked what they liked was meeting new friends.” Root attended the Reloved and Maker’s market this weekend, selling jewelry, suncatchers and other small pieces made of stained glass.
“It’s so nice to be collaborating with such amazing people with all of these cool, differ ent ideas,” said Hannah Hulbert of The Good Witch, a seller of vintage clothing and pieces made from recycled materials.
Rebecca Freedner of Beauty Medicine will be teaching a class on Alcohol Painting, a technique using ink made from alcohol, at Bundle on May 17 and was also present at the market on Sunday. She began making her pieces after retiring from henna artistry. “I love my work because it is the opposite of henna — it’s not as precise and it’s colorful!” Freedner said.
The market also aimed to promote sustainability in the shopping habits of its customers; it featured vendors selling secondhand clothes and those who make new items from recycled materials. “My whole idea is that we have everything here, and we need to use all of that up before we make new items,” said Hickey. She presented her items from Edie and Glo, all of which were made out of recycled fabric from the 1960s-70s. “I’m very inspired by the sixties prints because I was born in the sixties, and I remember my mom having them,” Hickey said.
Buy Again Alley, one of Middlebury’s local thrift stores, also sold secondhand clothes at the market. “Our mission statement is to make clothes like this affordable for anyone, but especially young adults,” said Evan Killion, an employee of Buy Again Alley.
Round Robin, located in MarbleWorks, was also present at the market selling vintage items for a greater purpose. “Everything in our store is donated, and we donate all proceeds to the [Porter] hospital,” said Robin Huestis, founder of Round Robin.
The market also hosted a number of wellness-oriented vendors that typically operate only out farmers markets and pop-up stores. Shelby Laframboise of Wild Forest Herbals and Medicinal Products finds a different purpose in her work. “[My products are] basically reconnecting people with nature and we’ve lost that,” she said. “We’ve lost our relationship with nature, and our role in the environment we’re in.” Wild Forest Herbals sells medicinal products made from herbs that Shelby grows or forages for in Vermont.
Reyna Morgan-Reiner, owner of Breathing in Wellness, found her passion for creating wellness products that were derived from plants after she was diagnosed with lymphoma in her eyes. “I was going through radiation … I wanted a natural way to treat my skin, and so I made my first healing oil to do that,” she explained.
“The creativity is so amazing because you can do anything,” said Ellen Joy, yet another participant in the market, who crafts handmade mixed metal jewelry for her business called Metal Nomad.
(04/18/19 10:34am)
Vermont has been ranked number one overall for 2019 in Bloomberg's annual report on gender equality. This is the third year in a row that Vermont has led the rankings in the yearly report. The state was also ranked number 6 for women in leadership, and received high scores in the report’s five categories -- pay ratio by gender, female labor force participation, college degree attainment, health coverage and women in poverty.
Rep. Linda Sullivan, D-Dorset, attributes this ranking to the priorities of the state legislature. “With a strong focus from the legislature on gender equality,” she said, “Vermont will be driven to be a leader in this area.”
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Vermont’s legislature is 39.4 percent female compared to 28.7 percent nationwide. Vermont boasts 71 female members to 109 male members. The legislature recently passed a bill requiring employers to pay sick leave, and is considering a bill allowing paternity leave -- two pieces of legislation that are aimed at increasing gender equality.
“The legislature is working on bills to provide higher livable wages,” said Sullivan, “as well as to work through issues of providing other benefits to families.”
Representative Mollie Burke from Brattleboro and other policymakers recently proposed a resolution which designates April 2, 2019 as Equal Pay Day, with a proclamation signed by Governor Scott that same day. Advocates for equal pay wore red during legislative sessions.
Sullivan also acknowledged that there are challenges in passing legislation to eliminate the gender-pay gap. “However, these bills need to be thoroughly vetted and weighed against the costs to provide the services,” she said, “so while there are projects in the works, the roadmap to getting there must be well thought-out so as not to create barriers for the very populations they are intended to assist.”
Closing the wage gap would have many benefits for Vermont as a whole. Equal pay reduces poverty, adds money to the overall economy and attracts families to Vermont.
According to a report issued by Change the Story (CTS), a Vermont-based organization working towards gender equality, Vermont does well in the categories considered by Bloomberg. Women have a pay ratio gap of 16 cents, compared to a 20 cent wage gap nationally. For labor force participation, 66 percent of women work in Vermont’s labor force, compared to 58 percent of women nationally.
“Education is a key area of focus,” claimed Sullivan. In terms of education, 33 percent of women earn a bachelor’s degree in Vermont, six points higher than the national average for women’s education.
One of the indicators in which Vermont does poorly is rate of women in poverty, in which Vermont is ranked 17 with a rate of 12 percent. The CTS also found that women are significantly more likely to live in poverty than men, and 3 percent of Vermont women who work full-time do not make enough to cover basic living expenses.
It’s also important to note that the Bloomberg report does not break down statistics in terms of race. For example, Vermont ranked well for the gender pay gap, yet this gap is much larger for women of color. As reported by the Vermont Commission on Women, there is a 46 percent gap for Hispanic and Latina women, a 42 percent gap for American Indian and Alaska Native women,a 40 percent gap for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islander women, a 37 percent gap for African American women, and a 15 percent gap for Asian women.
The CTS found that in Vermont, 13.4 percent of all families with minor children live in poverty, and that this number increases to 37 percent if a women is the single head of the household. CTS also found that the wage gap of women with dependant children increases to 26 percent, as compared to the 30 percent for women nationally.
“Middlebury does well in gender equality, but there are always ways to improve,” said Ellie Broeren ’22, an active member of Feminist Action Middlebury (FAM). The college currently boasts a 48.2 to 51.8 male to female ratio for students, with a staff ration of 49.5 to 50.5 (male to female). Still, such statistics fail to account for some of Middlebury’s underlying problems.
“What comes to mind for me is the lack of transparency about contraception and sexual health on campus, as this is an issue that largely affects women,” said Boeren. To combat this, FAM has created a website at go/sexysources that provides information on sexual health and are currently trying to get Plan B available at Middlebury Express.
Despite the issues in gender equality that are still prevalent in Vermont and at Middlebury College, Sullivan reminds us to also celebrate our successes. “With a strong focus from the legislature on gender equality,” she says, “Vermont [has been] driven to be a leader in this area.”