town/gown - 1/14/10

Here’s what I love about Middlebury, Vt., in no particular order: The mountains — skiing, hiking...heck, just looking at them. I have lived in the Champlain valley, framed by mountains, for 20 years and I have yet to get sick of them. My family — Gang’s all here! I never met a relative I didn’t ...

From the Statehouse - 1/14/10

1/5 Many Vermonters are taking advantage of the winter months to test their homes for radon, a colorless, odorless gas. The gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States and is responsible for over 20,000 deaths each year. The gas is most easily detected in the winter. 1/11 Vermont ...

Therapy dog encourages kids to read

Years from now, when Middlebury’s current population of six- and seven-year-olds looks back on its first reading triumphs, first-grade teachers and patient parents may get less credit than one furry individual who does not even read. Meet Shoopie, the four-year-old Newfoundland therapy dog who has ...

one in 8,700 - 1/13/10

Sharon MacNair realized her animal loving nature as a teenager, thanks to a fuzzy duckling friend, Daisy. She watched Daisy hatch and quickly developed a mother-daughter relationship with her. “She even walked me to the school bus in the morning,” MacNair said. A pivotal moment in MacNair’s ...

Local Lowdown - 12/03/09

Moonlit Alpacas holiday open house Dec. 3 – Dec. 6, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Don’t miss the Moonlit Alpacas Holiday Farm Weekend. Meet the alpacas, take a farm tour and enjoy an introduction to the fiber arts at 2170 Rte. 125 just a few miles west of the College Organic Garden. Bring the whole family ...

The Interface - 12/03/09

Jen Anderson wakes up every weekday at 2 a.m. to begin work at 4:00 a.m. as leader of custodial team 7 at the College. The three members of team 7 clean and maintain Hillcrest, the Robert A. Jones ’59 House, Sunderland, Chellis House, Farrell House and Gifford Hall. The Sisyphean task of the custodians ...

One in 8,700 - 12/03/09

Do you believe in Santa Claus? Thanks to Cliff Douglas, the children of Vermont do. He has been preserving the magic of Christmas, and sporting the big red suit and white beard, since he was in the eighth grade in Rochester, Vt. Fifty-two years later, he no longer needs the red suit for kids to pick ...

Craft show attracts local shoppers

Starting off the holiday season with international flair, the Middlebury Baptist Church held its annual Ten Thousand Villages Craft Sale the weekend before Thanksgiving. Holiday shoppers were able to get a head start on purchasing gifts at the craft sale on Friday, Nov. 20 and Saturday, Nov. 21. Held ...

Town/gown - 12/03/09

I always get especially sentimental around the holidays. Perhaps it’s how they don’t change. In my family, the month of December means skiing, cookies, a Christmas tree and my mother’s nutcracker collection parading across the mantel in our living room. There are things about the holidays that ...

ACTR to expand local shuttle bus services

If the proposal is not greatly altered by outside suggestions, there will be three new expansions, one to the Middlebury Shuttle, another to the Tri-Town Shuttle and the last to the Burlington Link on Saturdays. The goals are to expand services to areas that are not currently covered and to simplify ...

Local Lowdown - 11/19/09

Energy Solutions Co-op coffee hour Nov. 20, 9 –11 a.m. Join Middlebury town Energy Coordinator Laura Asermily and drop by Carol’s Hungry Mind on Friday to ask about the Middlebury Co-op’s renewable energy efforts and offers. Feel free to share your ideas for the Co-op and any feedback on our ...

Just how green is Middlebury?

Putting together the second green issue of The Campus raised the question, “Just how green is the town of Middlebury?” The College is touted for its environmental awareness and Vermont is nationally known as one of the greenest states, but how does Middlebury fit into the picture? We sought experts ...

one in 8,700

Brighter Planet, Middlebury’s only environmental awareness company, had its beginnings right here at the College on the Hill. Associate Professor of Economics Jon Isham created the company with two of his students who, for a class project, had proposed an idea for an environmental firm. While most ...

Town/gown - 11/19/09

I spent three hours in lab last Thursday removing nodules from the roots of bean plants. I loved it. At one point, I turned to the people in my lab group and exclaimed, “This reminds me of digging for potatoes! Have you ever done that? It’s so fun. Like digging for buried treasure.” Sometimes ...

The making of the "Green" Mountain State

Boy scouts hurl pumpkins, fundraise

On Sunday, Nov. 8, Boy Scouts and their families gathered around a trebuchet at Weybridge Gardens to hurl leftover pumpkins from Halloween and the harvest several hundred feet. Middlebury Boy Scouts from Troop 536 held the event to raise money, reuse the trebuchet they built last spring and have fun ...

Vermont Ukulele Society spreads joy in lessons, concerts, tunes

Long before Sophie Madeleine and her sweet ukulele serenades gained massive popularity on YouTube, Lil’ Rev brought his own brand of four-stringed storytelling to the nation. The Vermont Ukulele Society hosted the award winning multi-instrumentalist in Carol’s Hungry Mind Café on Nov. 8. Although ...

The Interface

Due to some unfortunate circumstances (and my imperfect time management), I was unable to conduct any interviews for today’s article. However, I would like to share an experience of my own that is relevant to the purpose of this column — that is, to encourage interconnections between different types ...