Jun 9-15, 2021
Celebrating Vermont’s Pandemic All-Stars; Burlington Readies for Its First-Ever Juneteenth Celebration; Classical Musicians Prepare for a Live Concert Season
Cover Story
Celebrating the ‘Pandemic All-Stars’ Who Helped Vermont Through a Less-Than-Stellar Time
Nearly 15 months after Gov. Phil Scott issued a “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order on March 24, 2020, the pandemic is no longer controlling every aspect of our lives. By Tuesday, 79.4 percent of eligible Vermonters had been vaccinated. Once we reach 80 percent, likely this week, all state-imposed COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted. It’s…
Obituary: Martha Illick, 1950-2021
Executive director of the Lewis Creek Association loved tending her homestead and the river that ran through it
Obituary: Terrence Dinnan, 1950-2021
Artist and stonemason used his talents to build useful things in a beautiful way
Obituary: Robert Root, 1961-2021
Musician, birdwatcher and woodworker was a true Renaissance man
Obituary: Martha Kimball, 1932-2021
Known for a friendly smile and kind words, a great-grandmother exhibited fortitude until the end
In Memoriam: Billie Tudhope
Memorial Service: Wednesday, July 7, 2021 at 11 a.m. Hyde Cemetery, West Shore Rd., North Hero, VT In case of rain: North Hero Methodist Church Related Stories
Pandemic All-Star: Helen Reid, Acting Director, Vermont Department of Health Laboratory
Eight months. That’s how long Helen Reid thought she might be acting director of the Vermont Department of Health Laboratory in Colchester after the retirement of her predecessor in October 2019. She agreed to fill in until a permanent replacement could be hired. But four months into Reid’s “temporary” role, Vermont entered its worst public…
Pandemic Pick: Which Outdoor Live Music Performance or Series Moved You Most?
Stowe Cider Stowe • stowecider.com At different points throughout the pandemic, Vermonters have gone without certain perks — vacations, buffets, movie theaters and even hugs. Thanks to presenters such as Stowe Cider, live music hasn’t always been lacking. Located on scenic Town Farm Lane in Stowe, the cidery and taproom made the most of its…
Pandemic Pick: Whose To-Go Cocktails or Mocktails Raised Your Spirits?
Caledonia Spirits Montpelier • caledoniaspirits.com During the first few months of the pandemic, the 500-gallon copper still at Caledonia Spirits distilled something very different than its acclaimed Barr Hill liquors: hand sanitizer. “It was 80 percent alcohol, 100 percent Vermont and zero percent potable,” said Harrison Kahn, vice president of marketing. Caledonia Spirits collaborated with…
Red Scare: Former Police Chief del Pozo Claims Burlington’s ‘Socialists’ Did Him In
Oh, please. Not that tired old trope. Former Burlington police chief Brandon del Pozo is shifting responsibility for the social media scandal that cost him his job in Burlington in late 2019. Now he’s blaming “the Socialists” on the city council for his downfall. He also maintains that he resigned only after Mayor Miro Weinberger…
Pandemic All-Star: Myste and Gary Greeno, Founders of To Go Tour, Essex Junction
When Myste and Gary Greeno dined at Fire & Ice Restaurant in Middlebury on March 6, 2021, it was the first time they’d eaten together with their neighbors in a restaurant since November 14. At the end of the meal, Myste dug around in her purse and pulled out an envelope for their server, Stephanie…
Pandemic All-Star: Mellisa Cain, Community Organizer, Burlington
When Mellisa Cain started distributing cloth face masks in May of last year, she thought she’d buy and give away a few hundred in Burlington’s Old North End; she had funding with a small grant from her Neighborhood Planning Assembly. Recalling it in a recent interview, she laughed at the contrast between that initial plan…
Free Will Astrology (6/9/21)
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I’m glad you’re not on the planet Saturn right now. The winds there can blow at 1,000 miles per hour. But I would like you to feel a brisk breeze as you wander around in nature here on Earth. Why? Because according to my interpretation of the current astrological omens, winds…
Art Review: ‘It’s Smaller Than I Thought,’ Safe and Sound Gallery
Most everyone who sees “Mona Lisa” at the Louvre Museum in Paris has the same first impression, and hence is likely to smile knowingly at the title of a current Burlington exhibition. “It’s Smaller Than I Thought,” at Safe and Sound Gallery, features an invitational collection of two-dimensional artworks inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s most…
Pandemic Pick: What Presenter Gets a Standing-Up-From-the-Couch Ovation for Its Livestream Performing Arts Events?
Vermont Comedy Club Burlington • vermontcomedyclub.com In his 2014 book Ha!: The Science of When We Laugh and Why, cognitive neuroscientist Scott Weems theorizes that humor is a coping mechanism for dealing with complex messages. He calls it a “response to conflict and confusion in our brain.” Thank goodness, then, that Vermont Comedy Club owners…
Pandemic Pick: Which Vermont Business Pivoted the Most to Serve a Greater Good?
Heineberg Community Senior Center Burlington • heinebergcsc.org The last thing Beth Hammond wanted to do was close the doors of the Heineberg Community Senior Center. As COVID-19 spread, she knew seniors would be isolated at home, some without access to meals and some with depression, said Hammond, executive director of the Burlington nonprofit. “The very…
Pandemic Pick: At What Restaurant Did You Find the Best Outdoor Eating Experience?
With outdoor dining, it’s all about the views. Waterworks Food + Drink serves up a so-close-you-almost-need-a-rain-poncho view of the Winooski River from its plant-filled patio. “It’s just beautiful there!” said one diner. For the past year, the restaurant experience was all about safety, too. Waterworks delivered on that front with streamlined takeout, strict social distancing…
From the Publisher: Go, Team!
Music. Sports. Traffic. Prom. There were so many signs of normal life on display last weekend, it would be reasonable to conclude that the pandemic is over — at least here in Vermont. Seizing this moment, of closure and appreciation, liberation and celebration, Seven Days rounded up a compelling roster of “Pandemic All-Stars.” Almost the…
Pandemic All-Star: Paula Otenti, Coordinator of Momentum at Vermont Pride Center
In 2010, Paula Otenti was living in Lake Placid, N.Y., where she never felt totally comfortable being out as queer. “I could never be who I am over there, that’s for sure,” she said. One day, in a Lake Placid-area circular, she saw an ad for RU12?, now called the Pride Center of Vermont. She…
I Really Don’t Love Oral Sex
Dear Reverend, I don’t love getting blow jobs. It seems like every other guy I know does, but I’ve never had an orgasm from one. Intercourse and masturbation feel much better to me. Am I missing something? Phil Ashio (male, 32) Dear Phil Ashio, I bet anyone you ever told this to replied: “That’s because…
Pandemic Pick: Which Farmstand or Farmers Market Provided Easy Access to Fresh, Local Foods?
Norwich Farm Creamery Norwich • norwichfarmcreamery.com It all started with spinach. Laura Brown, co-owner of Norwich Farm Creamery, remembers vividly how quiet the roads were in the spring of 2020 when she would drive 15 minutes to the Sharon Park & Ride to pick up 50 pounds of spinach from Suzanne Long of South Royalton’s…
Pandemic Pick: Which Drive-In Hosted Your Favorite al Fresco Films?
Before the pandemic, many Vermonters regarded drive-in movies as quaint relics of the sock hop era. But by summer 2020, after a long winter and spring at home, folks were itching to get out of their home theaters and find safe ways to mingle. With social distancing already built into their setup and new precautions…
Pandemic All-Star: Alex Budney, DJ, Musician, Fayston
Musicians and DJs were hit especially hard when the pandemic disrupted the status quo. Their revenue streams, not to mention their raisons d’être, were completely obliterated. The internet became the sole place where they could continue to work. Practically overnight, Alex Budney, who goes by DJ Steal Wool, became Vermont’s livestreaming exemplar. A manager and…
Pandemic All-Star: Cassie Molleur, Rural Mail Carrier, East Calais Post Office
Cassie Molleur would like to suggest an amendment to the unofficial motto of the U.S. Postal Service, which reads: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” “Notice it doesn’t say anything about pandemics?” quipped the rural mail carrier on a recent…
Pandemic All-Star: Ailsa O’Neil-Dunne, Volunteer Vaccination Scheduler, Burlington
It all started with a text in late January to Burlington High School sophomore Ailsa O’Neil-Dunne from her grandmother in New Jersey. COVID-19 vaccination appointments had opened to residents 65 and older on January 14, but she’d been trying to book an appointment for weeks with no luck. She wondered if her grandkids might be…
Knit and Purl, ‘Loop Gloss, Vol. 1’ and ‘Side B’
(Self-released, digital) Rebecca Mack and John Thompson-Figueroa, a couple and local musicians with eclectic backgrounds, have teamed up for a new project called Knit and Purl. Mack leads Amerykanka, a choral group focused on Eastern European harmonies, while Thompson-Figueroa is a trusty sideman known for his work in bands such as psychotropical jazz outfit Guagua…
Pandemic Pick: What CSA or Local Food Delivery Program Made Your Mouth Water?
Intervale Food Hub Burlington • intervalefoodhub.com For Burlingtonians, food doesn’t get more local than the offerings of the Intervale Food Hub — from products to placement. Part of the nonprofit Intervale Center, the hub aggregates food from local producers and delivers it to Burlington residents. The groceries might include jam, yogurt, onions, broccoli, greens, chicken…
Self-Care Packages: Favorite Staycations and Pandemic Excursions
With out-of-state travel and indoor recreation prohibited for much of the pandemic, Vermonters were fortunate to have, well, Vermont as a backyard playground. Many embraced the opportunity to explore closer to home and fall in love with the Green Mountain State all over again. From pampered getaways to spectacular outdoor destinations to go-to walking trails,…
Looking Up: Silver Linings and Reflections From a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year
There’s no sugar-coating it: The pandemic has sucked. But Vermonters are a resilient group, and even amid the darkest days of lockdown found creative ways to stay connected and hopeful. Read on for some of the small moments that lifted spirits in communities around the state, and for observations of positive outcomes that emerged in an otherwise dreary…
Classical Musicians Prepare for a Live Concert Season
On a Wednesday in mid-May, I entered the Stowe Community Church to see the first live performance of classical music I had experienced in more than a year: Middlebury pianist Diana Fanning playing works by Maurice Ravel, Frédéric Chopin and Franz Schubert. The formidable entrance requirements included emailing an image of my COVID-19 vaccination card…
Pandemic All-Star: Matt Dow, Wastewater Facilities Manager, Burlington
Matt Dow has spent most of his adult life talking about what happens after you flush the toilet. The second-generation wastewater operator manages the City of Burlington’s three treatment plants. His late father was the superintendent of the South Burlington wastewater plant, and his mother’s cousin runs the Essex facility. Needless to say, it wasn’t…
OrphanWar, ‘Leech Eater’
(Woodsman Music Group, digital) Being a metalhead in the ’80s seemed so romantic. To be fair, I was a little kid. But the Satanic Panic was on, pentagrams were all over the backs of denim jackets, the Parents Music Resource Center folks were out there wagging their fingers, my mom let me have a mullet…
Pandemic All-Star: Todd Brown, Housing Advocate, Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, Burlington
Todd Brown was working at the Turning Point Center of Chittenden County in Burlington last spring when he learned that the state was planning to move its homeless population into hotels during the pandemic. The program needed staff for this massive undertaking, and his boss had suggested him. He was told to call a field…
WTF: Why Is There a Lyme Vaccine for Dogs but Not for Humans?
Dog owners who routinely vaccinate their pets against common canine maladies have probably wondered, Why can my pup get a shot to prevent Lyme disease, but I can’t? We’ve all just experienced a year when drug manufacturers developed, mass-produced and distributed new vaccines in record time, slowing the spread of a virus that was unknown…
High in the Sky: Flight VT Takes Young People Airborne
Tyler Brown admits that he “wasn’t the most motivated student” as a teen attending South Burlington High School. But something clicked when he started in the aviation program at Burlington Technical Center. “Being around airplanes changed my life,” Brown said. “I went from being a typical student to a straight-A student.” He went on to…
Pandemic All-Star: Michael Billingsley, Volunteer, Plainfield Community Suppers
Before the first case of the coronavirus was identified in the United States, in early January 2020, Michael Billingsley and other members of the Plainfield Hazard Mitigation Committee started studying the coronavirus pandemic in China. Though the group is typically concerned with more commonplace issues, such as flooding, the committee “looks ahead at things that…
Let’s Talk About Glenn Weyant’s ‘MOWED MUSIC’
Seven Days receives loads of album submissions, but Glenn Weyant’s MOWED MUSIC is the first to feature nothing but a lawn mower. The record consists of a single 30-minute track in which the East Montpelier sound artist’s gas-powered Toro mower is the lone “instrument.” With his mower “roughly tuned to B-flat,” according to the album…
Pandemic Pick: Who Made Your Favorite Pandemic Pick-Me-Up Treat?
North Country Donuts Morrisville • northcountrydonuts.com Have you ever driven an hour and a half for an apple fritter? One way? Well, one Seven Days reader did, and it was “Absolutely to. die. for,” they wrote. The destination was Morrisville’s North Country Donuts. The doughnuts were such a draw during the pandemic that owner Nicole…
Pandemic Pick: Which Vermont Restaurant Took Takeout to a Whole New Level?
Honey Road Burlington • honeyroadrestaurant.com The best sellers on Honey Road’s pandemic menu demonstrate the dueling dietary pulls of the last 15 months. The Eastern Mediterranean restaurant satisfied them both with bonus flamingo cocktail straws and a charming takeout window. According to chef/co-owner Cara Chigazola Tobin, customers couldn’t get enough of the kale salad with…
Made in Secret, Iranian Film ‘There Is No Evil’ Is a Sweeping Moral Epic
Our streaming entertainment options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. This week, I watched There Is No Evil, which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival weeks before the coronavirus outbreak shut down all such events. Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof (Manuscripts Don’t Burn) made the anthology film in…
Letters to the Editor (6/9/21)
Art-icle Errors Thank you for the article about the “Cranbrook Connections” show on view at Studio Place Arts in Barre, prepared by Amy Lilly [“Motor City Mecca,” June 2]. I’m writing to correct a couple of details. First, Amy and I talked a bit about the annual rollout of innovative car designs in a fashion…
Pandemic All-Star: Leigh Pelletier, Relief Fund Organizer, Stowe
During one of many food drives organized last year, Rep. Heidi Scheuermann (R-Stowe) marveled at how the community had come together to support one another during the pandemic. The Stowe C19 Team General Relief Fund had raised thousands of dollars for people in need. It provided meals for those whose jobs evaporated when the tourism…
Burlington Prepares for Its First-Ever Juneteenth Celebration
Shortly after moving to Burlington last year for a job in city government, Tyeastia Green pitched her new colleagues on celebrating Juneteenth. Green, the Queen City’s first director of racial equity, inclusion and belonging, had fond memories of the holiday from growing up in Minneapolis. Yet Green, who was then the city’s only Black department…
Pandemic All-Star: Erin Donahue, Informal Fitness Instructor, East Thetford
As her 8 a.m. outdoor exercise group was limbering up, Erin Donahue gave a sleepy newcomer the brief lowdown. “All the exercises are written down there,” she said, pointing to a cardboard sheet in the grass scrawled with purple marker. “Do as much as you’re comfortable with,” she continued, smiling and bouncing like a spring…
Pandemic Pick: Whose Fitness Classes Kept You Moving?
REV Indoor Cycling revindoor.com In a year when the pandemic confined most Vermonters to one place, it’s fitting that the exercise classes that kept many of us moving were held on stationary bikes. Like all law-abiding local fitness centers, REV Indoor Cycling closed to indoor workouts in March 2020. But unlike many area gyms, REV…
Essex Westford School District’s Proposed Equity Policy Prompts Heated Debate
An equity policy proposed for the Essex Westford School District has galvanized members of the suburban community in recent weeks, drawing hundreds of people to both virtual and in-person meetings. Critics of the policy say it is divisive and difficult to parse, and supports teachings that might make white students feel shame and guilt. Supporters,…
Pandemic Pick: What Outdoor Art Installation Inspired You During the Pandemic?
With more than 50 large-scale sculptures scattered atop picturesque fields, Lemon Fair Sculpture Park “is a hidden gem in Addison County,” wrote one Seven Days reader. East Shoreham residents and art enthusiasts Frank and Elaine Ittleman first opened their property to the public in 2016 for free, self-guided tours along a mowed path — and…
Pandemic Pick: What Outdoor Store Helped You Gear Up for Adventures?
Outdoor Gear Exchange Burlington • gearx.com When the going got tough during the pandemic, Vermonters went outside to play, and in even greater numbers than usual. For many Seven Days readers, that meant stocking up on equipment at Outdoor Gear Exchange. The Burlington business is “always ready to supply an adventure,” said one reader. Another…
Pandemic All-Star: Val Hussey, School Food Service Director, Hardwick
When Vermont schools abruptly shut their doors in March last year, Val Hussey scrambled to keep the kids in her community fed. The Hardwick native has been feeding neighbors for 35 years. Hussey, 62, and her ex-husband ran a quick-stop market and deli famous for its seafood chowder. She’s since spent more than two decades…
Pandemic All-Star: Julia Doucet, Open Door Clinic Outreach Nurse, Middlebury
Julia Doucet of Middlebury’s Open Door Clinic had just vaccinated two workers on an Addison County dairy farm last month when she spied another one a short distance away, walking toward an outbuilding. “Don’t you want the COVID vaccine?” Doucet called out in Spanish. “Why not, right?” she nudged gently. The man paused and approached…
Pandemic Pick: Which Local Shop Perfected Contact-Free Shopping?
Common Deer Burlington • commondeer.com Though most nonessential retailers shut down only after the governor’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order in March 2020, Common Deer was ahead of the curve. As co-owner Sarah Beal explained, her shop was among the first to close before the mandate. “It was really clear to us that this was…
Pandemic Pick: What Locally Owned Grocery Store Came Through for You?
Is there anything grocers haven’t done for us these past 15 months? Vermonters piled praise upon supermarkets, co-ops and general stores alike for their myriad pandemic pivots that kept us safe and well stocked. Curbside pickup at Montpelier’s Hunger Mountain Co-op made “those of us older and higher-risk people feel so lucky and protected,” said…
Pandemic All Star: Jarrell Watts, Elementary Program Director, Sara Holbrook Community Center
The ever-changing world of hybrid learning left some working parents searching for help. When in-person school was not an option, they needed a safe and nurturing place to send their kids. Since August, Jarrell Watts, elementary program director of Burlington’s Sara Holbrook Community Center, has been providing that support. In the fall of 2020, the…
Pandemic All-Star: Cara Grogan, Respiratory Therapist, University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington
Cara Grogan had worked at the University of Vermont Medical Center for about three years when she decided to take a year off to be a traveling respiratory therapist in California. The then-30-year-old Hyde Park native assumed that she and her partner would spend the year exploring the West Coast; Grogan would work short stints…
The Magnificent 7: Must See, Must Do, June 9 to 15
Show of Force Friday 11-Sunday 13 A performance by Glover’s Bread and Puppet Theater is not just a puppet show but a memorable combination of performance art and social commentary. Its latest offering, The Persians, for example, is an adaptation of Aeschylus’ ancient Greek tragedy critiquing warring empires. Watch the company’s large papier-mâché puppets in…
