Letters to the Editor (8/6/25)

Delicious Tip

A few months ago, you had an article about Bumblebee Bistro in Enosburg Falls [“Homegrown Honey: Franklin County Is Abuzz Over Bumblebee Bistro’s Gifted Young Chef,” April 29]. Yesterday my wife and I met some good friends there for lunch, and it was excellent. Thanks for the tip.

Bob Vacca

Newport

Problem With GMT

It’s a real shame that such a good bus service covering our county and surrounding towns has to be severely cut back [“Out of Service?” July 16]. The routes have been streamlined to serve the most people possible and to hit the most key destinations. And yet … and yet, people just do not want to take the bus!

I live in Essex Junction. Whenever I have an obligation to be in Burlington, I check into using the bus first. You don’t have to pay for parking; you don’t have to sit idle at the Five Corners intersection. It leaves every 20 minutes, and you land in the middle of town or at the medical center in a half hour. They even have internet on the bus, so you don’t have to give up the phone! The buses are newish and comfortable. For a senior (60-plus years), it only costs a dollar per ride. Otherwise, $2.

The practice of driving a car everywhere is so ingrained and is such an American concept of independence and entitlement, it’s no wonder ridership has been reduced to those who otherwise can’t drive their own car. But I also fault Green Mountain Transit for not pumping more money into advertising and promoting the benefits. There is absolutely no poster or ad to be found to promote using public transport, with all the advantages I’ve mentioned. Lack of a creative promotional campaign to attract riders has contributed to the system’s demise. It will continue downhill unless GMT hires a creative salesperson to get out the message.

Cecilia Polansky

Essex Junction

‘Real Connections’

Kudos on your Connections Issue [July 23], covering big and small ways that Vermonters help each other out. Retired now, I tell seniors with free time to contact their local schools for volunteer possibilities. From K through middle school, I’ve found real connections working with kids from 5 to 15.

What you give will be returned in many ways, with smiles each time you meet, bringing fulfillment to all involved!

Joe Ryan

Williston

Ground Rules

Thanks to Sam Hartnett and the team at Seven Days for [“Green Mountain ‘Angels’: Vermonters From Both Sides of the Political Aisle Are Fostering Respectful Conversations About the Issues,” July 23]. It takes courage and openness to listen and respond to those you disagree with. In addition to the ground rules that Sam mentions in the article, we only talk from the personal (how I feel or what I believe or think), not in the general (“all Democrats” or “all Vermonters”). I notice that we tend to talk in generalities to be more powerful. Being personal keeps us specific and honest.

Another ground rule is to only ask a question we genuinely want to know the answer to. Not “You really believe that?!” but instead: “I didn’t think of that. Can you tell me more?” The ground rules require us to make conscious choices when we communicate, while also sharing how we feel.

A minor correction in the article: I was the note taker for a year or so with the St. Albans alliance but was never a member. I currently facilitate the only active alliance in Vermont, which is in Chittenden County. I applaud those who take the step to listen and engage with those they disagree with. When I do, I learn a lot about them and also about myself. I really feel this can change our country.

Nancy Sugarman

South Burlington

Calling Young ‘Angels’

Love the recent article on Braver Angels [“Green Mountain ‘Angels’: Vermonters From Both Sides of the Political Aisle Are Fostering Respectful Conversations About the Issues,” July 23]! I am a “red” cochair of the Braver Angels Equality Caucus, a relatively new chapter of Braver Angels focused on discussing LGBT issues, that right now meets via Zoom monthly. Given the large LGBT presence in Vermont, I wanted to highlight this group. If you are interested in joining, please email equality-caucus-info@braverangels.org . Most members are LGBT themselves, but all are welcome.

An observation: All the people profiled in this piece are in their sixties or seventies, something I have noticed at in-person Braver Angels events as well. I am in my twenties, and my peers in Vermont are heavily engaged in protests and politics these days, but they are generally lacking in empathy or understanding for those who disagree with them. I hope as Braver Angels gains recognition, other younger people will join as well!

Margaret Riley

Richmond

Borderline Crazy

I read with great interest about the Winooski superintendent being detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials while attempting to return to the U.S. and being advised that he had no civil rights upon returning to this country [“Winooski Superintendent Detained, Questioned by Border Officials,” July 22]. As much as I hate to admit it, it is in fact the truth.

During the mid-’80s and into the early ’90s while living in Vermont, I was making frequent trips to Canada and intentionally crossing at the same border crossing into Québec from my hometown in Franklin County. On one return trip from the Eastern Townships, I had an encounter with a CBP agent who was convinced I was doing something illegal. I was detained for several hours as my vehicle was thoroughly searched inside and out. I was strip-searched in the lobby of the customs house.

Once I was released, I called my friend and lawyer, relayed the story to him, and was advised that, upon returning to my country, it was up to the discretion of the particular agent as to whether or not I would be allowed back. Once you leave the country, you relinquish all civil rights, and returning can be denied.

Unfortunately, in this Trumpian world we live in today, I doubt I would cross the border with the ease I once enjoyed, and it appears that it will get worse.

Fred Elliott

Punta Gorda, FL

‘Get It Together, Burlington’

Get it together, Burlington [“Burlington’s Main Street Will Reopen for Two-Way Traffic on Nights, Weekends,” June 23, online]. Look, I am sympathetic to balancing the needs of a diverse municipality. Maintaining and upgrading infrastructure while allowing for traffic flows that keep residents and businesses happy is difficult.

But what if we upgraded the sewage treatment facility to clean up the lake instead of taking several years to change stormwater collection and crushing local businesses’ walk-up traffic at the same time? Could we avoid our now-annual open sewage dump in the lake?

And can we really not cut the ribbon on the I-189/Champlain Parkway/Little Dig for a year? My 6-year-old can paint the lines, and we can make the investment work for us for a whole year! Just move the Jersey barriers!

And why in God’s name did we pick mid-July to close the bike path for bridge demolition? We really couldn’t have done that in a season when it has a little less traffic?

People are tolerant of paying taxes and working for the common good, while people in charge are using these investments of taxes and inconvenience, instead of just acting like they are spending other people’s money, bankrupting other people’s businesses and creating traffic headaches in other people’s neighborhoods.

This — and oligarchs getting private-jet rich off of partially functioning public utilities — is what drives people away from progressive government. Let’s have more competent delivery of basic services and less signaling how much we are committed to philosophical causes.

Roger Brown

Richmond

Vermont, the 11th Province

Thanks to Seven Days for [“Burlington’s Church Street Temporarily Renamed ‘Rue Canada’” July 16]. While it smacks of a great gesture toward a close ally and friend, wronged by a sociopathic leader and administration chosen by a nation that Vermont no longer seems a part of, it also reeks of hypocrisy, since it’s really all about the money. I wonder if the more sincere gesture would be to petition our northern neighbor to join it as its 11th province.

Yes, I know that the logistics of this would not be easy and that some in Vermont would certainly oppose this idea. Yet the benefits would far outweigh the improbable logistics or the potential opposition. Canada still has a functioning democracy that cares about its people. It is not grinding them into dust like we are to serve the oligarchs or throwing the homeless into gutters to fend for themselves or die trying, because they dare to be poor and homeless. Canada does not have our tragic history of racism and slavery that underpinned this oligarchy, which we seem to be desperately trying to get back to.

There are so many more pluses that it makes far greater sense economically and physically to go beyond just naming a single street Rue Canada but to go all the way and become its Province du Vermont.

Walter Carpenter

Montpelier