Williston Observer

July 30, 2009

By Tim Simard

Observer staff

While advertised as Vermont Day at Fenway Park in Boston on Sunday, it was more like Williston Day. Two Williston residents were chosen to be guests of honor during the Boston Red Sox pregame ceremonies honoring the state.

Lori Camp was selected to throw out the first pitch of Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles. And 9-year-old Jake Bouffard had the privilege of being one of Vermont’s two honorary bat kids.

The Red Sox routinely celebrate the baseball team’s fan “Nation” by honoring all six New England states at select games during the season. Vermont Day came on July 26.

For Bouffard, a Red Sox fan for “as long as I’ve known about them,” being the team’s batboy was a dream come true. Bouffard helped organize the team’s helmets and bats while hanging out in the dugout before game time.

“I also had to carry (the team’s) coolers,” Bouffard said.

He was introduced via the loudspeaker to more than 36,000 fans on hand at Fenway Park. Randolph Center’s Samantha Tullar, 10, was the batgirl on Sunday.

Several Red Sox players signed Bouffard’s baseball hat, including second baseman Dustin Pedroia and outfielder J.D. Drew. He was also lucky enough to get a high five from slugger David Ortiz.

Bouffard also left the park with another souvenir when Orioles catcher Gregg Zaun gave him a baseball.

Bouffard was randomly selected from a list of Red Sox Kids’ Nation fan club members from Vermont. Bouffard’s father Jeff, mother Pam and sister Nicole, along with several other family members, enjoyed the game from the grandstands.

“I liked being out on the field,” Bouffard said of the experience.

So did Camp. A lifelong Red Sox fan, it was a “thrill” to throw out the first pitch of the game, she said. Gov. Jim Douglas and Red Sox Nation Vermont Gov. Glen Jardine escorted Camp to the mound. The nerves didn’t hit her until her name was announced over the loudspeaker.

“I got (the pitch) across the plate, and that was very good,” Camp said, adding that she was able to keep the ball after the pitch.

Like Bouffard, Camp was randomly selected from a drawing of Red Sox Nation fan club members.

Camp’s passion for the Red Sox runs in her blood. Her great uncle was former third baseman Jim Tabor. He played on the team before World War II, with legends that included Ted Williams and Johnny Pesky.

While she didn’t meet any players this time, she’s met them in the past. At a Red Sox game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, she gave outfielder Jason Bay a Vermont Expos baseball. Bay used to play on the Burlington minor league team, which has since changed its name to the Lake Monsters.

And even though Sunday’s Vermont Day was a blur for Camp, it was still the moment of a lifetime.

“I’ve been going to Fenway since I was a little girl,” Camp said.

Camp and Bouffard said they had fun at Fenway, even though the Red Sox didn’t win the game. Veteran pitcher John Smoltz took the 6-2 loss.

 

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Chittenden County riddles lead to historic sites

July 30, 2009

By Tim Simard

Observer staff

It could be said that all 18 cities and towns in Chittenden County are riddled with history. So much so that a new challenge by the Chittenden County Historical Society asks people to solve history riddles in each of the communities.

Known as the History Mystery, the event is being held next month in honor of the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration. It’s designed to give young and old, local residents and Vermont visitors, a chance to learn more about Chittenden County’s varied past. And as the History Mystery pamphlet states, “being attentive will be your prime directive.”

“There’s something to be said about the rush of finding out the answers,” said Ann Arms, the event’s coordinator.

Starting Aug. 1, Chittenden County “history detectives” will be able to pick up an event brochure featuring the history riddles. In most cases, the answers can only be determined by visiting various locations in all 18 cities and towns. Even tiny Buel’s Gore, with its fewer than 20 residents near Appalachian Gap, is in on the fun.

“It’s for everyone,” said Ginger Isham, the event’s Williston Historical Society representative. “We’re hoping families will do it with their children.”

For Williston residents interested in taking part, History Mystery brochures will be available at Dorothy Alling Memorial Library starting this Saturday.

Arms said the Chittenden County Historical Society wanted to do something in conjunction with the 400th anniversary of Samuel de Champlain’s arrival at the lake that now bears his name. She said the idea was a cooperative effort from many historical society members, with the goal of doing something completely different within the state.

There are riddles for each town and some towns have more than one answer, according to Arms. Some of the riddles provide easy clues. Others will require a little more work, she added.

Within the brochure, participants will be able to fill in the blanks for the answers. There are even a few letters in some of the answers to help participants. Some of the riddles center around a natural wonder in Bolton, a baseball player from Colchester, and a “meteorite” in Underhill.

“We really want to have people from the community learn about the history of the community,” Arms said. “It’s meant to be a fun way to learn something different.”

Arms said while a person may know the history of their own town very well, they may not know much about their neighbors’ communities. She hopes this will connect the cities and towns within Chittenden County.

The authors of the riddles are either historical society members from certain towns, or history buffs with a gift of rhyme. Isham wrote Williston’s history riddle:

    Built in 1976 in preparation

    For the Bicentennial celebration

    Many an ear has listened as tunes were played,

    Some sitting on benches and some in the shade.

The riddle has two answers, and those unfamiliar with Williston will most likely have to visit the history site for at least one of the answers, Isham said.

Participants have the entire month of August to answer all the questions in the brochure. Once completed, the brochures can be dropped off where they were picked up earlier in the month. The final day to turn in answers is Sept. 1.

Those who’ve answered all the riddles correctly will be entered into a drawing to win history related prizes. Each of the county’s cities and towns is providing at least one prize for the drawing.

A celebration of the event, including the prize drawing, will be held on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 2 p.m. in the community room of the Burlington Police Department.

Arms said she hopes locals and visitors will take their time and become history detectives in Chittenden County. They might even learn something about the area they’d never known before through the History Mystery.

“I’m hoping people become fascinated with history,” Arms said.

 

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New 20-space lot proposed for Town Hall

July 30, 2009

By Greg Elias

Observer staff

Commuters may one day be able to carpool or catch a bus at Williston Town Hall.

The town has applied for a state grant to help fund a 20-space park-and-ride extending from the existing lot behind Town Hall. The estimated $150,000 project would provide parking for commuters and possibly a bus stop in Williston Village.

Spaces would be arranged in two rows and separated from the existing lot by an island of green space. Buses would access the lot via a one-way driveway.

The park-and-ride would use a small slice of town-owned land referred to as the Lyons property. The 8-acre parcel in the past has been eyed for an affordable housing project or a community center.

A school bus that goes to Champlain Valley Union High School already makes pick-ups at the existing lot, Town Manager Rick McGuire said. The Chittenden County Transportation Authority is interested in making the proposed park-and-ride one stop along a proposed route running along U.S. 2 from Williston Village to Burlington.

“We anticipate the initial level of service into Williston Village to be commuter-oriented, drawing potential riders from areas beyond walking distance to Williston Town Hall,” wrote CCTA General Manager Chris Cole in a letter supporting the grant application. “Therefore, having a park-and-ride available in the village would greatly enhance the ridership potential of the route.”

The town of Williston, located in the center of the state’s most populous county, could be considered the commuter capital of Vermont. Census figures show that the vast majority of people who live in Williston work elsewhere. And a previous town study concluded that thousands commute here to work in the big retail stores and other businesses.

But Williston is not among the dozens of Vermont towns that have a park-and-ride. The state closed the old facility here more than a decade ago.

The town has long lobbied for a replacement. Two years ago, the Selectboard signed off on a pair of proposals for new state-funded park-and-rides on Vermont 2A, one south of Interstate 89 and another one closer to Taft Corners, the location preferred by the town.

Wayne Davis, local transportation facilities supervisor with the Vermont Agency of Transportation, said conceptual plans have been drawn up for the facility south of I-89 across from Hurricane Lane, and the state continues to look at potential sites for the other park-and-ride. But he did not know when construction of either facility would begin.

McGuire said a village park-and-ride would still benefit commuters even if the other park-and-rides are built.

“Well, this serves the village and possibly more than one bus service,” he said.

The park-and-ride faces several obstacles. Because the site includes wetlands, the town must obtain a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers as well as state and local permits.

Public Works Director Neil Boyden said he expects the permitting process to be similar to an earlier expansion of a parking lot after the town swapped land with the National Guard Armory. He said that project took between one and two years to plan and permit.

Funding is also uncertain. The state Legislature budgeted only $250,000 for the grants, and many towns seek funding each year.

Davis said last year 22 municipalities applied for grants and nine received money. He expects to receive a similar number of applications before this year’s deadline on Friday.

Grant amounts have in the past ranged from $6,000 to $75,000, Davis said. So it seems likely Williston would have to cover at least half the cost of the park-and-ride.

Town officials said impact fees collected from developers could provide some of the funding. And Boyden noted that town employees could do the labor, which as a rule of thumb comprises about half the cost.

Boyden was cautiously optimistic about the chances of piecing together funding and winning permits for the park-and-ride.

“I think it is a doable project,” he said. “I just think it’s going to take some time and explanation.”

 

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July 30, 2009

By Tim Simard

Observer staff

Each race might last a mere 90 seconds, but the dragon boat races that will occur on Lake Champlain this weekend will be fast, furious and, most importantly, fun.

The Lake Champlain Dragon Boat Festival, now in its fourth year, will attract nearly 2,000  paddling enthusiasts in an effort to raise money to fight cancer.

This year, teachers, staff and students from Champlain Valley Union High School have formed their own team, the CVU Redhawks. It’s the first dragon boat team the high school has sponsored and the event’s cause is an important one to team captain Eleanor Walsh, a family and consumer sciences teacher at CVU.

Walsh’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer 22 years ago and ever since, Walsh has embraced any fund-raiser dedicated to fighting the deadly disease.

“I’m just grateful her situation turned out to have a positive outcome,” Walsh said. “This was an important thing for me to do.”

The festival is hosted by Dragonheart Vermont, a local dragon boat organization comprised of breast cancer survivors and their loved ones. A dragon boat resembles a long canoe and can fit up to 20 paddlers. Each participant paddles in unison to the beat of a drummer, who sits at the head of the boat. Most boats are decked out with artful dragon heads in the front. The sport originated in China more than 2,000 years ago.

Each year, the races raise money for Dragonheart Vermont, as well as other cancer-related groups. This year, proceeds will also benefit Camp Ta-Kum-Ta, a summer camp for children afflicted with cancer.

Dragonheart Vermont has raised approximately $300,000 from previous races. This year, organizers hope to raise $150,000 from the event, said Linda Dyer, executive director for Dragonheart Vermont.

“Not only are (racers) out there having fun, but all the money raised goes right back to the nonprofits,” Dyer said.

There will be 86 Vermont teams competing for prizes and trophies at Sunday’s event, which starts at 8 a.m. and lasts until 4:30 p.m. There are also 11 other cancer-survivor dragon boat teams from Canada and elsewhere in the United States taking part in Sunday’s races.

Members of the Vermont teams raise as much money as they can prior to race day. CVU Redhawks team member Sheila Kazak, a paraeducator at the school, already raised $200 donated by family and friends. She plans on raising even more by Sunday.

This is Kazak’s first dragon boat race and she said she’s looking forward to the competition. Two weekends ago, all the teams were able to practice once before the big race day. Kazak said she learned to stay in time with the team’s drummer, Wendy Hess.

“It took me a little bit to figure it out,” Kazak said. “I don’t really go into boats that often.”

Walsh has raced before and knows what to expect. She said everyone gets a little nervous before the races. Each team competes against six other boats across a 300-meter section of the lake near the Burlington waterfront. Most boats cross the finish line in less than two minutes. Teams get two chances to race. The fastest teams compete for a final trophy at the end of the day.

Walsh said she’s confident her teammates will win at least one of their heats on Sunday.

“What’s most important is that we stay in sync with our drummer,” Walsh said.

Kazak said she knows that even though the race times are quick, she expects the competition to be strenuous and a little intense.

“It’ll be hard, but I think of the kids at (Camp Ta-Kum-Ta) and it’s nothing like they have to deal with,” Kazak said.

The Lake Champlain Dragon Boat Festival kicks off on the Burlington waterfront at 8 a.m. on Aug. 2. It’s free and open to the public. Donations can be made online at www.ridethedragon.org.

Williston residents lead boat teams

Marianne Eaton, a Dragonheart Vermont representative, said 12 Williston residents are serving as captains of dragon boat teams participating in Sunday’s event. She did not have an exact number of Williston residents taking part, since participants do not reveal their hometowns when registering.

Here are the teams captained by Williston residents:

Candles & Creations

Chase Our Wake

Citizens Bank Loan Rangers

Crouching Brokers Hidden Dragons

Draggin R' Hineys

Dragon Techs

Electric Dragons

Flying Pig Paddlers

Jazzin Dragons

Monty's Magic Dragons

PAAV Paddlers

Potvin Pirates

 

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