Williston Observer

May 20, 2010

They may have just one win in their eight outings, but the Champlain Valley Union High girls lacrosse team is giving all kinds of heartburn to the so-called powerhouses of its division.

The latest team to get a rattling from the Redhawks was 9-2 Middlebury Union High Tuesday down in the college town.

Led by Amanda Kinneston’s five goal outburst and a trio of scores by Sara Riordan, the Redhawks led late in the game before the Tigers’ Katie Ritter scored with 1:36 remaining in regulation to give Middlebury a shaky 14-13 victory.

Sydney Beldock, Erika Gobeille, Claire Trotter, Michaela Kiley and Devan Wilkins also scored for CVU, which had a 28-24 edge in shots on goal. Sophia Steinhoff came up with 11 saves in the CVU cage.

Last Friday it was an 8-3 Essex team that had nervous moments against the Hawks before pulling out a 10-7 win at the Hornets’ nest.

Riordan popped four goals as the Redhawks pressured Essex to force goalie Becky Anderson to make 21 stops. Steinhoff had 10 saves for the Hawks.

— Mal Boright, Observer correspondent

May 20, 2010

By Greg Duggan

Observer staff

Employees who work in the many businesses off Industrial Avenue in Williston have long had limited options for breakfast and lunch.

Enter Yvonne Brown, who opened Yvonne’s Café about a month ago. While Brown admits the café, located in the back of White Cap Business Park and hidden from the road, is off the beaten path, she said, “I’m just trying to get a little niche in here.”

The owner of Nadeau’s Playschool and former owner of Belle’s Café, which she sold in March 2009, Brown decided to open in White Cap after plans for another café in the space fell through.

Serving primarily breakfast items, sandwiches and soups, Yvonne’s Café has begun to build a steady customer base out of the businesses in the Industrial Avenue area. Brown said she has already learned the names of several customers.

“It was really nice when the restaurant opened up, because before that there was not much in this neck of the woods to get a bite to eat unless you wanted to drive up to South Burlington,” said William Graham, who works in White Cap Business Park.

Though he often brings his own lunch to work, Graham said he now buys sandwiches from Yvonne’s a couple times a week and occasionally grabs a cinnamon roll for breakfast. Graham has gravitated toward Yvonne’s NY Reuben sandwich.

“It’s hard to find good a Reuben sandwich, but theirs … for the two or three times I’ve had it, has been really good,” he said.

Another regular customer, Matt Parda, said he finds himself ordering paninis. He also raved about the soups and chocolate chip cookies. Parda works on nearby Avenue D at Kittredge Equipment Co., which sold kitchen items to Yvonne’s Café.

“It’s just a great new lunch option in town,” Parda said. “There’s a lot of businesses on Industrial Ave., and it’s nice not to have to drive too far to get there. It’s like a little hidden gem.”

The menu at Yvonne’s features a variety of breads, meats, cheese and dressings, and customers can create their own sandwich or choose from a list of specialty sandwiches. Salad choices also exist, as do numerous snack items and baked goods.

In addition to the regular menu items, Yvonne’s offers daily specials. On Friday, for instance, the café served leek and potato soup and chili; the sandwich special was ham, salami, lettuce, tomato, provolone and Italian dressing on a sub.

A few tables and chairs sit on a patio outside the entrance to Yvonne’s. Inside, the café can seat 32 at seven tables; customers can also take their meals to tables located at one of two atriums inside the building.

Not that customers need to visit Yvonne’s to eat. Brown offers a catering service, and will deliver lunch to office buildings.

“The product is really good,” Brown said. “It’s just getting (people) to know we’re here.”

Yvonne’s Café is located at 426 Industrial Ave. #155 in White Cap Business Park. Hours are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. For more information, call 497-0336.

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May 20, 2010

By Greg Duggan

Observer staff

July 1 will be a big day for Williston’s public safety agencies.

That Thursday, the town plans to install a new police chief and launch its own ambulance service, and officials report that both changes are progressing on schedule.

Town Manager Rick McGuire informed the Selectboard on Monday that a hiring committee had finished interviews with three finalists for the police chief position.

The town has been without a full-time chief since July 2008, when former Chief Jim Dimmick suffered a stroke. Acting Chief Doug Hoyt, a former Montpelier police chief, temporarily joined the force last month.

For the final step in the hiring process, McGuire said the three candidates received a driving tour of Williston, met with Hoyt and several other town employees and proposed a hypothetical budget for the next fiscal year. McGuire told the Selectboard he is now speaking with town employees about their impressions of the candidates.

The town has also made progress toward implementing its own ambulance service. Currently, Williston relies primarily on St. Michael’s Rescue for emergency response. But the Selectboard decided to include an ambulance service in the municipal budget for the upcoming fiscal year, and voters approved the budget at Town Meeting in March.

After purchasing a new ambulance last month, the town has now also bought a used ambulance from Odessa, Del. McGuire told the Selectboard the used ambulance is in excellent condition. Both vehicles have been included in the town’s plans for the ambulance service.

To offset some of the costs, the fire department has sold some of its own equipment, including its hazmat truck and a car. Melanie Watson of the fire department said a department in Ohio bought the hazmat truck last month. The truck was used to clean up hazardous material spills, though McGuire said the state now handles that type of work.

By obtaining the new equipment now, McGuire said the fire department can begin training staff to be ready for the July 1 launch of the ambulance service.

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The Williston Armadillos’ offense and defense both went flat on Sunday.

The team committed six errors, resulting in four unearned runs, three in the first inning, and collected just six hits and two walks en route to a 7-0 loss to undefeated Mad River Valley. With the loss, the team’s record dropped to 1-2 in the Vermont Senior Baseball League.

“We faced one of the best pitchers in the league, and we have five first year players, so the lack of hits is understandable, however, the defensive lapses were made by our returning players. Chalk it up to a lack of practice,” pitcher Greg Bolger said.

Bolger was forced to pitch the entire game for the Dillos, as former ace Bill Supple announced his retirement and Pookie Martin was out of town. Over the nine innings, Bolger gave up five hits while walking four and striking out six. With the loss, Bolger’s record dropped to 1-1.

Offensively, only Bolger (1-3), third baseman Brent Tremblay (1-3, double), outfielder Ray Danis (1-4), outfielder Billy Daw (1-3, double), first baseman Ted DiGrande (1-3, double) and outfielder Steve Burt (1-1, BB) collected hits. So anemic was the offense that only once did the Dillos get the leadoff batter on base; on just two occasions did they get a runner to third.

The Dillos’ woes started early. In the first inning, following a leadoff walk, Daw dropped two successive flies to left that loaded the bases. After a walk to the clean up hitter plated one, Bolger induced the next batter to ground back to him on the mound. After Bolger threw home for the force play, catcher Darby Crum (0-1, BB) threw wild to third while attempting the double play. The error allowed another run to score and the runner on second to take third. A fielder’s choice on an infield grounder brought home the third unearned run of the inning.

Mad River padded its lead to 4-0 in the third inning by putting together a triple and a single. The lead grew to 6-0 in the fourth inning on another triple and single, coupled with a fielder’s choice. Mad River scored its final run in the ninth when Danis dropped a fly in center; two batters later, the runner scored on a sacrifice fly.

Next week, the Dillos travel to Airport Park in Colchester to take on the 3-0 Colchester Lakers. Game time is noon.

League standings and individual and team statistics are online at www.scorebook.com. Enter “Vermont Senior Baseball League” under league name search.

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May 20, 2010

CVU golfers even series with North Country

The Champlain Valley Union High golf team will return to the fairways Friday at Cedar Knoll after a narrow victory Tuesday over North Country Union at Kwiniaska. The latest win took some of the sting from last Friday’s loss to the Falcons at their home Newport Country Club course.

Vergennes Union High will be the host team this Friday.

Solid balance was the winning formula for the Redhawks Tuesday.

North Country’s Tyler Coulter was medalist with a 77, but CVU’s Chris Nigh was right behind him with a 79. Backing up Nigh were Cam Fitzgerald (81), Billy Wilson (85), Jack Tomashot (86) and Todd Forrester (87).

CVU’s team wound up with a two-stroke 331-333 triumph.

At Newport, North Country scored a 308-322 team win. Tomashot with a 75 and Nigh at 79 were the low scorers for the Redhawks.

North Country next for CVU softball combine

Following a solid 8-4 victory Tuesday afternoon over visiting 1-11 Spaulding High, Coach Corinna Hussey and her 4-8 Champlain Valley Union High softball team are looking forward to Thursday’s home contest against North Country Union High at 4:30 p.m.

Anna Supple and Cayla McCarthy shared the pitching chores in halting the Crimson Tide, while Leah Leister continued her heavy hitting of late with a double, two singles and three runs produced.

Saturday, in a narrow 6-5 loss to 7-4 Middlebury Union High on the road, Leister rapped two hits and drove in four runs.

Also providing sock in the win over Spaulding were Cassidy Maglaris and Susan Parmelee with two hits each.

Hussey praised the defensive work of Kayleigh Colbeth at second base and catcher Emily Himberg, who “called a great game behind the plate.”

Final home track meet approaches for CVU

The Champlain Valley Union High track and field team will close out its home campaign Tuesday when South Burlington High visits the Redhawks’ nest for a 3:30 p.m. start.

The varsity was in action Wednesday at Essex High while the freshmen will be at Essex on Friday for a meet starting at 3 p.m.

Last Friday, the boys finished second to St. Johnsbury Academy in the annual Bobwhite Relays in St. Albans with Bellows Free Academy the host school.

The Redhawks captured five events. They were the shuttle hurdles (Ethan Hildebrand, Alex Bonfigli, Keith Kelley, James Pieper-Lococo), freshmen 4-by-100 (Alex Craige, Albert Brown, Tyler Barnes, Jeremy Lerner) and four-by-400, (Tom Keller, Anthony Jordick, Josh Campagna, Chris Sulva). The other two meets were the long jump (Pieper-Lococo, Bonfigli, Keller) and the pole vault (Sam Chevalier, Campagna, Jacob Grasso).

In the South Burlington High girls Rebel relays on Saturday, CVU took two events, the high jump and the 4-by-100.

The winning high jump team was Haleigh Smith, Sara Lewis and Kaitlin O’Connell.

Capturing the 4-by-100 were Abby Eddy, Marion Albers, Emma Eddy and Emma Riesner.

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