Williston Observer

Buffalo Wild Wings coming to Burlington

May 20, 2010

By Stephanie Choate

Observer staff

A restaurant industry veteran and a former National Hockey League player are combining their skills to open a sports grill and bar next week.

“Anybody that has a pulse and enjoys beer, wings and sports is going to be here,” Williston resident Martti Matheson said. “New Englanders bleed sports.”

Matheson and his longtime friend Aaron Miller are set to open Buffalo Wild Wings on Shelburne Road in Burlington on May 24. The restaurant is one of nearly 700 nationwide.

“I think there’s a void for something like this,” Miller said. “You look at the chain-type restaurants that do well here, (Buffalo Wild Wings) is that on steroids.”

Matheson has been in the food and nightlife industry since college. He owns Red Square in Burlington and Green Mountain Bar Service, a catering company.

Miller’s background is in sports. He played in the NHL for 15 years for Colorado, Los Angeles and Vancouver, retiring two years ago. He was also on the 2002 Olympic team, where he won a silver medal.

Matheson said the idea to open the restaurant started a few years ago.

“It always came up, where do we go to eat and where do we go to watch the game?” Matheson said. “It’s always a restaurant or always a bar. There’s not really the perfect combination. This definitely brings it to a different level.”

After researching a few options, the pair began talking with Buffalo Wild Wings about two years ago.

Matheson and Miller plan to open three more locations in New Hampshire over the next four years, with the first one planned for 2012 or earlier.

Buffalo Wild Wings will take over the building that housed T.G.I. Friday’s at 555 Shelburne Road in Burlington. Matheson and Miller renovated the entire building.

“There’s nothing other than some steel and brick that is here from the old building,” Matheson said.

The restaurant will have between 40 and 50 televisions, including screens in the bathrooms and on the patio. The restaurant will show national and international games, as well as some local sports.

“You name it, it’ll be here,” Matheson said.

Miller said the draw of Buffalo Wild Wings is simple.

“Beer, wings and sports,” he said. “Pretty much that’s what it’s all about.”

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May 20, 2010

The long-awaited sidewalk on Old Stage Road near Adams Apple Orchard & Farm Market, which would complete the rec path loop around Williston Village, is one step closer to completion.

Lamoureux & Dickinson Consulting Engineers are working on the design, which is a bit challenging due to wetlands in the area, according to Lisa Sheltra at the public works department. Sheltra said the design work is being paid for with a grant the town received last year.

Sheltra is finishing another grant application that she hopes will pay for the actual construction of the sidewalk. The deadline for the application is May 28. Sheltra said residents can send her letters in support of the project, noting it is helpful in persuading officials that the sidewalk is important to the community in terms of convenience and safety.

The stretch of Old Stage Road between Wildflower Circle and Adams Farm Market is a popular area for bikers and joggers, but lacks a shoulder on either side of the road.

Letters pertaining to the sidewalk project should be mailed or dropped off prior to May 28 to Williston Office of Public Works, 7900 Williston Road, Williston, Vt. 05495. If the grant or other funding is secured, the sidewalk could be constructed next spring, Sheltra said.

— Marianne Apfelbaum, Observer staff

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May 20, 2010

By Greg Duggan

Observer staff

Nowadays, it’s not difficult to pinpoint Williston’s economic base as the areas around Taft Corners and Maple Tree Place. What many residents may not know, however, is that more than a century ago most of the town’s business was located in now sleepy North Williston.

This weekend, with support from the Williston Historical Society, Richard Allen will lead residents on a photographic and walking tour of North Williston’s past.

Allen, a history buff, drives through North Williston twice a day as he travels between his home in Essex and his job as an enrichment teacher in the Williston School District.

“North Williston caught my eye because there’s such a unique history,” Allen said. “It’s sort of a separate part of town. It still is, geographically separate. You go down the hill … and there’s a feeling of being out of suburban Williston.”

Allen said he was at a Historical Society meeting in 1990 when residents shared memories of North Williston. The stories intrigued him, and in recent years he began doing more thorough research about the history of North Williston with the thought of writing a book on the area. On Saturday, he will share the results of his research with the public in a presentation called “Smith Wright, Williston Businessman, and the Development of North Williston.”

“North Williston, basically, from when the railroad came through in 1849 through the latter half of the 1800s, was the economic engine of Williston,” Allen said.

A two-lane covered bridge over the Winooski River opened in 1860, Allen said, connecting North Williston to Essex and Jericho and further stimulating economic growth.

Though North Williston never supported a large population, in the second half of the 1800s it served as a commercial hub, with a woodworking plant, blacksmith shop, a cold storage plant and other businesses.

A man named Smith Wright, along with his sons, owned the cold storage plant. Allen said Wright had branches in Minnesota and Iowa, and shipped to Boston, New York and other locations in the Northeast.

“The first half of the slideshow zeroes in on him and his life,” Allen said.

Allen found much of his information from documents stored at the home of Jim McCullough, a native Willistonian and great-grandson of Wright. McCullough, who admitted, “My family never throws anything away,” still lives in the house once occupied by Wright. The attic of the home is full of thousands of pages of historical documents, McCullough said, including a few trunks containing business records from Wright’s business.

“Dick (Allen) came, we’d hump a box out of the attic, he’d take it home and go through it,” McCullough said. “He’d bring it back and we’d hump another box out.”

While Allen’s presentation will focus on the Williston of more than a century ago, he still sees similarities to today’s community. In the 1800s, Williston’s economic base centered on the railway and a link to towns north of the Winooski River; today, many of the town’s businesses sit just off Interstate 89.

As Allen said, “The industrial growth, the commercial growth is reflective of the changing transportation modes.”

Richard Allen’s presentation, “Smith Wright, Williston Businessman, and the Development of North Williston,” is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at May 22 at the Old Brick Church in Williston Village. For more information, call Allen at 878-3853.

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May 20, 2010

By Greg Duggan

Observer staff

It’s that time of the year again, when parents of Williston students can fill out an annual survey that asks about satisfaction with the town’s school district.

This year, the questions touch upon everything from school climate to curriculum to school communication. The questions are similar to those from last year’s survey.

District Principal Walter Nardelli said the survey has been offered for years, since before he joined the school system five years ago.

Nardelli noted that house-specific questions may not be overly helpful for modifying practices next school year, as the district is reorganizing its classroom structures for the fall. Still, he said the administration uses the results of the survey to analyze the entire school.

“We (the administration) look at it, teachers look at it. Everybody sees it through a different lens, has a different take on it,” Nardelli said.

Parents have until May 28 to fill out the survey, which is available online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/XNFZWZS.

The survey has 12 sections. The first three ask about a child’s grade level, which academic house he or she belongs to and the number of years a parent has had a child in the house.

Subsequent sections include questions about parent satisfaction with teachers, academic development, curriculum and school communication. The multiple choice format for responses ranges from “Very satisfied” to “Very dissatisfied” with an option for “Don’t know or N/A.”

The survey includes two open-ended questions: “What would be the one area you would change if you could” and “Additional comments.”

The practice of releasing an annual survey to gain parent feedback is spreading across all of Chittenden South Supervisory Union. Cindy Koenemann-Warren, director of human resources in CSSU, said the supervisory union is adopting Williston’s survey model for other schools.

Hinesburg and Shelburne are likely to launch a survey this spring, Cindy Koenemann-Warren said. Surveys for Charlotte Central School and Champlain Valley Union High School are expected to take longer to unveil.

The surveys will follow a format similar to Williston’s, though individual schools may tweak aspects of the survey to fit their own needs and academic structures.

“We’re relying heavily on their expertise and experience,” Koenemann-Warren said of Williston.

She said the surveys will help evaluate teachers as well as schools, and will also help gauge trends taking place across the supervisory union.

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Team rebounds against Newport

May 13, 2010

The Armadillos, Williston’s team in the Vermont Senior Baseball League, dropped their season opener, 7-5, on April 26 in Woodstock.

The loss came despite Williston outhitting its opponents, the Killington Saints, 12 to 6. The Dillos’ offense was led by center fielder Ray Danis (3-4, run), left fielder Reid Crosby (2-3, BB, run) and pitcher Pat “Pookie” Martin (2-4, run, RBI).

On the mound, Martin (0-1) got the start for Williston, but was plagued by wildness. Martin threw four innings, giving up seven runs, five of which were earned, on six hits and five walks. He recorded two strikeouts. Greg Bolger threw the final four innings for Williston, giving up no runs on one hit and one walk while striking out four.

In the second frame, Killington capitalized on three walks, followed by two singles and an error to take a 3-0 lead.

Williston went up by one in the top of the fourth as the Dillos bounced back with five runs. After Danis singled and Crosby was hit by a pitch, Martin, Bolger (1-3, run, RBI), first baseman Pete Picard (1-4, run, RBI) and catcher Darby Crum (1-4, RBI) singled in succession, each bringing home a runner. Right fielder Billy Daw (1-3) walked to load the bases and second baseman Dennis Arnold (1-3, RBI) singled to bring home Picard.

Martin, however, was unable to hold the lead. Killington plated four more runs in the bottom of the fourth on four hits, three of which were for extra bases, and a hit batsman. While Bolger was nearly flawless in relief, the Dillos’ offense was unable to mount a further comeback.

On May 2, the Dillos prevailed 4-1 in their home opener against Newport, which went to the championship game last season. The team’s offense, which again rapped out 12 hits, was led by Danis (2-4), Bolger (2-4, 2B, RBI), third baseman Jesse Stein (2-4, 2B, RBI) and Crosby (2-3).

Bill Supple started on the mound for the Dillos, going 5 1/3 innings, rendering one unearned run on three hits and four walks, while striking out two. Bolger (1-0) pitched the last 3 2/3 innings, giving up no runs, one hit and striking out two.

Newport scored their sole run in the third on two singles, a walk and an error by Stein at third. That lead stood until the eighth, when the Armadillos scored all four of their runs. Following three straight singles by left fielder Dan Morse (1-1, BB, sac, run), first baseman Ted DiGrande (1-3, run) and Scott Hill (1-3, run), Supple was hit by a pitch to force home a run. Bolger plated another on a sacrifice fly and when the throw trying to get the advancing runner got away, another run scored. Stein then singled home Supple to round out the scoring.

From there, Bolger recorded a one-two-three ninth inning to get his first win of the season.

On May 16, Williston will host 2-0 Mad River Valley. 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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