Williston Observer

Former Island Scrapbook Partner buys new business

July 28, 2011

By Steven Frank

Lorna Swann (right) took over Island Scrapbook from Laura Sharples on July 1 and renamed it All Scrapped Up. Linda Merchant (left) helps Swann run the scrapbook supply business during the week. (Observer photo by Steven Frank)

On the outside, a look around the Simon’s Plaza on U.S. 2 in Williston doesn’t signify any changes. The sign in front of the business between Allen HotSpring Spas and the Shell gas station still reads “Island Scrapbook Crafts & Supplies.”

Inside that 800-square foot retail space, however, changes are already underway.

On July 1, former Island Scrapbook co-owner Lorna Swann bought out her partner, Laura Sharples, and renamed the store “All Scrapped Up.” The shop’s general theme remains but Swann, 52, expects to breathe new life into a business that started in Grand Isle and came to Williston approximately three years ago.

“Island just didn’t fit with the name anymore. Now it’s just prime opportunity to get away from it, start with something new and fresh,” Swann said.

She added: “We have everything you need to make the scrapbook that you want.”

Those items include approximately 19,000 pieces of design paper — with themes from weddings to those for children — materials for stamp art and several types of adhesives.

All Scrapped Up also offers birthday party packages, classes on various scrapbooking techniques like photo cropping, and even getaways. There is a weekend retreat taking place in August and another one in November.

“The people are unbelievable,” Swann said of the groups that attend the shop’s classes and retreats. “There is definitely a passion.”

Swann, a Northfield resident, has two adult children and works two part-time jobs. She runs the store on Sundays and holds one of the classes.

“It’s fun, it’s relaxing,” Swann said of scrapbooking, which she began doing 14 years ago. “You can do whatever you want; there is no such thing as a mistake in scrapbooking. If you have something that is not just right it is an embellishment opportunity. Just cover it with something else or do something different.”

Linda Merchant also instructs a class and runs the store four days a week (it’s closed on Mondays). A scrapbooking enthusiast, Merchant introduced herself to Swann when the store came to Williston.

“I love interacting with people, helping them develop ideas and helping them expand on ideas,” Merchant said. “I really like the customer service end of things.”

Swann reported that a new sign for the store’s front is in the works and “just needs approval from the state.” She is also preparing to launch a new website. Swann said the site will include calendar listings of all the store’s events and consumers will be able to use it to purchase some of its products. Folks will also be able to learn about the different retreats and pay for them online via PayPal.

“I expect that by Sept. 1 we will have everything under control … It’s going to be really good,” Swann said.

For Swann, competition from larger chain stores like A.C. Moore, which opened in Williston earlier this year, and Michael’s isn’t much of a concern.

“To be honest, they aren’t competition. We are a specialty store,” Swann said. “People who truly scrapbook or card make or are true paper crafters know the difference in the quality. Most of (A.C. Moore or Michael’s) stuff is older.”

Swann also isn’t discouraged by the store’s location, which was originally at Taft Corners when it first came to Williston. It relocated to the Simon’s Plaza in April.

“We were tucked in the corner (at Taft Corners) and there were two trees blocking the storefront,” Swann said. “The people coming in and out of here are great. My only concern was parking but there is more than it appears … This is definitely going to work,” Swann said.

All Scrapped Up is open Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information call 288-9616 or visit [email protected]

Deserves no promotion

2 popcorns

I’ve had some horrible bosses. Not quite “can’t wait ‘til they die so I can stomp on their graves” horrible, but horrible enough to be able to relate to the dire quandary best buddies Nick, Dale and Kurt are faced with in director Seth Gordon’s “Horrible Bosses.” Of course, unlike the boys, I never contemplated killing any of the stinking slave drivers.

Yes, it has come to that, and damn the consequences per an inconsistent screenplay that’s never endearing or funny enough to win our suspension of disbelief. OK, so there are some droll scenes in a “Dumb & Dumber” sort of way. And while we can’t believe anyone would hire these dudes in the first place, we still feel sorry for the poor fools.

So meet the commiserative trio, all at their wits end thanks to the untenable position each has been put in by his heartless taskmaster. Jason Sudeikis’s Kurt Buckman was on easy street at Pellit Chemical, where he was the No. 2 man until his paternalistic mentor died. Now he has to deal with his idiot, coke-headed son, Bobby, played by Colin Farrell.

Just as bad in another way is Kevin Spacey’s Dave Harken, the big honcho where Jason Bateman’s Nick Hendricks was expecting an imminent vice presidency. But surprise…the rotten cad was only dangling the spot to make our guy work harder. Adding insult to injury, the tyrant is quite proud of himself.

And then there’s Dale’s predicament. Living the male fantasy turned nightmare, dental assistant Dale, played by squeaky-voiced Charlie Day, is beset by the unremitting sexual onslaught of his nymphomaniac employer. Making it worse, because Dr. Julia Harris, D.D.S., is proficient at anesthetizing folks and putting them in compromising positions, she’s blackmailing diminutive Dale.

That’s right. Be her Lothario or she’ll tell his fiancée a whole pack of lurid lies. Making it a double whammy, because Dale is a registered sex offender (bogus charge or not), if he doesn’t cooperate the lustful doc also threatens to report him to the authorities. The film’s only memorable performance — Jennifer Aniston’s bawdy dentist is a hoot.

Laying it on with a fervor heretofore rarely seen in her movie career, the pulchritudinous exhibition makes one wonder if Brad will have second thoughts about giving Jennifer the gate in favor of Angelina. Through word and deed that would make Mae West blush, the lovely Miss Aniston affirms that she has graduated from her girl next door image.

Otherwise, the film possesses no other notable features. The plot to murder the three horrible bosses takes a predictable, screwball route, replete with an atypical hit man portrayed by Jamie Foxx, his first name unmentionable in this space. Silliness prevails, with credibility tossed out the window. Sillier yet would be to take any of it seriously.

But while a farce doesn’t necessarily have to be believable, there’s a sliding scale of tolerability. If we’re busy laughing, who cares if it makes sense? In the case of “Horrible Bosses,” it simply isn’t humorous enough to justify the irksome lapses in plausibility. These ordinary fellows make the switch to potential killers all too readily.

You see, in the 11th hour, Mr. Foxx’s Blankety-Blank Jones explains why he can’t personally do the deed. However, in consideration of the $5,000 retainer he’s taken, he will advise. But he has only one bit of counsel for the desperate pals. In order to avoid the establishment of a motive, it would be wise if each man killed the other’s boss.

This arrangement paves the way for a bevy of confusion and illogicality that soon dissolves into a general free-for-all posing as a plot. A few running gags pepper the scenario, and from a helter-skelter script one gleans the occasionally amusing moment. However, it’s the horrible bosses themselves who keep this film afloat.

Forgetting for a second that this is supposed to be funny, which, regrettably, isn’t all that difficult, we note the title characters are not only vile but downright criminal. At a minimum, each deserves dismissal. Some even warrant legal prosecution. Still, much as they might conjure memories of our own tormenters, straight up execution is a tad stiff.

But, once convinced of their course, none of the three disgruntled employees exhibits the slightest angst over killing a fellow human being. In other words, they’re about as loony as their prospective victims. Thus, aside from being somewhat curious as to how things will turn out in the end, we inevitably lose interest amidst the flood of contrivances.

Too bad director Gordon didn’t have the wherewithal to impart some kernels of wit and wisdom about despotism in the workplace. In addition to tempering the gobbledygook, it would make the comedic failure less obvious. Unfortunately, like the truly grave problem it professes to address, “Horrible Bosses” is hardly a laughing matter.

“Horrible Bosses,” rated R, is a Warner Bros. Pictures release directed by Seth Gordon and stars Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis. Running time: 98 minutes

The Ryan B. Hawks Memorial Eastern Cup mountain bike race was held at the Catamount Outdoor Family Center in Williston on July 24.

Colchester defeated S.D. Ireland, 5-3, on June 24 in the Vermont American Legion championship tournament. Bennington eliminated the Irelands from the double-elimination tourney on Monday.

July 28, 2011

CVU FLAVOR ADDED TO SHRINE GRIDIRON GAME

With the Champlain Valley Union coaching staff calling the shots and three former Redhawk players on the squad, the Vermont Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl football team of selected 2011 high school graduated stars goes into training Thursday morning at Kimball Union Academy in Plainfield, N.H.

The 58th annual game between Vermont and New Hampshire kicks off at 2:30 p.m., Saturday Aug. 6, at Windsor High School’s MacLeay-Royce Field.

“The coaching staff goes into camp Wednesday and the kids report Thursday morning for physicals,” CVU and Vermont head coach Jim Provost said in a telephone interview on Sunday (July 24).

From last fall’s CVU Division II semifinalists, Provost has quarterback-defensive back Konnor Fleming, two-way tackle and punter Cameron Fitzgerald, and linebacker Eric Palmer.

Instructions will not only from Provost but also his CVU staff of assistants including Tim Halvorson, Brendan and Kevin McCarthy, Tyler Provost and Mike Yesalonia.

Provost, who also guided the Vermont team in 1990 when he was the head coach at Rice Memorial, said he wants to start installing offensive and defensive schemes the first day of practice.

“We are hoping the kids arrive in shape,” he said.

New Hampshire has opened a wide margin lead in the series with a 10-game winning streak, but Provost is optimistic that his team of achievers can hold its own.

“We have the talent to win the Shrine game,” he said, pointing out that the 2010 team under Essex High coach Charlie Burnett was competitive and within a couple of plays of its Granite State counterpart.

“We are going down there to win,” Provost added. “If it doesn’t happen it won’t be because we didn’t believe we could.”

GRAD CHALLENGE SPAWNS SOFTBALL CAMP

For her grad challenge at Champlain Valley Union High School, Leah Leister will run a one-week softball camp from Aug. 1 to Aug. 5. Participants must be between the ages of 11 and 15, and do not need softball experience. Leister, an incoming senior and member of CVU’s softball team, will conduct the camp at the school’s softball field. The cost is $30 per player, to be paid at the first day of camp. The camp will run each evening from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.