Williston Vermont News and Events
Feb. 23, 2012
The following students from Williston were named to the Rice Memorial High School’s second quarter honor roll:
First Honors
Michelle Bolger
Ellen Boucher
Emily Boucher
Matthew Kruse
Madeline Limanek
Elizabeth Sartorelli
Ellen Sartorelli
Second Honors
Victoria DeLuca
Hannah Durkee
Emily Dykes
Tom Fitzgerald
Ezekiel Geffken
Anna Krause
Gabrielle Kruse
Timothy Rensch
Kelly St. Marie
Feb. 23, 2012
Ruth M. Bouchard, 97, formerly of Williston, passed away quietly on Tuesday morning, Feb. 14, in the St. Albans Health and Rehabilitation Center. Ruth was born April 15, 1914, in Winooski, the daughter of Fred and Margaret (Companion) Willette. Ruth married Homer Bouchard in April 1934. She was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Ruth had a great sense of humor and an amazing zest for life. In earlier years, Ruth worked for the Winooski Woolen Mills until 1954. She then moved to Milford, Conn. from 1954 to 1972. Ruth returned to Vermont after retiring from Burndy Corporation in Milford, Conn. Ruth is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth (Betty) Bouchard; her son, Robert Bouchard and his wife, Lynn; her grandchildren, Keely and Tom Power, Katie and Paul Leclerc, Kyle Bouchard and Monica Emmons, Jennifer and Phil Cyr, Sarah and Simon Alexander, Steven Morin, and Vicki Metivier; her great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandson; and several nieces and nephews. Ruth was predeceased by Homer in May 1996; and her son, Norman in April 2005. The family would like to express their heartfelt thanks to all the staff at the St. Albans Health and Rehabilitation Center for all their loving care and kindness. Visiting hours were on Saturday, Feb. 18, from 10 to 11 a.m. and funeral services began at 11 a.m. Interment followed at St. Francis Xavier Cemetery. A Mass celebrating her life will be at a later date and at the convenience of the family. In light of Ruth’s love of animals, the family would like to suggest donations made in Ruth’s name to the Franklin County Humane Society, 30 Sunset Meadows, St. Albans, Vt. 05478.
Wilfred James Bissonnette of Taft Farms, Williston, died Friday, Feb. 17, in Fletcher Allen Health Care. He was 94 years old. He was born at home on Jan. 23, 1918, to Anne (Proulx) Bissonnette and William Bissonnette, in Malone, N.Y. He graduated from nursing school at King City Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1942, where he met his wife, then Halina Blaskowitz. He attended New York University where he was awarded a bachelor of science degree in nursing. He served in World War II as an Army medic in the European theatre and on the Pan American Highway. He worked at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y., and the Staten Island Hospital. He was a Boy Scout leader and was involved in Saint Paul’s Roman Catholic Church in Staten Island. Bill had a zest for life and socializing. He enjoyed road trips, camping, gardening, Amway, and spending time with his family and friends. Bill was well known for his rare and quirky sense of humor. He took great pleasure in the various game nights and community activities with his friends at Taft Farms, where he will be greatly missed. Bill was also an avid sweepstaker and kept up with technology, working daily on his computer. Bill was devoted to Charlotte Larrabee, his longtime sweetheart, who he would visit daily at Burlington Rehabilitation. He is survived by his children, Wilfred J. Bissonnette II and his wife, Ellen, of Bristol, Mona Gambardella of Cornwall, Robert Bissonnette and wife, Allyson, of Queens, N.Y., and Susan Bissonnette of Woodstock, N.Y.; nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Bill was predeceased by his wife, Halina Bissonnette, mother of his five children; daughter, Maura Ann; and his wife, Josephine (Padd) Bissonnette of Cheektowaga, N.Y. A Mass was celebrated on Monday, at 4:30 p.m., at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, 7415 Williston Road, Williston.
Mary Teresa (Todd) Peate, 84, died peacefully at Green Mountain Nursing Home in Colchester, on Sunday, Feb. 19. She was born in Mimico, Canada on May 13, 1927, daughter of the late Valent and Augusta (Choate) Todd. Mary was a writer of fiction, non-fiction, comedy, radio and TV scripts, and a radio broadcaster for the CBC.
She is the author of a memoir trilogy: “Girl in a Red River Coat [1970; second edition 2005];” Montreal Gazette Best Seller, “Girl in a Sloppy Joe Sweater [1989];” “Girl in a CBC Studio [2000]” and nominated for the Stephen Leacock Humor Prize (2000). Chapters from her books have been anthologized in five Canadian specialty books as well as Canadian textbooks.
She wrote and hosted her own radio show, “Tea & Trumpets.” The show aired on CBC from 1958 through 1965 and was heard throughout Canada, the United States bordering Canada, 200 miles inside the Arctic Circle, France and Germany.
During her show’s seven-year run, she wrote for and appeared on Don McNeill’s “Breakfast Club,” and wrote daily editorials for him for “Flair.” Both these shows aired on ABC out of Chicago. During this time Mary also released the comedy album, “If You Lived Here, You’d be Home Now [1963].” Mary also did runway modeling, print ads, fashion layouts and TV commercials in Montreal in the 1950s-60s. After a 27-year career at the CBC, she moved to California (1980-93) where she contributed to the Los Angeles Times, a number of West Coast publications and wrote a weekly column for the Los Angeles Daily News in the late 1980s. Since 1993, she lived in Williston and later Essex. Her work has appeared in Vermont Life Magazine, The Burlington Free Press and she conducted a Life History Writing Workshop for the women of UVM for ten years.
Mary was totally captivated by the written word and happiest when reading her favorite authors: Charles Dickens, Henry David Thoreau and J.D. Salinger. She was also an avid jazz fan and collector of antiques, memorabilia and dolls. Mary saw the humor in almost any situation; her wit was razor sharp.
She is survived by her two sons, George Peate and wife Michele of Thousand Oaks, Calif., Rick Peate and wife Debbie of Williston; her daughter Candy Padula and husband Chuck of Westford; her grandchildren, James, Dan, Mary Clare, Joe, John and Angela; her great grandchildren, Sophia, Madeline, Danny and Anthony. She is predeceased by her husband Robert Peate.
Visiting hours were held at A. W. Rich Funeral Home in Essex Junction on Wednesday Feb. 22, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Essex Jct., with Reverend Richard Tinney officiating. Burial will be held in the family plot in Holy Family Cemetery in the spring. The family invites you to share your memories and online condolences by visiting www.awrichfuneralhomes.com.
Michael Timothy Poirier, 19, formally of Williston, died suddenly on Feb. 18, in Kenduskeag, Maine, where he moved a month ago to live with his brother, Matthew, who is a college student in that area. Michael was born at Ft. Wainwright, Alaska, on Dec. 31, 1992, and is the son of Christopher and Linda Poirier who were longtime Williston residents, until they relocated to Grafton, Mass. in January 2012. Mike is the second born of five children who include his older brother Matthew (20), Melissa (17), Marlena (15) and Madeline (13). Mike was proud to be an infantry soldier in the Vermont Army National Guard. He was very enthusiastic about his future military career in the Guard, and constantly kept himself in top physical shape. For a fitness challenge, he often enjoyed donning his combat boots, fatigues, and a full rucksack, and going on long hikes along the back roads of Vermont. Mike graduated from South Burlington High School in 2010, and planned to eventually move in with his brother in Maine, work fulltime for a year and attend college starting in 2012. Ever since he was 15, Michael always worked hard in his part-time employment at the Hannaford grocery store in Williston. He was frequently commended for his diligence on the job where he always gave his maximum effort. Michael will be remembered for his playful wit, dynamic energy and thirst for adventure. He was always the comedian with his friends and family, and loved to stage pranks and other antics to entertain them. Despite his rambunctiousness, Mike had a gentle heart, thoughtfulness and childlike demeanor to those close to him. Visitation will be Wednesday evening, Feb. 22, 2012, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Corbin and Palmer Funeral Home, 9 Pleasant St., Essex Junction. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012, at 11 a.m. at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, 7415 Williston Rd., Williston. A reception will follow in the parish hall. In lieu of flowers, please consider the needs of the family.
Feb. 23, 2012
This morning (Friday, Feb. 17), I was told I would have to hang around Williston Central School for 20 or more minutes with my school bus because, if the buses leave after dropping off their students, we would cause traffic problems.
Really? That’s less than 10 buses among hundreds of parents in cars dropping off their children at the same location — what an inconvenience for the parents who can’t get their children out of bed in time to catch the school buses that pass their front doors. Wake up parents. You complain about things that you have the power to control. Stop blaming others when you can make easy adjustments to solve your problem. Maybe I should adjust and drop off the students at WCS first and continue to Allen Brook School. But then again, we would have the parents driving to Allen Brook complaining about the buses causing traffic problems there.
Glenn Enos
Substitute bus driver
Please support the Williston School District and vote yes on its 2012-2013 budget. The $16,621,868 budget represents a modest 1.95 percent increase, while continuing to provide sufficient funding to maintain the quality education that our community expects.
The School Board and administration worked hard in the face of a number of budgetary challenges. Many of the expenses driving the school budget are increasing beyond our control. There are fixed increases in labor costs, higher insurance premiums, and rising heating fuel and utility expenses. Meanwhile, federal grants that provide essential funding for instructional support in the areas of literacy and math were eliminated. Grant funding for beneficial programs such as CY mentoring were also cut.
Despite these challenges, the school budget maintains critical instructional supports and programming for literacy and math previously funded with federal grants. Other critical programs, such as summer school and CY mentoring, will continue.
The school board was also mindful of the difficult economic environment that our community is facing. It asked for and received thoughtful cuts from the administration while maintaining critical programming. These cuts included the reduction of a classroom teacher, administrative staffing changes and the postponement of carpet replacement.
We are fortunate to have a school district that is focused on providing an excellent education for our community’s children. Teachers are dedicated, well trained, and effective in helping kids reach their full potential. Administrators have created a positive school climate to foster learning and growth for every student. And, one cannot say enough about the engaged parents and community members that support our schools.
With your support for the FY2013 school budget, we can maintain the quality education our community expects, which is an investment in our children and our future.
The Williston School Board:
Joshua Diamond, Kevin Mara, Giovanna Boggero, Deborah Baker-Moody and Holly Rouelle
Feb. 23, 2012
By Shea Savage
Two hundred years ago, Williston, Vermont was a lush forest full of natural beauty and thriving ecosystems. Trees dominated the landscape — turning the hills green and, in autumn, brilliant shades of flaming red and electric orange. The land thrived with life, animals and plants.
Today, Taft Corners has different scenery. It’s a wasteland of parked cars and pavement, populated by big box stores and angry drivers stuck in rush-hour traffic.
And now, the town’s sight is set on destroying another habitat in favor of a multi-million dollar chain that will bring nothing but traffic and pollution to our community: Target. I think introducing a Target department store to Williston is a dangerous idea that could have severe consequences if not thought through appropriately. If Vermonters were wise, and could see past the ends of their own noses, they would think this as well.
My main reason for believing that a Target in Williston would be excessive and shortsighted is a simple one that does not seem to be being brought up much; the very obvious problem of destroying yet another habitat that houses plants and animals alike. Earth’s environment is being destroyed. This is a clear fact. The ice caps are melting, factories are belching smoke into the atmosphere, and we are standing here and saying, “Bring it on! We want to continue paving! We want to continue building up and up and up until the only place left to go is nowhere! We want a Target!”
Well, I don’t want a Target. I don’t want to grow up and have to tell my grandchildren stories about how nice Vermont used to be — how beautiful and natural and captivating — because all they see when they see Vermont is a paved slab of parking lot. Target is one step closer to a very bleak future we have in store for us, and that is one thing I do not want to see for this gorgeous state we live in.
Even more to the point: Have you driven through the center of town during the holiday season? It can take 10 minutes just to turn into one of the shopping centers, not to mention the time it takes to find a parking spot and battle your way through the throngs of people. Bringing a Target to town would cause traffic to increase tenfold. Taft Corners would become even more of a disaster area than it already is. We already take in the most money from shoppers than anywhere else in the state, including Burlington and its Church Street Marketplace. We don’t desperately need the money, we aren’t a dead zone in our state, so Target is not needed. It’s as simple as that.
The main argument of the people advocating for Target is simple — they just plain want one. They don’t want to have to travel to all the way to New York just to buy their cheap clothing and shoes. People like to shop, and I certainly don’t begrudge them that. I like shopping, too! But the argument isn’t valid. Why? For one thing, we already have a Wal-Mart. Get your clothes fix there, if you need to. For another thing, doesn’t it seem kind of selfish and thoughtless to put the environment, our community and our small business owners out of sight and out of mind just because Target sells decent stuff cheap? Did we consider the fact that all we could gain from Target really is just that; stuff? We need to learn to consider the greater good before we consider our own personal wants. If we continue to put our own desires over the needs of many, the world will suffer accordingly.
In addition to negatively impacting the environment, introducing a Target to our community would be toxic to small businesses. In order to be able to accurately understand this, it is important to understand exactly what impact Target will make upon the workforce. Consider this: It is estimated that Target will employ approximately 150 workers. However, this small number would be negated by the number of small-business owners that would suffer from introducing another chain to town. As Earth becomes filled with billion-dollar chains like Wal-Mart and Target, wouldn’t it make more sense to begin to support our local business owners? Do the billionnaires who run the show really need the cash that they’ll rake in after placing their footprint upon our town? Buying from local sellers will improve the integrity of Williston and decrease the amount of cash going to those who already have inordinate amounts of it.
I have lived in Williston for almost my entire life. We’ve survived for this long without a Target. Introducing one to town would negatively impact our environment, our community integrity, our traffic control problems and our small-business owners. For these reasons, I encourage every person living in the community to seriously consider, not just the excitement of gaining another shopping opportunity, but also the consequences of this. We are missing the target when we consider adding another billion-dollar giant to Williston. If everyone were to think frankly about this, I think they would see it as well.
Shea Savage is an eighth grade student at Williston Central School. The above guest column was for an assignment in her language arts class, where she was asked to write a persuasive piece on something she felt passionate about.
Feb. 23, 2012
By Kim Dannies
Flaming salt-crusted chicken, waffle cones filled with foie gras mousse, triple-dipped salted caramels, pan de bono, Latino BBQ ribs… my jeans are tighter, but man, is my belly happy!
I’ve been very lucky to sample some extraordinary food lately. My most memorable meal was Nuevo Latino, specifically the spicy, tangy food of Peru. Peruvian cuisine is a hot topic right now and it’s no surprise, almost nothing in the larder is off limits. Six centuries of melding African, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese cultures has yielded a cross-pollination of recipes that are ingredient-rich and infinitely creative.
Key dishes like pepper purees, quinoa salads and cebiche (ceviche), the citrus cured seafood dish, are drop-dead gorgeous and virtuous eating to boot. The magical way Peruvian chefs play with spice and acid is particularly inspired. They’ll top fresh greens with hearts of palm, Cotija cheese, asparagus, and drizzle it all with a passion fruit vinaigrette that simply sparkles. A wonderful book that captures the beauty and ease of this cooking is “The Food & Cooking of Peru” by Fior Arcaya de Deloit. Recently, I whipped up a Peruvian feast and must say that it was a visual and gustatory knockout that wasn’t that difficult to do.
Choose 1-2 pounds of firm white fish like cod, halibut, scallops or shrimp. Cut into generous bite-sized pieces and place in a glass prep bowl. Thinly slice half of a medium-sized red onion, one small chili and two sticks of celery. Add to the fish. Juice 8 limes to yield 10 tablespoons of juice and gently toss over the mixture. Season with salt and pepper, then let it set for 20 minutes.
Re-toss the mixture; allow it to set in the fridge for 20 minutes more. The fish is ready when it is opaque (depending on which fish you choose, you’ll want to experiment with the marinating time). Line a platter with lettuce leaves, spoon out the seafood and top with finely minced parsley. Steamed potatoes or quinoa are nice side dishes. Serves 4-8.
Kim Dannies is a graduate of La Varenne Cooking School in France. She lives in Williston with her husband, Jeff; they have three 20-something daughters who come and go. For archived Everyday Gourmet columns go to kimdannies.com.
