Williston Observer

By Karen Wyman

After a brief hiatus from writing the column in which I planned the twins’ birthday, orchestrated my husband’s birthday, coordinated summer camps and vacations, scheduled after-school care for next year, attended t-ball games and volunteered at various school events, as well as accepted a larger role at work, I realized Life in Williston is good but extremely busy. It seems not only we residents of Williston have hectic schedules—Williston itself is consumed with growth and activity.

New businesses and ventures are popping up all over our great town, and upcoming festivities including celebrating Williston’s 250th anniversary are sure to make this summer unforgettable. My family and I are so excited to partake in these events, but as our calendar quickly fills up with commitments, I realize that time is precious and unscheduled free time is a rarity. It is with a heavy heart that I have decided to forgo some of my obligations. I have absolutely loved every minute of writing Life in Williston, but I feel I now need to be more present in my own life in Williston. As so many of you know, as our children grow up, they have increasingly more complex and crazy activity and social calendars. Some days we literally run all over Williston trying to maintain these schedules, but I wouldn’t change a thing. We are truly blessed to live here, and I appreciate our wonderful community and all it has to offer. Thank you Williston residents for allowing me into your lives this past year and a half, and I hope you all are able to take the time to enjoy your life in Williston!

Karen Wyman has been a Williston resident for seven years, and lives with her husband and twin 5-year-old daughters.

The Williston School Board would like to express a sincere “thank you” to the entire Williston community for their support of the school budget. Your active involvement and frank and open discussion were very valuable and we greatly appreciate it. Our schools can now begin the necessary preparation efforts that will allow us to be ready for a successful 2013-2014 school year.

By Todd Shepard

We are continually reminded about things that are dangerous to ourselves, our pets, our environment or some other aspect of our lives. It is my turn as your police chief to remind the Williston community about the need to buckle up. I made a promise the other day at a Governor’s Highway Safety Luncheon honoring our highway heroes that I would convince at least one person that doesn’t regularly wear his or her seatbelt to start wearing it. Well, I don’t know of too many who don’t regularly wear it so I figured I would do my part by circulating the message about the importance of wearing your seatbelt and to challenge everyone that reads this message to talk to your friends, neighbors, colleagues or family about wearing their seatbelts.

It is reported that Vermont has an estimated 85 percent usage rate for seatbelts. That is fantastic in light of the fact that Vermont has a seatbelt law on the books that can only be enforced if a vehicle is stopped for another violation. The problem noted was that for the past 10 or more years, our usage rate has never increased, whereas other states with similar secondary enforcement laws have been making steady progress toward increasing their seatbelt usage rates.

A special point was made by an EMT of more than 30 years. He has never had to unbuckle a deceased occupant from a vehicular crash. The presentation was powerful, even to a person who has been involved in public safety for nearly 30 years, like me. Crashes will happen, but do everything that you can to protect yourself from serious injury or death. Do not rely solely on the airbags, they are an added protection and work in conjunction with the seatbelts. Do not make excuses that the seatbelt is uncomfortable, because if you get in a crash you may very well be more uncomfortable if seriously injured.

Last year, Vermont had 77 highway fatalities, the highest since 2006. If all of these fatalities were vehicles occupants and were wearing seatbelts, we could have saved 77. Thus far in 2013 (as of April 19), there have been a total of 13 highway fatalities.

As the leader of the Williston Police Department, it is incumbent upon me to encourage my community to always wear seatbelts while in a moving vehicle and ensure that your children are properly restrained according to current Vermont law. I hope you take my challenge to speak to those around you to keep the message going about the importance of wearing seatbelts.

It is my hope that we will never come across a Williston community member not wearing his or her seatbelt while motoring along the Williston roads. Knowing the Williston community as I have come to know it in the past nine months, you will all pass my message along and will not rely on the enforcement piece as the reason to wear your seatbelt, but rely on the reality that wearing your seatbelt is the right thing to do to protect yourself, your family or other occupants of your car.

Remember: drive safely, drive the speed limit and buckle up. It is better to arrive alive than it is to arrive on time.

Todd Shepard is Williston’s police chief.