Around Town: Feb. 22
Congratulations to Rick Benson and his Little Garden Market who sold over 50 Valentine’s Day dinners to loving customers. Rick said he was so busy he barely had time to turn to the counter and take new orders. Thank goodness Valentine’s Day comes but once a year, eh Rick?
Congratulations to Dicey Manning whose story titled “It’s ridiculous” appeared in the Burlington Free Press of February 10. Responding to the word ridiculous, she writes of her friend’s silly behavior, which ranges from destroying everything in sight—shoes, sweatshirts, squirrels. At night he takes over her bed, and he gets more attention than either she or her sister. He’s the “king of the bed.” Oh, did I mention that he’s her dog?
Congratulations to Jordan Cannon who earned placement on the Columbia College (New York) Dean’s List for the fall 2016 school term. The Dean of the College congratulated Jordan and said that he, as Dean, was proud of Jordan’s academic achievements—“Roar, Lions Roar!”
Congratulations to CCS students who participated in the Scripps Spelling Bee and in the Grades 4-8 National Geographic Geography Bee. Ella Emmons was the School Spelling Bee Champion. Harry Evans took second place and Isabella Hackerman finished third. In the National Geographic contest, Brody Flynn was the School Champion, Patricia Hennessey, second and Henry Bushey third.
Sympathy is expressed to family and friends of Tony Perry of Colorado who passed away January 21 at the age of 79. He maintained a farm in Charlotte on which he raised buffalo as he oversaw the Perry Restaurant Group. The family will host a gathering in his memory at the Shelburne Farms Coach Barn June 4.
Sympathy is expressed to James Patrick Mahoney, Jr. of Gainesville, Florida, who passed away February 10 at the age of 70. His surviving family includes his brother Sean and Sean’s partner Sara Bridgman of Charlotte. The family asks that those wishing to remember him through a donation consider one to a charity of choice.
Town bites
Psychologist Tom Powell speaks of inmate segregation
The February 19 Burlington Free Press ran a lead article on segregation of inmates who show dangerous mental health tendencies. Charlotte psychologist Tom Powell was quoted at length about his knowledge of such segregation. Now with Vermont Forensic Assessment and formerly with the state Department of Corrections, Powell said that he worked to develop policies for inmates with mental health issues, and that if they were segregated for relatively short periods of time (often less than a week) they do not develop harmful behavior. He is quoted as saying that if the segregation term stretches on, the inmate can enter into “a twilight experience,” and that’s where he begins to worry. At that point, he says, the Department of Corrections may face a shortage of beds or a time lag in going through a court process to get hospitalization. Other states have dealt with the problem by having hospitals being run by corrections and mental-health groups simultaneously.