Around Town

Heather Armell Morse and Greg Armell welcomed Thomas (Tommy) Cecil Armell into the world April 21. He weighed 8 pounds 1.5 ounces and was 20 inches long. He has jet black hair and blue eyes. Courtesy photo.

Charlotter Kathryn Blume, spoke for “350 Vermont” in Montpelier on April 29 in concert with the Climate March in Washington. According to an article in Sunday’s Burlington Free Press, Kathryn said that approximately 400 Vermonters traveled to the capital for that event to express concern over lack of effort to halt the change that is changing the world’s landscapes. She said they surrounded the White House and remained silent but visible.

Congratulations to the following Charlotters who received Industry Awards from Green Works recently. Under the category of Commercial Design/Build, Christian D’Andrea of Distinctive Landscaping won an Excellence Award for a project he calls “Dining in Nature.” Two Charlotters, Brian Pellerin, also of Distinctive Landscaping, and Nate Carr of Church Hill Landscapes won awards for their Small Scale Residential Design/Build projects, Pellerin’s titled “Small Space, Bold Terrace,” Carr’s “Outdoor Kitchen and Pool Patio.” Pellerin recived an Excellence Award, and Carr, an Honor Award. At the other end of the spectrum, Large Scale Residential Design/Build, Charlie Proutt of Distinctive Landscaping won an award for excellence for his project, “A Modernist Oasis.”

Congratulations to the following staff who are retiring from Charlotte Central School at the end of this school year: Robyn Davis, Alice Trageser, and Leslie Williams, and to Cindy Schell, who, while not retiring, will leave CCS. The following people will join the school beginning in 2017-2018: Marley Evans, 7/8 grade ELA/Humanities, Cassandra Townshend, Special Education Administrator/ CVSD Behavior Systems Director and Ash Cotton, Art Teacher. Temporary staff, 6th-grade teacher Natasha Grey and 3rd- and 4th-grade teacher Linda Poirier have been hired into permanent positions.

Congratulations to Mark McDermott, a longtime member of the Charlotte Central School Board, who is leaving it to take on a new role as Director of Labor Relations, Policy and Legal Services for Champlain Valley School District (CVSD). And to Lynne Jaunich who replaces Mark on the board.

Sympathy is extended to family and friends of James Mahan of Burlington who passed away April 15 at the age of 63. His surviving family includes his niece Beth (Mahan) Tenney and her family of Charlotte.

Regional Bite

New poll finds 21 percent of Vermonters favor secession
The late Duke University economist and Charlotte resident Thomas Naylor was a leading proponent of Vermont (and whatever other New England states cared to follow) seceding from the Union and becoming its own country. A recent poll conducted by the University of Vermont’s Center for rural studies found that the number of proponents increased with Trump’s election from 11.8 percent in 2007 to nearly 21 percent in 2017. In a Seven Days article on April 26, Rob Williams, a former yak farmer and leader of the “Second Vermont Republic” movement was quoted as saying; “The grotesque nature of the Trump presidency has helped crystallize things for Vermonters.” The UVM survey results, he feels, have given his movement more energy to press on as they have been doing since 2004.