Around Town June 28

This turtle laid 14 eggs at the Charlotte Children’s Center while the kids all watched. Submitted by Paula Villemaire.

An addition to last issue’s “Congratulations”
In our last issue we recognized Rhino Foods and Ted Castle for making the Forbes Magazine’s list of “Small Giants.” We need, however, to add a Castle to the honor roll. Ted’s wife Anne Castle is also an owner of Rhino and, in fact, operated “Chessy’s Frozen Custard” in the Champlain Mill when she and Ted started the business. As their kids came along, Anne decided to stay home and raise Ned and Rooney. She also volunteered a good deal of time at Charlotte Central and CVU schools and said that she felt her most notable contribution was the annual day she spent cleaning Rookie Manning’s office.

Congratulations to Chennah Sharpe who graduated summa cum laude from Providence College in Rhode Island. Channah majored in global studies with minor degrees in French and public community service. She received the Kapstein Family Award and was inducted into the French Honor Society. Chennah will be serving with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Albuquerue, New Mexico, next year.

Congratulations to Beatrice Woodruff, who completed her sophomore year at Colby College, Waterville, ME and earned placement on the Dean’s List for the 2016-2017 school year. She was among the 23 percent of the Colby student body who qualified for the Dean’s List. Beatrice is a graduate of Champlain Valley Union High School and the daughter of Margaret and Charles Woodruff of Charlotte. At Colby she majors in economics, concentrating in financial markets. She also studies Russian language and culture.

Congratulations to the following students from Charlotte who earned placement on the St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY, Dean’s List for the spring 2017 semester:
Annabella Pugliese, class of 2020 who has yet to declare her major
Alissa Stone, class of 2019, a chemistry major

Sympathy is extended to family and friends of Lawrence (Larry) Weed, M.D. who passed away June 3 at his home in Underhill. Dr. Weed had an extensive and varied medical background and left his mark on the profession through his rigorous scientific research, clinical practice and education of others. He became well recognized for his work in developing standards of data organization in medical records. Part of these standards included problem lists and SOAP notes (Suspect, Observe, Assess, Plan). Another was the POMR (Problem Oriented Medical Record). Mention SOAP notes to virtually any nurse in the country and she/he recognizes the name, knows how they operate and has used them. In 1981 Weed left a position at the University of Vermont College of Medicine to found a company called PKC (Problem Knowledge Couplers). Using the skills of Charlotte computer programmer, Richard Hertzberg, Weed and his firm developed a series of knowledge couplers which took known data about various medical conditions, coupled the problems with potential diagnoses and treatments and provided physicians with a database on which to treat their patient. Weed’s theory was that physicians have a tendency to jump to conclusions before reviewing the total data, and that is a central cause of medical mistakes. The CEO of PKC, Howard Pierce, also became a Charlotte resident. Shortly into its tenure, PKC became a military contractor, testing its products and systems on Naval cadets at Annapolis. An obituary in the June 22 New York Times pointed out that Dr. Weed could become a “prickly ambassador for his ideas.” He proposed restructuring traditional medical schools and went “a few steps beyond tough love in telling doctors about their limitations.” Survivors of Larry’s family included his daughter Dinny Weed Adamson of Charlotte. The family asks that those wishing to make donations in his memory do so to the Visiting Nurse Association of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties, 1110 Prim Road, Colchester, VT 05446.

Town Bites

Selectboard searches for lister
Betsy Oliver left the lister’s office while she and her family consider finding a new home. The Selectboard has been reviewing candidates for Betsy’s position.

What’s happening with the Varney Farm?
The owners of The Varney Farm off Route 7 are in the midst of litigations. They refurbished its barn to operate as an event venue after the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission OK’d it for that purpose. The neighbors, however, were not pleased with what the usage would do to them – introducing even more traffic on Route 7, cars parked dangerously close to the highway, etc. They appealed the decision of the Zoning Board. The owners, in turn, appealed the neighbors’ appeal, and that is where things stand at the moment, according to Town Administrator, Dean Bloch. Apparently, as commercial venues, ”event barns” do not stand high on everyone’s list. Two proposals have undergone close scrutiny in recent years.