Around Town – October 1, 2020

Congratulations to Ava Rohrbaugh of Charlotte whose poem “Something Almost Here” was featured in the Burlington Free Press’ Young Writers Project on Sept. 25. In it Ava addresses the changing of the season as the leaves on trees around her develop voices “chafing in the crisp breathe of fall” and keeping her awake. They rattle with the ferocity of an inhale and breath back into the night. Their crispness as they turn sounds like gasping to her, “chafing in time with the cicadas.”

Congratulations to Emma Volk and Eamon McDermott now of Cleveland, Ohio, who were married Aug. 15 in an outdoor wedding in Warren, VT. Emma grew up in Charlotte and is the daughter of Mary and Tim Volk.

Congratulations to Jean Andersson-Swayze, M.D., a resident of Charlotte, who will receive one of the Vermont Medical Society’s Leadership Awards for 2020. The awards are made annually to people who have provided outstanding “contributions to the medical profession, to health organizations and to the welfare of the public.” Dr. Anderson-Swayze will receive the Physician Award for Community Service at the Annual Collaborative Meeting of the Vermont Medical Society, The Vermont Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, The Vermont Academy of Family Physicians and the Vermont Psychiatric Association on Nov. 7.

It has been a round trip over many years
In a recent “Front Porch Forum” Laura Cahners-Ford mentioned her viewing of a large turtle crossing Hinesburg Road at the junction with Dorset Street. It’s been the number of years since I viewed the same venture with maybe the same snapper beginning its trip. I remember watching Eli Quickel as a youngster monitoring the start of the turtle’s crossing and signaling traffic to stop until it had made it to the south side. Has it taken these many years for the round trip and, if so, should the town put a stop light on the corner for traffic and turtles?