News From The News
We have added three new members to the Board of Directors of The News—Lane Morrison, John Quinney and Ted Le Blanc—and, alas, said good-bye to two, Patrice Machavern and Louise McCarren.
Lane Morrison joins the board after serving six years on the Charlotte Selectboard, the last three as the board chairman. Joining the News board adds to an extensive community resume that includes, in addition to his Selectboard service, nine years on the CCS School Board, previous and now current service on the board of the Charlotte Senior Center, as well as numerous positions at the Charlotte Congregational Church, including his current position as treasurer. Lane, who retired from the Navy with the rank of captain, worked in the defense industry for 40 years and has lived in Charlotte since 1972; his four children and two step children all attended CCS and CVU.
John Quinney, retired in 2018 as the general manager of the Energy Co-op of Vermont, after a wide-ranging, 40-year career in sustainable business practices, marketing strategy, regenerative agriculture, energy efficiency and renewable energy. Previous to his work at the Co-op, John worked as a business development and marketing consultant for, among other firms, the Intervale Foundation, the Magic Hat Brewing Company and Gardeners Supply Company; he also was an adjunct professor of environmental entrepreneurship at the UVM business school.
In Charlotte, John was a member of the Conservation Commission from 2004 to 2008 and served as the town’s Green Up Day coordinator from 2010 to 2014; he is currently a member of the Charlotte Energy Commission, to which he was appointed in 2017.
Ted Le Blanc retired in 2018 as president and CEO from the company he founded in 1996, Global Maritime Transportation Services, a small Shelburne-based software and service company that specializes in regulatory compliance and pricing within the ocean transport industry. From 1978 to 1996, Ted worked for Montreal Shipping, starting out as an accounting clerk and working his way up to general accountant for the company. He is now the newly elected treasurer of The Charlotte News Board of Directors. In his spare time, Ted plays guitar for a local trio, Shannon, Walker and Le Blanc, which is booked on the train car from Burlington to Middlebury for five spots through the summer, at the Mad Taco in Essex at the end of April and at a pot luck dinner on April 12 at the Charlotte Grange.
Patrice Machavern joined the board in 2015 and was elected board treasurer in 2016. In that capacity she kept a sharp eye on the budget and brought The News into the 21st century in its bookkeeping and financial accounting practices. Speaking for the entire board, we are grateful for the financial discipline Patrice brought to the our budget deliberations and especially for overseeing the process by which we reclassified three of our staff members as regular employees rather than independent contractors and then for ensuring we fully complied with the new rules and regulations that accompanied those changes.
Louise McCarren attended her first board meeting as a newly elected member on January 25 of this year. On March 5 she was elected to the Selectboard and shortly afterward resigned from The News board. She has assured us, however, that she will continue to write and to host events for the paper. So continue to look for her regular gardening column and other contributions in the pages of The News, as well as for the occasional fundraising events she will host for us—and, of course, in our regular coverage of Selectboard meetings during her term in office.