| December 2008 |
|
Brittany Kelemen, 18, of Jonesville was crowned Miss Teen Vermont on November 30, 2008. She is a 2008 graduate of Mt. Mansfield Union High School. Kelemen is a model with Fusion Management Group, and is currently employed at Bridge Street Hair, Inc. in Richmond. She will begin classes at UVM in January 2009. Representing Vermont at the Miss Teen USA pageant has been a long term goal and she is "extremely excited about this opportunity." During her free time, Keleman loves to cook, snowboard, scrapbook, kayak and spend time with her family and friends. She is looking forward to an exciting year of appearances and special events as Miss Vermont Teen USA. Kelemen will represent the State of Vermont in August at a location to be determined. —Submitted by Denise Begins Barnard
County Senate Recount Over On the morning of November 5, Denise Barnard of Richmond thought she had been elected one of six Chittenden State senators. She was the sixth vote-getter in a 14 person race. By the afternoon, she received word that changes in the numbers reported on tally sheets by a Burlington ward had her in seventh place and the new senator was Tim Ashe of Burlington. An election official had written down wrong numbers on election night, throwing off the total for the county. Instead of losing to Barnard by 588 votes, Ashe had won by 414 votes. Over 83,000 voters cast ballots in Chittenden County this election. Barnard decided to request a recount through the Superior Court. She noted that since Ashe had gone into City Hall and was able to find a mistake in the reporting that garnered him 1002 more votes, she had hoped that the recount would give her 414. By law, in a recount, all ballots must be transported by two election workers from each town to the Chittenden Superior Court building on the corner of Main and Church Streets in Burlington. The recount was overseen by Chittenden County Clerk Diane Lavallee, who estimated it would take three weeks to complete. Political parties provided the workers to do the counting from a pool of volunteers. They are paid $30 a day plus parking and mileage. Since the votes in question were in Burlington, Lavallee started with the city's ballots. Again, by law, only one town can be counted at a time. Lavallee said hundreds of people participated in the first seven days of counting. Fifty-two people at a time, in teams of four, counted 24,000 ballots. In the meantime, Ashe attended orientation for new legislators in Montpelier. After the Burlington ballots had been counted, Barnard had picked up 14 more votes and Ashe had also picked up 24 ballots. On December 11, Barnard called off the rest of the recount, stating that her questions had been answered. She said that she had "total faith" in the results in the small towns and conceded the race to Ashe. She was emphatic that she felt that her questions had been answered and that Ashe would be a good senator. Lavallee estimated that the count would have gone into mid-January. She said that, as the time went on, there would be fewer counters, especially as the holidays came. She expressed relief at Barnard's decision to cancel the recount, saying, "We were lucky." Since the recount was called off, the official count remains the same as it was reported on November 5. Barnard noted that she had talked with Vermont legislators and was hopeful that the law requiring all ballots from all towns to be part of a recount for certain races when only one voting district (town, ward) was in question would be changed in Montpelier. "I think that this will be a positive result from the recount," Barnard said. "It is a huge amount of work and expense to require the entire county if only one district is in question." —Heidi Racht
Miscellany Mart Salutes Adele Quiet Miscellany Mart workers, past and present, salute Adele Quiet. From the Mart’s humble beginnings in the early 1970s, Adele is the one original member who has never left. From a part time thrift operation we evolved into a stable non-profit community resource providing also desperately needed financial aid and the emergency food shelf serving Richmond, Huntington, Jonesville, and Bolton. It is doubtful that the Mart would have survived some difficult times if not for Adele’s unwavering presence and commitment. In addition, Adele’s husband, Paul, was a founding member and the first president of Richmond Rescue. Three of their children have been EMTs on the squad. Not only did Adele encourage and support their service, but in the early years she also dispatched emergency calls! Through all these years Adele has earned the respect, trust, admiration, and gratitude of so many community members who have shared or witnessed or benefited by her generous and faithful service. Due to health reasons, “Del” is now retiring from her position as chairman and treasurer at the Mart. We will miss her, and miss her steady leadership.. Many, many thanks, Del. Come see us when you can. —Miscellany Mart volunteer workers
Santa Paws is Coming to Town! Most of us believe that after a long Christmas Eve of shimmying down chimneys, filling up stockings hung by the chimney with care, and enjoying the milk and cookies left on the table, Santa spends Christmas Day back at the North Pole resting after his long flight around the world. But, for the past ten years, Santa and crew have stayed behind an extra day, spending Christmas day visiting all the good folks at Birchwood Terrace Healthcare and Starr Farm Nursing Center. Roy Haynes (aka Santa “Paws”) has been donning the red suit of Jolly Old St. Nick for the last 30 years. Living in Brooklyn, New York at the time, Haynes volunteered to “fill in” as a replacement Santa for a local organization and has been hooked ever since! For the last 13 years, he and his wife Lisa have owned and operated Save our Strays out of their Huntington home. A non-profit organization, Save Our Strays is dedicated to “sheltering and sustaining the lives of companion animals,” and has placed over 3,000 pets in adoptive homes. Several of their canine adoptees don't mind dressing up as Rudolph, complete with antlers and jingle bells as they accompany Mr. and Mrs. Santa Paws on their visits with residents of Birchwood Terrace and Starr Farm. Roy Haynes continues to enjoy the happy smiles he encounters on his Christmas day visits with his furry reindeer dogs. He said, "Last year when we visited, it was very heartwarming when a family member of one of the residents informed us that it was the first time in quite a long while that they had seen their elderly parent with a big smile on their face because of Santa and his entourage." Everyone always has a great reaction to Santa's "ReinDog," too! “It's wonderful to hear the stories people tell of their own beloved pets, some remembered from as long as fifty, sixty years ago,” Haynes says. “The 'reindeer' dogs have a way of bringing people back to those happy memories of childhood and all the wonders of the holiday season!” It can be said that Santa Paws and his reindeer dogs truly lend credence to the saying, “Yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus!” Be on the lookout for Mr. and Mrs. Santa Paws at Birchwood Terrace and Starr Farm Nursing Center on Christmas Day! For more info on Save Our Strays, please visit http://www.saveourstraysvt.org/info/index ‑Submitted by Colleen McLaughlin
|
Hosting Provided By:
