Around Town
compiled by Edd Merritt

to Rachel Lee Cummings, who was named “Volunteer of the Week” by the Burlington Free Press in the paper’s August 5 issue. Rachel has served on the board of Champlain Valley Agency on Aging since 2007 and currently is vice president. Recently, according to the article, she has been working on fundraising, spreading awareness of the agency’s work, and strategic planning for CVAA. She enjoys working with the elderly, “appreciating their pace, loving their stories, and learning from their wisdom.”
to Mark MacKillop, whose pizza from his backyard wood-fired oven was featured in the Free Press’ new section on local food generation entitled “Savorvore.” MacKillop’s oven is made of clay shaped by alder saplings with a stone arch opening. Mark, the owner of Muddy Waters in downtown Burlington, and his daughter Cayenne constructed the oven as part of her Graduation Challenge during her senior year at Champlain Valley Union High School. They feed groups of guests and hosted a Memorial Day party for more than 100 people recently. According to the article, his price is reasonable, “as long as you throw in time and love.”
to Ethan Bond-Watts, who will display his glass sculpture at yet another venue in Vermont, this time the Firehouse Center for the Visual Arts during its “Human = Landscape, Aesthetics of a Carbon-Constrained Future” exhibition August 10 through October 24. Ethan was one of ten artists invited to show new commissions, with the gallery calling it “our most ambitious exhibitions to date.” Recently Ethan’s sculpture has appeared in the University of Vermont’s student center and in the garden of the Helen Day Art Center in Stowe.
to Cheryl Appe, whose oil paintings appear in a new book entitled The Art of Lake Champlain, Inspiring Landscape. Her two works in the book are “Sailing Lake Champlain” and “Summer Wind,” both oil on panel with the latter appearing as the book’s cover. The Art of Lake Champlain is published by Verve Editions of Burlington. It is intended in part to inspire appreciation for the lake and its surrounding lands as well as a plea for the area’s preservation.
to Dan Cole, whose history of a landslide in Shelburne in 1863 appears in the August 13 issue of the Shelburne News. Dan describes a five-acre landslide that occurred in mid August of 1863 on what was then the Newell Farm located behind the current Shelburne Post Office. According to Dan, “a wooded hillside had been cloven in two; one-half was still in its accustomed position, the other half had dropped from view and only the treetops were visible,” leaving a perpendicular scar in the earth. Occurring near the LaPlatte River, one observer said that one side of the valley fell while the other side was raised and that the land had not slid into the river.
to Aryn Hall, whose quilt won a Blue and Yellow Rosette for Outstanding Work in the Home Craft Competition at the Addison County Field Days. Aryn crafted her first quilt when she was 7½ years old. She is now 12. Her prize quilt this year at Field Days appeared in the machine quilt section.
to Martha Waterman, who was featured in the August 16 Burlington Free Press as one of three area “Activists” who attended Greenpeace’s Activist Camp in Chicago. Martha campaigned and recruited with Greenpeace this spring and has demonstrated against relicensure of Vermont Yankee’s nuclear power plant. She hopes to improve her organizational skills through what she learns at the camp. She will enroll as a freshman at Skidmore College in the fall.
to Tyler Weith, who was reserve champion in the junior jumper class at the St. Clemens Horse Show in Saratoga Springs, New York in May. Trained by Sarah Ki Rice of Shelburne, he followed that victory in Woodstock, Vermont, as a member of the winning team at the Green Mountain Horse Association’s Team Jumper Challenge. He qualified for the New England Horse Championships to be held in Springfield, Massachusetts, in October.
to Annemie Curlin, who is among several artists featured in the autumn issue of Vermont Life as part of an article on Lyman Orton’s “Art of Action” program. Orton, owner of Weston’s Vermont Country Store, launched his project last year, asking artists to create works related to the challenges facing Vermont in the future. He hoped to increase the number of people involving themselves in town and state planning by envisioning that future. Annemie says in the article that for her “the project has been like discovering that you’ve lived with someone for years and you don’t know the half of it: there are still more hidden layers, stories, riches, mysteries.”
to Alba Oren who along with her friend Joel Ware and another swimmer, Katherine Nopple, saved a person who was struggling to keep her head above water in Lake Champlain 300 feet out from the Burlington waterfront. Police and rescue teams had arrived by the time the four reached shore, and the woman was taken to Fletcher Allen.

is extended to family and friends of Ruth (St. George) Root, a lifelong resident of Charlotte who passed away in Birchwood Terrace Healthcare at the age of 87. Ruth was married to Bill Root who pre-deceased her. She is survived by her sister Bea Marble and Bea’s husband Ron and her sister-in-law Rita St. George. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the Charlotte Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 85, Charlotte, Vermont 05445.
is extended to family and friends of John Ogden Outwater, Jr. of South Burlington who passed away at the Arbors in Shelburne on August 12 at the age of 86. A professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Vermont for much of his professional life, he and his wife Alice spent much time in Charlotte. An avid researcher, John was dubbed the “Father of Ski Safety” by many for his studies measuring forces needed to break bones during the activity. He developed the first testing device designed to allow bindings to release before the bone broke. His research demonstrated his enthusiasm for blending work with hobbies and pleasure. His surviving family includes his wife, Alice – a cherished contributor to the Charlotte News. The family asks that those wishing to make contributions in his memory do so to the Vermont Mozart Festival, 3 Main Street, Burlington, Vermont 05401 or to the John and Alice Outwater Mechanical Engineering Endowment Fund, UVM Endowment Office, 411 Main Street, Burlington, Vermont 05401.