Around Town: Congratulations and Sympathy
Compiled by Edd Merritt,
January 26, 2012, page 23.....

CONGRATULATIONS:

to the family of Blair Hamilton, co-founder and CEO of Efficiency Vermont Corporation who passed away last year. Efficiency Vermont is honoring him by creating Blair Hamilton Student Scholarships, 40 of which will go to deserving students and which recognize Hamilton for “his visionary leadership in energy efficiency and renewable energy.”
to Roelof Boumans, Director of AFORDable Futures LLC of Charlotte, who earned his U.S. Citizenship January 9. Boumans is a native of the Netherlands who has lived in the United States for 25 years.
to the following Charlotte students at the University of Vermont who earned placement on the Dean’s List for the Fall semester 2011: Erick Crockenberg, sophomore, undeclared major; Kylie deGroot, sophomore, undeclared major; Bridgett Eisler, junior, English major; Daniel Hebert, freshman, biology major; Kathryn Holmberg, junior, environmental studies major; Laura Jackson, sophomore, environmental studies major; Erin Jackson, senior, biological science major; Dianne LaBerge, junior, English major; Jillian Leckerling, senior, Spanish major; Rachel Trotter, senior, athletic training education major; Eric Ziegelman, sophomore, global studies major.
to the following Charlotte students at the University of Vermont who were awarded degrees at the school’s 200th commencement exercises December 17: Jillian Leckerling, Bachelor of Arts, Spanish; Alexa Mucklow, Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science, business administration; Bryan Petrow, Bachelor of Arts, biology; Susan Prescott, Bachelor of Science in Education, individually designed; Drew Wade, Bachelor of Arts, political science.
to Mallory Dawson and Andrea Blood who earned placement on the Dean’s List at Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, for the 2011 fall semester. Mallory is a senior majoring in mathematics, Andrea a junior majoring in biology.
to Jane Kiley who, with over 20 years of real estate experience, has recently joined Coldwell Banker Hickok and Boardman Realty in the company’s Burlington office.
to Cadet Kaylin Korejwa of Charlotte who earned placement on the President’s List of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy for the fall semester 2011.
to Audrey Allegretta, a freshman at Champlain Valley Union High School, whose poem entitled “My Safety Blanket” was selected for incorporation in the Burlington Free Press’ Young Writers Project January 21. “Comfort” was the theme of this week’s project, and Audrey says that “with every stitch” of her blanket there is “joy, care, protection and, best of all, comfort for wherever life takes me.”
to Tiffany Shaw, whose community-sustainable kitchen, the Smiling Snail, will open in February and who was also featured in the January 21st Free Press. Operating out of her home in Charlotte, Tiffany will deliver prepared foods made from locally grown ingredients. According to the article, she hopes her CSK will “cut shopping and cooking chores, while supporting local farmers and food producers.”
to Richard “Bunkie” Bernstein and Andrea Regan, physicians at the Charlotte Family Health Center who were featured in an article in the January 18th edition of Seven Days. The article described the Center as one of a dwindling number of small family practices still alive and well in Vermont. The author says that nationally and locally, practices such as this are being incorporated into larger groups. “Hospitals are purchasing former private practices, consolidating billing and other administrative functions, and putting doctors on the payroll.” Threesomes such as Bernstein, Lee Weissman and new addition Regan gain praise from people such as neighbor and patient John Hammer for the “human relationship” they offer in their work.
to Larry Sudbay, CEO of SymQuest, a company he founded in 1996 that services the computer needs of over 2,500 companies in Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and upstate New York. According to a feature article in the “Innovate Section” of the January 12 Burlington Free Press, SymQuest does everything from “making sure computer networks are running safely and efficiently to shipping the companies cartridges in time to avoid the cartridge-shaking moment.” Joe Noonan, vice president for sales and marketing says, “It’s a beautiful thing to work for a company that generates cash but does good things with it, not just writing dividend checks.”
to Frank Ittleman, M.D., who we noted in our last issue had been appointed by Fletcher Allen Health Care to work with both medical providers and referring providers. Since then he has formed a new working relationship with Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh for the provision of heart surgery.
to Gregg and Beth Beldock, whose Bullrock Corporation, the parent company of The Lodge at Shelburne Bay, was cited in the January 12 issue of the Shelburne News for making “significant charitable contributions to the community.” The article said that Bullrock allocated nearly $100,000 in donations last year and created a full-time corporate position to oversee corporate giving and outreach. The Beldocks are “extremely committed to giving back ....”
to David Quickel of Stony Loam Farm in East Charlotte who was cited in Chris Bohjalian’s column in the January 15 Burlington Free Press as part of a team disassembling a 19th century rail barn in Waterbury that will be reassembled at Zeno Mountain Farm in Lincoln and used by the Halby family to host campers with a variety of disabilities. Quickel says he believes that “everybody wins,” because the barn will be preserved and put to good use.
to David Blittersdorf, founder of AllEarth Renewables on his recent appointment to the board of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility.
to Jeffrey Hollender, a founder of Seventh Generation who saw the company become a leading natural product brand. Hollender was recently named a New York University (NYU) Stern’s Citi Leadership and Ethics Program Fellow. This program enlists business leaders who exemplify how companies can address some of the world’s intractable problems, such as homelessness, poverty and environmental destruction. NYU has them interact with Stern students and alumni throughout the academic year. Jeffrey will deliver a keynote address at the Citi Program’s annual conference in the spring. He is on the board of Greenpeace, The Environmental Health Fund, and Variety, a leading workers’ rights organization. He was co-founder of the American Sustainable Business Council.
to Jonas Powell who has been invited to have his first art opening on February 3 from 5 to 8 p.m. at Davis Studio Gallery, 404 Pine Street (between Speeder and Earl’s and the Fresh Market) in Burlington. His exhibit, labeled “Legal Graffiti,” moves the subway-tunnel graffiti style into the gallery. Check out his work at facebook.com/jonaspowellsgraffiti.
to Jonas’ father Tom Powell and his brother Aidan who spoke positively about Waldorf School’s philosophy keeping computers and other modern high-tech devices out of the classroom so that students can focus on what Pam Graham, the director of admissions, calls “lessons that will ignite a love of learning.” In an article in the Burlington Free Press on January 22, Tom says that, while Aidan uses a computer at home, he is not as dependent on it as some of his friends. Powell believes the absence of computers at Waldorf is a positive factor, saying that when you enter the Waldorf system “you learn early on that information is acquirable anywhere, and the skills you need to get it are not that complicated.”
to Leath Tonino, whose second article in his series “Seven Lengths of Vermont” appears in the January 11 Seven Days. The piece, subtitled “Hitchhiking: a World Beyond Routine,” begins with Leath reaching the end of his driveway in Ferrisburgh and “dipping his toe in that loud rushing river known as Route 7.” Despite a dead animal lying at his feet that filled him with dread, he extended his thumb. Over the course of the next five days of hitchhiking, he met 51 people providing him with 36 rides. Leath was somewhat surprised at the “staggering friendliness of these strangers.” His last ride dropped him where he began. Uncertain what to do next, he drank in the beauty of the morning, the kind, he says, that “tempts some of us to quit our jobs, abandon our possessions and trot out unencumbered into the world beyond routine.”
to Brooke Scatchard who was featured in the January 2012 edition of Vermont Sports for his interest in bicycling the woods in winter. He says that the “VAST trails are like a winter-time dirt road network.” He rides on four-inch wide tires, which makes them just slightly less than twice as wide as the normal mountain-bike tire. Brooke has also experimented with ski attachments in place of the front tire, which he says, improves the bike’s handling. The hardest part of the sport is keeping warm, according to Scatchard. Snowshoe hiking boots combine well with flat pedals for really cold days.
to Neil Schell and Chris Gribnau who were installed as directors of the Green Mountain Chorus, the Burlington chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society. Schell is president, and Gridnau, was elected board member of the chorus.
to Stephen Kiernan, author of the book, Authentic Patriotism, who joined three other Vermont writers who read from their works at Carol’s Hungry Mind café in Middlebury as part of the New England Review Vermont Reading series.
to Kate Raszka whose essay earned her a runner-up in Senator Sanders’ contest asking sudents to give their thoughts on the state of the nation. Seven CVU students received honorable mention.

SYMPATHY:

is extended to family and friends of Charles Gordon Sharpe of Grand Isle, Vermont, and Dennis, Massachusetts, who passed away January 10 at the age of 87. His surviving family includes his son James Gordon Sharpe and James’ wife, Margaret Mahoney Sharpe, as well as grandchildren Kaylah Victoria and Chennah Elizabeth. The family asks that memorial contributions in his name be made to St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, 501 U.S. Route 2, South Hero, Vermont 05486 or to Rice Memorial High School, 99 Proctor Avenue, South Burlington, Vermont 05403.