Friday, November 09, 2012

 

News to Know Nov 9 Breakfast this weekend & more

BERLIN NEWS TO KNOW NOVEMBER 9, 2012
Sent by Corinne Stridsberg and also posted athttp://socialenergy.blogspot.com
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NOTES:
Yes, it's true... our potato bin is feeling a bit light as we donated 50 lbs of Chappelle potatoes to the breakfast this weekend. Hope you can get there to enjoy them!
Included below please find:
BREAKFAST AT RIVERTON FIRE STATION THIS WEEKEND
CHESS PLAYERS AND BOOK LOVERS - TWO EVENTS, ONE LOCATION
BERLIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SPIRIT CLOTHING
VOTING RESULTS:
BERLIN POND NON-BINDING RESOLUTION
BERLIN VOTERS BACK POND ACCESS
DONAHUE AND LEWIS BOTH RE-ELECTED
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BREAKFAST AT RIVERTON FIRE STATION THIS WEEKEND
This weekend (Saturday, Nov. 10 and Sunday, Nov. 11) you and your friends and neighbors can gather for breakfast down at the Riverton Fire Station from 4am-10am each morning.
It's the Annual Hunters Breakfast but you don't have to be a hunter to attend! $8 for all you can eat and I'm thinking there is a family price for those bringing kids also.
The menu includes pancakes, scrambled eggs, home fries, sausage, bacon and English muffins. I know there was a lot of bread talked about so I'm thinking French toast also (... well at least toast!). There will be coffee and juice to drink.
This is a great community event and supports the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department.
I can't speak to how local all the ingredients are but I can tell you the potatoes are from Chappelle potatoes in Williamstown and also that real Vermont Maple Syrup will be there for those pancakes they'll have waiting for you!
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CHESS PLAYERS AND BOOK LOVERS - TWO EVENTS, ONE LOCATION
The 10th Annual Berlin Fall Scholastic Open Chess Tournament is on Saturday, November 10th at Berlin Elementary School. This is an unrated touranment from grades K-12. Students can register between 8:30am & 9:30am with the first game at 10am. Details at http://vtchess.info/ . Note that the school will also have their Scholastic Book Fair open on Saturday. Lunch can be purchased in the gym/cafeteria. Please note this tournament is a fairly small tournament and a great one to start out at!! In the spring we organize the State Scholastic Tournament which is a large one.
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BERLIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SPIRIT CLOTHING
The PTNA is hosting a school spirit clothing fundraiser. Stylish Berlin Elementary School (B.E.S.) clothing, with and without our school logo, is available at http://stores.blue84spirit.com/VT125. The online ordering deadline is Sunday, December 2nd. Profits support the B.E.S. Parent-Teacher-Neighbor Association.
Winter is a difficult time of year for many families who may want to purchase a shirt for their children but cannot afford to do so. If any family would like to purchase an extra shirt to be added to a collection to be given to other children, please feel free to do so. Please make child's name “office” and we will distribute them according to need.
Check out the website, I think you'll be surprised at the fantastic selection!!
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BERLIN LOCALVORE LISTINGS: (please share your information!!)
DOG RIVER FARM802-223-1559 dogriverfarm.com Find us on facebook
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VOTING RESULTS:
Washington Senate (3 seats)
Rep. William 'Bill' Doyle WINS12,436 votes 26.2%
Dem. Ann Cummings WINS11,051 votes 23.3%
Prog. Anthony Pollina WINS9,508 votes 20.0%
Rep. Bernard 'Buddy' Barnett 7,116 votes 15%
Rep. Dexter Lefavour 4,554 votes 9.6%
Ind. Jeremy Hansen 2,685 votes 5.7%
Washington 1 (2 seats)
Berlin and Northfield
Rep. Anne B. Donahue WINS 2,129 votes 40.3%
Rep. Patti J. Lewis WINS 1,713 votes 32.4%
Dem. Colin T. Bright 1,433 votes 27%
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BERLIN POND NON-BINDING RESOLUTION
Should the Town of Berlin allow public access to the Town-owned land along Berlin Pond for recreational use?
Yes RESOLUTION PASSES790 votes 64.2%
No 440 votes 35.8%
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BERLIN VOTERS BACK POND ACCESS
Pub 11/7/12 Times Argus by David Delcore
BERLIN — The race for president and just about every other public office — from governor to justice of the peace — finished a distant second here to the battle over Berlin Pond on Tuesday.
In a nonbinding referendum, voters overwhelmingly urged their Select Board to essentially strip the “No trespassing” signs from a tiny parcel of town-owned land that features 85 feet of shoreline on the pond.
In what is being hailed as a victory by outdoor enthusiasts, voters approved the measure 790-440.
Select Board Chairman Brad Towne said the five-member board will decide how to respond to the lopsided vote in coming weeks, though he conceded it was pretty clear how voters came down on a controversial issue that was credited for a surge in early voting this year.
“There were some people who voted absentee that I have never seen vote in a presidential election before,” said Town Clerk Rosemary Morse, suggesting the heightened interest could be traced to the months-long debate over recreational use of the pond, which serves as the drinking water supply for Montpelier and a portion of Berlin.
According to Morse, roughly 375 residents voted absentee — up roughly 175 from the 2008 election. While lines were manageable Tuesday, the parking lot outside the municipal office building was packed in the early going as a steady stream of voters turned out. By noon 336 absentee ballots had been returned and an additional 400 of the town’s 1,988 registered voters had showed up to vote in person.
The eventual outcome was reflected in interviews conducted with more than two dozen voters Tuesday. Those interviews revealed pond politics aren’t partisan and that folks have strong opinions on both sides of the issue, though a solid majority advocated reasonable access to the pond they view as a recreational resource.
Elaine Lussier was one of them.
An enthusiastic Obama voter, Lussier said she believed the pond should be readily accessible to residents from Berlin and beyond.
“It’s part of the community, and it shouldn’t be restricted just because a few people feel that it should be their private viewing,” said the Vine Street woman, who can’t see the pond from her home.
Marty Lagerstedt can, though he said it isn’t the view that he’s worried about.
Lagerstedt, who voted for Mitt Romney in the presidential race, cited a spike in traffic, a noticeable uptick in break-ins, and littering since the Vermont Supreme Court ruled in May that Montpelier does not have the authority to prohibit boating, fishing and swimming on the pond.
“I’m an outdoorsman as much as anyone, but human nature just kind of says (the pond) is not going to be taken care of as well as it (has been),” Lagerstedt said, admitting he initially welcomed the court’s ruling.
“I was one of the first people out there (on the pond),” he said, noting he has since experienced a change of heart.
However, Lagerstedt predicted he would likely be in the minority when all the votes were counted.
Ellen Ryan said she hoped so.
Ryan, an Obama voter who skewed Republican in most of the down-ticket races, said she believed the Supreme Court correctly settled the issue with its ruling in May.
“Berlin Pond does not belong to Montpelier,”she said. “It belongs to the people, and for Montpelier to try and deny us access is maddening.”
Bill Cooney agreed. Cooney said he doesn’t fish, canoe or kayak but believes others should have a right to and that the town should rethink its decision to post the land that features 85 feet of pond shoreline.
“(Access to the water) shouldn’t be controlled,” said Cooney, who walks around the pond for exercise after the golf course closes for the season.
“I don’t see a problem,” he said.
Joey Conner and Ron Chadwick both do, and the two men said they voted against the initiative based on concerns about how recreational use of the pond would affect the quality of the drinking water supply.
“I don’t want anything in (the water),” Conner said.
In a separate interview, Chadwick sounded the same theme.
“I put ‘no’ down because I like drinking the water, but it ain’t that great of a water,” he said.
Amy Butler said the drinking water concerns were a red herring and that low-impact recreational use, like kayaking, canoeing and fishing, did not pose a credible threat to water quality.
John Mattson said he arrived at the same conclusion — casting his vote in favor of opening access to the town land that neutralized the one his wife mailed in.
“My wife was against it,” he said, suggesting she was concerned that people might urinate in the pond.
“I figure the animals already do,” he said.
Sam and Barbara Geyselaers were among the other couples that canceled each other out.
“She voted ‘no’ and I voted ‘yes,’”Sam Geyselaers said, explaining he voted the way he did because his daughter enjoys kayaking.
Barbara Geyselaers said she was less concerned about her daughter’s recreational hobbies.
“I just want (the pond) left the way it is,” she said.
Crosstown Road residents William and Connie Warren were both on the same page when it comes to the pond. Both outdoor enthusiasts said they supported creating a reasonable access to the pond across the town-owned parcel on Paine Turnpike South. However, while the couple like the idea of kayaking on the pond, they aren’t interested in seeing ice fishing shanties on it.
Although the vote isn’t binding, the results will send a signal to a Select Board that has been lobbied heavily by both sides.
Some have urged the board to do whatever it can to limit or restrict access to the pond, which was considered off-limits for more than a century before the Supreme Court’s ruling. The pond, they were told, was a rare wildlife habitat that deserved special protection.
Others have argued that, in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling, there is no justifiable reason for the town to restrict access to public property. They have urged the board to consider the state Department of Fish & Wildlife’s offer to develop a modest access area at that location — a solution they say would alleviate concerns about the de-facto access area that has developed near the culvert on Mirror Lake Road.
Towne said Tuesday’s vote will inform the board’s decision-making, though he stopped well short of making any commitments on what has been an unusually sensitive subject.
david.delcore @timesargus.com
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DONAHUE AND LEWIS BOTH RE-ELECTED
Pub Times Argus 11/8/12
BERLIN — Northfield Democrat Colin Bright was the odd man out in a three-way race to represent the new legislative district that this year paired his hometown with neighboring Berlin.
Bright, who serves on the Northfield village board of trustees, came up short in his bid to unseat either of the two Republican incumbents who were competing against each other — and him — for the first time this year.
Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, and Rep. Patti Lewis, R-Berlin, rode decisive first-place finishes in their respective hometowns to victory.
Donahue, whose former legislative district included
Northfield, Moretown and Roxbury, finished the race with 2,129 votes, while Lewis, whose old district included all of Berlin
and a sliver of Barre, grabbed the second slot with 1,713 votes. Bright finished with 1,433 votes.
Donahue, who earned her sixth consecutive two-year term Tuesday, carried
Northfield by a wide margin, and Lewis, in her first re-election bid, was able to do the same in Berlin
.
In Northfield Donahue paced the field with 1,468 votes. While Bright finished second with 970 votes, Lewis kept it close enough, receiving 900 votes in a town where she’d never run before.
Lewis made up that 70-vote differential and then some, cruising to victory in
Berlin, where she has served as town treasurer for many years. Lewis received 813 votes in her hometown, followed by Donahue and Bright with 643 and 463, respectively.
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