When asked about their origins, Lyndon was happy to claim his Massachusetts roots. Joanne preferred to downplay New Jersey. As a proud hippie, she found her place in Goshen, Vermont, in 1971 where she worked as an aide in a residential care facility for disabled children. She was the first woman to run their newly-reconfigured dorm. She loved the residents and was happy to care for them.
One night, she and a roommate went for dinner in nearby Middlebury where Lyndon happened to be a waiter. He had stayed in town after graduating mid-year from Middlebury College. Joanne ended up bargaining with him for another drink before they left, promising in return they would come back the next night and he would be given a much better tip! Lyndon accepted the deal that would culminate in a nearing 49-year marriage.
Before they wed, Lyndon would study and graduate from the Culinary Institute of America and was employed in Washington, D.C. in an exclusive club frequented by dignitaries.
In 1977 at the Colonia, NJ Fire House, a self-catered wedding meal was prepared and served. They recounted that the fire alarm went off in the middle of the reception and guests may or may not have slid down the fire pole at the end of the evening.
When they were first married, Joanne worked in Reston, Viriginia, as a pre-school teacher in a school populated by children of Red Skin players. She smiled recalling Grant Hill who had a tough time of it being over 5-feet-tall in kindergarten. She loved the work and being the “snack mother.”
While in Washington, Lyndon responded to an advertisement in The Wall Street Journal for a chef position at Sam Rupert’s in Warren, Vermont, and was hired.
ADVENTUROUS MENU
As their chef he was surprised how adventurous the menu offerings were and how well appreciated as well. With a great boss, Chuck Nichols, he was able to do very creative culinary presentations. Lyndon recounted the Thanksgiving Nichols chose to give turkey dinner leftovers to guests and Lyndon had to tell him they were about to run out of turkey. Nichols jumped in his car and “borrowed” the left-overs from a neighbor’s table to fulfill his promise. Joanne, also having her hand in food prep at ROGO’s, noted that it was a competitive time among very good restaurants (The Common Man, Chez Henri, The Phoenix, Tucker Hill Lodge) but it also afforded them great fun and community. She cooked a Mexican $6.95 dinner on Monday nights and was affectionately known as mamacita. It was common through those years to pick up their two daughters born in 1981 and 1983 at 2 a.m.
With two young children they needed a home. With a second mortgage from Chuck Nichols, they were able to buy their Waitsfield home.
While at Rupert’s, Lyndon developed relations with New England Culinary Institute (NECI) located in Montpelier and in 1988, began working there. He worked at their Elm Street cafe and with the Department of Employment and Training as a teacher. He taught classes in sustainability – utilizing food from farms and local resources which has come to be known as Farm to Table. He would later write a book with the same name.
MAD RIVER VALLEY FOOD SHELF
Joanne worked as a para-educator at Harwood for 14 years. Wanting something meaningful to do following her retirement, she got involved at the Mad River Valley Food Shelf and was trained by Johnnye Eure and Michael Bransfield. In her 10 years of volunteering she has seen not only the layout change at the Evergreen store facility, but also the name changed to the MRV Community Pantry, grants obtained and Lawson’s Finest help enabling more refrigeration and the ability to carry more fresh foods. They are greatly appreciative of the many contributions from Shaw’s and Mehuron’s, Rotarians and seasonal contributions from the golfers at Woodchuck Golf Course. Both expressed thanks for the funding from MRV Interfaith Council, the sponsoring organization, consistently enabling what they do.
Finishing his 30-year career at NECI in 2019, Lyndon began helping Joanne. With the experience he had at NECI working with his students developing recipes from the ingredients at their local pantry, enabled him to make good suggestions to food pantry shoppers. Joanne laughed saying what he really helped with was carrying the heavy milk delivery the pantry receives! Joanne and Lyndon are regulars on Tuesday mornings and often sub other days for any of the other 20 volunteers. They put in near full-time doing paper work and scheduling throughout the week. Susan Bauchner, president of Mad River Valley Interfaith Council stated, “Joanne and Lyndon bring exceptional commitment, knowledge, and friendliness to our pantry. We couldn’t do it without them,” she added.
Very humble people, the Virklers give credit to the generosity of the community. They applaud the volunteers and the wonderful customers who come early to help out and who often share bounty from their own gardens wanting healthy foods plentiful for all customers. Joanne feels that they are all part of a terrific team.
When not addressing Community Pantry needs, Lyndon subs for the chef at the Monday morning Senior Center breakfast, skis during the winter and come summer, has a large garden. He enjoys cooking up the rewards into jams and salsas. He is an avid reader of heavy, nonfiction and cooking books. He is teaching a class for Meals On Wheels cooks for “Serv-Safe” certification required for MOW cooks. He is also planning a cooking class with them in the spring. Joanne has a huge flower garden and enjoys time with friends. Additionally, they share being addicted to The New York Times word games. Liking HGTV and home make-overs, they ventured by car to Mississippi for a month last winter. In one of the made-over homes, Joanne recognized a home and the owner she had seen on television, and not surprisingly, with her warm and inviting manner, made a new friend. They enjoy visiting with their daughters Emily and Gretchen and their families and love having four grandchildren.
While it is not always obvious what key factors define a long-term marriage, it is true for Joanne and Lyndon that food and love play a huge part. These two ingredients are generously shared with their community. Lyndon stated, “We are doing what we can in such hard times for so many.” And then this altruistic couple were off to the Mad River Park to donate blood at the Red Cross Blood Drive.
The MRV should be very thankful to The Wall Street Journal!
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