The Valley Reporter - The Valley ReporterThe Valley Reporter, serving the Mad River Valley and Sugarbush and Mad River Glen ski communities since 1971. Local news and local views of Waitsfield, Warren,https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php2024-03-28T11:06:34-04:00Amphibian “Crossing Guards” needed2024-03-28T10:31:07-04:002024-03-28T10:31:07-04:00https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/local-news/18751-amphibian-crossing-guards-neededThe Valley Reporterjeff@valleyreporter.com<div class="feed-description"><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5350/frog-composite.jpg" alt="Amphibian “Crossing Guards” needed" width="800" height="500" loading="lazy"></p><p>After the snowstorm last weekend, thoughts of spring might be far from peoples’ minds. However, warmer temperatures are predicted for the rest of the week into April which means that it’s time to start thinking about frogs, toads, and salamanders.</p>
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<p>“Every spring, amphibians migrate from forests to wetlands, following a biological process that often returns them to the same vernal pools where they were born,” said Friends of the Mad River watershed engagement coordinator (Americorps) Onome Ofoman. “Their route often traverses roads, and they are hard to see by motorists on dark, wet nights during when they prefer to travel. This is where the community can come in -- as amphibian “crossing guards” helping amphibians to cross our roads safely.”</p>
<p>In preparation for this task, Onome invites people to join North Branch Nature Center scientists on Thursday, March 28, for an evening Zoom program on local amphibian ecology and the Amphibian Road Crossing community science project. Participants will also learn how to rescue thousands of amphibians from roadway fatalities and collect important migration data used by town planners and ecologists. Register at <a href="https://bit.ly/nbnc-arc-training"></a><a href="https://bit.ly/nbnc-arc-training">https://bit.ly/nbnc-arc-training</a>.</p>
<p>“With the training under your belt, you can borrow a free kit with all the necessary supplies to serve as an amphibian crossing guard. Each Mad River Valley library has one kit containing Amphibian Crossing signs, neon vests, a plastic scooper, a flashlight, and a clipboard with data sheets. You can find crossing locations at <a href="https://bit.ly/nbnc-arc-map"></a><a href="https://bit.ly/nbnc-arc-map">https://bit.ly/nbnc-arc-map</a>,” she added.</p>
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<p>Ira Shadis, executive director of Friends of the Mad River reminds us to “ensure our hands are free of soaps and lotions before beginning this activity as those could irritate our amphibian friends.”</p>
<p>Finally, join Friends of the Mad River for a community crossing night in early April. FMR staff will monitor the weather for 40-degree days and rainy nights and select a conducive night and location for the activity. Join their newsletter or follow them on social media @friendsofthemadriver to stay informed.</p>
<p>This series is made possible by Friends of the Mad River, MRV Libraries, and North Branch Nature Center. Contact <a href="mailto:onome@friendsofthemadriver.org"></a><a href="mailto:onome@friendsofthemadriver.org">onome@friendsofthemadriver.org</a> with any questions.</p>
</div><div class="feed-description"><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5350/frog-composite.jpg" alt="Amphibian “Crossing Guards” needed" width="800" height="500" loading="lazy"></p><p>After the snowstorm last weekend, thoughts of spring might be far from peoples’ minds. However, warmer temperatures are predicted for the rest of the week into April which means that it’s time to start thinking about frogs, toads, and salamanders.</p>
<p> </p>
Advertisement
<p> </p>
<p>“Every spring, amphibians migrate from forests to wetlands, following a biological process that often returns them to the same vernal pools where they were born,” said Friends of the Mad River watershed engagement coordinator (Americorps) Onome Ofoman. “Their route often traverses roads, and they are hard to see by motorists on dark, wet nights during when they prefer to travel. This is where the community can come in -- as amphibian “crossing guards” helping amphibians to cross our roads safely.”</p>
<p>In preparation for this task, Onome invites people to join North Branch Nature Center scientists on Thursday, March 28, for an evening Zoom program on local amphibian ecology and the Amphibian Road Crossing community science project. Participants will also learn how to rescue thousands of amphibians from roadway fatalities and collect important migration data used by town planners and ecologists. Register at <a href="https://bit.ly/nbnc-arc-training"></a><a href="https://bit.ly/nbnc-arc-training">https://bit.ly/nbnc-arc-training</a>.</p>
<p>“With the training under your belt, you can borrow a free kit with all the necessary supplies to serve as an amphibian crossing guard. Each Mad River Valley library has one kit containing Amphibian Crossing signs, neon vests, a plastic scooper, a flashlight, and a clipboard with data sheets. You can find crossing locations at <a href="https://bit.ly/nbnc-arc-map"></a><a href="https://bit.ly/nbnc-arc-map">https://bit.ly/nbnc-arc-map</a>,” she added.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ira Shadis, executive director of Friends of the Mad River reminds us to “ensure our hands are free of soaps and lotions before beginning this activity as those could irritate our amphibian friends.”</p>
<p>Finally, join Friends of the Mad River for a community crossing night in early April. FMR staff will monitor the weather for 40-degree days and rainy nights and select a conducive night and location for the activity. Join their newsletter or follow them on social media @friendsofthemadriver to stay informed.</p>
<p>This series is made possible by Friends of the Mad River, MRV Libraries, and North Branch Nature Center. Contact <a href="mailto:onome@friendsofthemadriver.org"></a><a href="mailto:onome@friendsofthemadriver.org">onome@friendsofthemadriver.org</a> with any questions.</p>
</div>Local author to teach food writing workshop2024-03-28T10:20:30-04:002024-03-28T10:20:30-04:00https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/artsent/18750-local-author-to-teach-food-writing-workshopTracy Brannstromjeff@valleyreporter.com<div class="feed-description"><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5350/Erika-book.jpg" alt="Erika Nichols-Frazer with her book Feed Me." width="800" height="500" loading="lazy"></p><p>On Saturday, March 30, local author Erika Nichols-Frazer will teach a workshop called “Food for Thought: Using Taste to Explore Your Writing.” It will be hosted by Onion River Workshop and held at Karma Birdhouse, 47 Maple Street in Burlington, from 1 to 3 p.m.</p>
<p>“It’s going to be an exercise in sensory writing,” Nichols-Frazer said, “and a way of using food to unlock memories.” Participants will be reading examples of food writing and generating new work. They will also be sampling small plates of food – writing from the flavors, textures, scents, and associations that emerge.</p>
<p>A few dishes, prepared by Nichols-Frazer herself, include baked feta cheese with honey and smoky, roasted carrot dip. She said that writing from one’s sensory experience can be useful for many genres – whether a restaurant review, a poem or a short story. “It basically teaches you to bring yourself into the present,” she said.</p>
<p>Nichols-Frazer, who worked as a staff writer for The Valley Reporter from 2021-2023, mainly has a background in creative writing, and loves to teach it. As the writing and humanities coordinator at Vermont State University in Johnson, she helps students to hone their writing skills. She is also the editor of “The Mountain Troubadour,” the Poetry Society of Vermont's annual print journal.</p>
<p>Her memoir “Feed Me: A Story of Food, Love and Mental Illness” was published by Casper Press in late 2022, and her poetry collection “Staring Too Closely” was published by Main Street Rag last year.</p>
<p>“Feed Me” is about how Nichols-Frazer worked to heal her body and mind through a process of learning to love food. Each chapter is centered around a different food, which she said was somewhat accidental.</p>
<p>During a writing residency at Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, she was buttering a piece of bread in the dining hall when she recalled memories of eating pats of butter while hospitalized for disordered eating at 13 years old. “I have so many memories tied to food,” she said. “I started weaving a history of butter with these associations, and it became a short piece.” A friend in residence read her draft and suggested the book was more about the intersection of mental health and food.</p>
<p>Nichols-Frazer is currently editing a series of 23 short stories that she wrote for her Master’s thesis at the Bennington Writing Seminars – with half of these already published in literary journals. She is also slowly working on a novel.</p>
<p>She said The Valley has a robust community of writers – reading and editing each other’s work, and even planning to set up a table at the Waitsfield Farmers Market where local authors can sell their books. “We’re very fortunate here to have so many creative people around, including writers – published or not. There’s just so much interest in self-expression and using art to convey one’s story.”</p>
<p>At Saturday’s workshop in Burlington, food will play a central role in the production of those stories.</p>
<p> </p></div><div class="feed-description"><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5350/Erika-book.jpg" alt="Erika Nichols-Frazer with her book Feed Me." width="800" height="500" loading="lazy"></p><p>On Saturday, March 30, local author Erika Nichols-Frazer will teach a workshop called “Food for Thought: Using Taste to Explore Your Writing.” It will be hosted by Onion River Workshop and held at Karma Birdhouse, 47 Maple Street in Burlington, from 1 to 3 p.m.</p>
<p>“It’s going to be an exercise in sensory writing,” Nichols-Frazer said, “and a way of using food to unlock memories.” Participants will be reading examples of food writing and generating new work. They will also be sampling small plates of food – writing from the flavors, textures, scents, and associations that emerge.</p>
<p>A few dishes, prepared by Nichols-Frazer herself, include baked feta cheese with honey and smoky, roasted carrot dip. She said that writing from one’s sensory experience can be useful for many genres – whether a restaurant review, a poem or a short story. “It basically teaches you to bring yourself into the present,” she said.</p>
<p>Nichols-Frazer, who worked as a staff writer for The Valley Reporter from 2021-2023, mainly has a background in creative writing, and loves to teach it. As the writing and humanities coordinator at Vermont State University in Johnson, she helps students to hone their writing skills. She is also the editor of “The Mountain Troubadour,” the Poetry Society of Vermont's annual print journal.</p>
<p>Her memoir “Feed Me: A Story of Food, Love and Mental Illness” was published by Casper Press in late 2022, and her poetry collection “Staring Too Closely” was published by Main Street Rag last year.</p>
<p>“Feed Me” is about how Nichols-Frazer worked to heal her body and mind through a process of learning to love food. Each chapter is centered around a different food, which she said was somewhat accidental.</p>
<p>During a writing residency at Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, she was buttering a piece of bread in the dining hall when she recalled memories of eating pats of butter while hospitalized for disordered eating at 13 years old. “I have so many memories tied to food,” she said. “I started weaving a history of butter with these associations, and it became a short piece.” A friend in residence read her draft and suggested the book was more about the intersection of mental health and food.</p>
<p>Nichols-Frazer is currently editing a series of 23 short stories that she wrote for her Master’s thesis at the Bennington Writing Seminars – with half of these already published in literary journals. She is also slowly working on a novel.</p>
<p>She said The Valley has a robust community of writers – reading and editing each other’s work, and even planning to set up a table at the Waitsfield Farmers Market where local authors can sell their books. “We’re very fortunate here to have so many creative people around, including writers – published or not. There’s just so much interest in self-expression and using art to convey one’s story.”</p>
<p>At Saturday’s workshop in Burlington, food will play a central role in the production of those stories.</p>
<p> </p></div>2024 March -- Mad River Valley Real Estate Driven by Data2024-03-26T01:52:19-04:002024-03-26T01:52:19-04:00https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/local-news/18744-2024-march-mad-river-valley-real-estate-driven-by-dataErik H. Reisnerjeff@valleyreporter.com<div class="feed-description"><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/housing.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="500" loading="lazy"></p><p>First published on March 21, 2024</p>
<p>Currently there are 13 single-family homes under contract or pending sale in the price range of $79,900 - $2,595,000 (up from six last month, nine two months ago), nine whole-ownership condominiums under contract or pending sale priced from $300,000 - $700,000 (up from seven last month and seven two months ago), five undeveloped land parcels under contract priced from $225,000 -$10,000,000 (zero last month, and two two months ago), and zero commercial properties under contract (zero last month, and zero two months ago).</p>
<p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com/images/issues/5349/UnderContract.jpg" alt="CurrentInventory" width="700" height="378" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></p>
<p>Regarding the properties that are currently under contract, five of the nine condos and three of the 13 single-family homes were listed after February 1, 2024. While it’s historically a slower time of year for sales, there are clearly still active buyers in the marketplace, and many are acting quickly.</p>
<p>There were four single-family home sales in February 2024 from $625,000 - $2,540,000 (four sales in January as well). There were three condominium sales from $189,000 - $575,000 (down from six sales in January). There was one undeveloped land sale in February for $855,000 (one sale in January as well). There were zero commercial sales in February (zero sales in January as well).</p>
<p><strong>Central Vermont Real Estate Market</strong></p>
<p>There continues to be a lack of supply in the Mad River Valley and across the state. There are currently 838 single-family homes for sale in the entire state of Vermont. In the last year there have been 5,375 single-family home sales. In a "normal" market, there should be a three-month's supply of homes.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com/images/issues/5349/CurrentInventory.jpg" alt="CurrentInventory" width="700" height="382" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></p>
<p>The current inventory in the Mad River Valley is down to 10 single-family homes (13 this time last month), whole-ownership condominiums are up to 13 (five this time last month), there are 14 undeveloped land parcels (17 this time last month), and four commercial properties (four last month as well). That is 41 active listings across all sectors, up from 39 this time last month. In contrast, in the past calendar year there have been 62 single-family home sales, 57 condominium sales, and 23 land sales.</p>
<p><em>Reisner is a broker and managing partner at Mad River Valley Real Estate.</em></p></div><div class="feed-description"><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/housing.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="500" loading="lazy"></p><p>First published on March 21, 2024</p>
<p>Currently there are 13 single-family homes under contract or pending sale in the price range of $79,900 - $2,595,000 (up from six last month, nine two months ago), nine whole-ownership condominiums under contract or pending sale priced from $300,000 - $700,000 (up from seven last month and seven two months ago), five undeveloped land parcels under contract priced from $225,000 -$10,000,000 (zero last month, and two two months ago), and zero commercial properties under contract (zero last month, and zero two months ago).</p>
<p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com/images/issues/5349/UnderContract.jpg" alt="CurrentInventory" width="700" height="378" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></p>
<p>Regarding the properties that are currently under contract, five of the nine condos and three of the 13 single-family homes were listed after February 1, 2024. While it’s historically a slower time of year for sales, there are clearly still active buyers in the marketplace, and many are acting quickly.</p>
<p>There were four single-family home sales in February 2024 from $625,000 - $2,540,000 (four sales in January as well). There were three condominium sales from $189,000 - $575,000 (down from six sales in January). There was one undeveloped land sale in February for $855,000 (one sale in January as well). There were zero commercial sales in February (zero sales in January as well).</p>
<p><strong>Central Vermont Real Estate Market</strong></p>
<p>There continues to be a lack of supply in the Mad River Valley and across the state. There are currently 838 single-family homes for sale in the entire state of Vermont. In the last year there have been 5,375 single-family home sales. In a "normal" market, there should be a three-month's supply of homes.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com/images/issues/5349/CurrentInventory.jpg" alt="CurrentInventory" width="700" height="382" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></p>
<p>The current inventory in the Mad River Valley is down to 10 single-family homes (13 this time last month), whole-ownership condominiums are up to 13 (five this time last month), there are 14 undeveloped land parcels (17 this time last month), and four commercial properties (four last month as well). That is 41 active listings across all sectors, up from 39 this time last month. In contrast, in the past calendar year there have been 62 single-family home sales, 57 condominium sales, and 23 land sales.</p>
<p><em>Reisner is a broker and managing partner at Mad River Valley Real Estate.</em></p></div>Ritual as ‘portals into ancestral knowledge’ 2024-03-25T00:24:37-04:002024-03-25T00:24:37-04:00https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/artsent/18743-ritual-as-portals-into-ancestral-knowledgeThe Valley Reporterjeff@valleyreporter.com<div class="feed-description"><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5349/firefolk-53449.jpg" alt="'Cabbage Patch Kid' is a self-portrait by Feda Eid in her aunt's garden in Lebanon." width="800" height="500" loading="lazy"></p><p>“Rooted Revelations,” a solo exhibition by Lebanese-American visual artist Feda Eid, is up through April 30 at Firefolk Arts in Waitsfield.</p>
<p>The show features photographs, sculptures made from cloth, and a video installation that Eid created while in residence at MASS MoCA in 2022. </p>
<p>“Cabbage Patch Kid” is a self-portrait she took in her aunt’s garden in the mountains of Lebanon. She stands in a patch of giant cabbages while an enormous olive tree forms the backdrop of the shot.</p>
<p>“Olive trees are ancient to the Fertile Crescent,” she said. “Some of the oldest ones are there. And everything revolves around the seasons and its rituals – when to pick the olives, when to nurture the tree, this give-and-take relationship.” Of the portrait, she said “It was a pledge of allegiance to everything that had nourished me from my mom’s homeland, and reminded me how deep my roots are.”</p>
<p>While the show captures the revered status of the land and all it has to offer in the Levant, it also points to the destruction of that land. During opening night on March 9, Eid did a performance, enacting rituals that she sees as “portals into ancestral knowledge.” She rolled grape leaves, burned frankincense, and played with rose water – “a multi-purpose liquid gold for cleansing and medicinal healing,” she wrote in the show’s materials. A colorful screen of text was projected on the wall behind her. At one point it read, “the Israeli colonial entity has burned over 50,000 ancient olive trees in Lebanon.”</p>
<p>Eid’s parents fled Lebanon during the country’s civil war in 1982. That year, the Israel Defense Forces invaded southern Lebanon, leading to the exodus of almost one million people.</p>
<p>She grew up in Quincy, MA, where she now lives and works. Her parents didn’t speak much about the war, she said. “There was this overall sense that people who survived the civil war need to shut their mouths and continue on. They didn’t get to heal from it.” </p>
<p>In high school, Eid immersed herself in art practice – mainly painting and drawing. “Growing up Muslim and Arab in a predominately white area, I found a lot of comfort in the art room because I could be there and get lost in another world, and explore who I was through art and color.” </p>
<p>Much of Eid’s work is created with intense, saturated color. “I’ve always felt emotions with colors,” she said. “My grandmother was a seamstress and her whole house was filled with things she made, all the seating done in fabric. I felt drawn to all these textures, and colors, and patterns.”</p>
<p>“When the colors came in,” Firefolk Arts owner and curator Tina Picz said, “it was so enlivening. Especially with winter here, when it’s just so dark.”</p>
<p>Picz first met Eid in Boston about six years ago at another exhibition. She was captured by Eid’s use of materials and her commentary on heritage and mixed identities.</p>
<p>Eid said that working on pieces for the show was “both heart-breaking and healing.”</p>
<p>“I’m sharing this work that I’m proud of, and it’s made to honor where it came from, outside of the Western, white gaze,” she said. “The art world largely loves stories about Arabs where we are oppressed, we have no voice, someone is harming us, and white people saved us. But this is my story, and I did it the way I wanted to share it.”</p></div><div class="feed-description"><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5349/firefolk-53449.jpg" alt="'Cabbage Patch Kid' is a self-portrait by Feda Eid in her aunt's garden in Lebanon." width="800" height="500" loading="lazy"></p><p>“Rooted Revelations,” a solo exhibition by Lebanese-American visual artist Feda Eid, is up through April 30 at Firefolk Arts in Waitsfield.</p>
<p>The show features photographs, sculptures made from cloth, and a video installation that Eid created while in residence at MASS MoCA in 2022. </p>
<p>“Cabbage Patch Kid” is a self-portrait she took in her aunt’s garden in the mountains of Lebanon. She stands in a patch of giant cabbages while an enormous olive tree forms the backdrop of the shot.</p>
<p>“Olive trees are ancient to the Fertile Crescent,” she said. “Some of the oldest ones are there. And everything revolves around the seasons and its rituals – when to pick the olives, when to nurture the tree, this give-and-take relationship.” Of the portrait, she said “It was a pledge of allegiance to everything that had nourished me from my mom’s homeland, and reminded me how deep my roots are.”</p>
<p>While the show captures the revered status of the land and all it has to offer in the Levant, it also points to the destruction of that land. During opening night on March 9, Eid did a performance, enacting rituals that she sees as “portals into ancestral knowledge.” She rolled grape leaves, burned frankincense, and played with rose water – “a multi-purpose liquid gold for cleansing and medicinal healing,” she wrote in the show’s materials. A colorful screen of text was projected on the wall behind her. At one point it read, “the Israeli colonial entity has burned over 50,000 ancient olive trees in Lebanon.”</p>
<p>Eid’s parents fled Lebanon during the country’s civil war in 1982. That year, the Israel Defense Forces invaded southern Lebanon, leading to the exodus of almost one million people.</p>
<p>She grew up in Quincy, MA, where she now lives and works. Her parents didn’t speak much about the war, she said. “There was this overall sense that people who survived the civil war need to shut their mouths and continue on. They didn’t get to heal from it.” </p>
<p>In high school, Eid immersed herself in art practice – mainly painting and drawing. “Growing up Muslim and Arab in a predominately white area, I found a lot of comfort in the art room because I could be there and get lost in another world, and explore who I was through art and color.” </p>
<p>Much of Eid’s work is created with intense, saturated color. “I’ve always felt emotions with colors,” she said. “My grandmother was a seamstress and her whole house was filled with things she made, all the seating done in fabric. I felt drawn to all these textures, and colors, and patterns.”</p>
<p>“When the colors came in,” Firefolk Arts owner and curator Tina Picz said, “it was so enlivening. Especially with winter here, when it’s just so dark.”</p>
<p>Picz first met Eid in Boston about six years ago at another exhibition. She was captured by Eid’s use of materials and her commentary on heritage and mixed identities.</p>
<p>Eid said that working on pieces for the show was “both heart-breaking and healing.”</p>
<p>“I’m sharing this work that I’m proud of, and it’s made to honor where it came from, outside of the Western, white gaze,” she said. “The art world largely loves stories about Arabs where we are oppressed, we have no voice, someone is harming us, and white people saved us. But this is my story, and I did it the way I wanted to share it.”</p></div>Warren revisits school playground rebuild2024-03-24T00:06:50-04:002024-03-24T00:06:50-04:00https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/local-news/18741-warren-revisits-school-playground-rebuildjkvtvrjeff@valleyreporter.com<div class="feed-description"><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/Warren-Town-Hall.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="500" loading="lazy"></p><p>At its March 12 meeting, the Warren Select Board recapped Town Meeting Day. The board revisited some questions that were raised about how a rebuild of the Warren Elementary School playground should be managed going forward. While the school is owned by the school district, the playground is on town-owned land. </p>
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<p>It sits on Brooks Recreation Field – a multi-use facility with basketball courts, tennis courts, a skate park, and the Mad River Dog Park. “It’s an asset of the town,” former Warren Select Board member Bob Ackland said on March 5 at Town Meeting, “and anybody who wants to use the playground in the town of Warren, is able to use it.”</p>
<p>Warren Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) president Jessica Washington said at Town Meeting that the playground is due for a rebuild because some of its equipment is “borderline unsafe.” She said that the PTO is tasked with replacing it and could expect to spend upwards of $500,000.</p>
<p>The most recent renovation of the playground was around 2005, according to select board vice chair Andy Cunningham. At the time, the town owned the school in addition to Brooks Field. The PTO was in charge of raising funds and managing the project. “That’s just always how it’s been done,” Cunningham said.</p>
<p>The PTO raises funds through events, apparel sales and donations. The PTO also gets U.S. Forest Service funds from the town – roughly $21,000 in next year’s budget. Select board member Devin Corrigan said that taxpayers have voted to give those funds to the PTO in order to support school-related programs that were at risk of being cut with the 1997 passage of Act 60 or “The Equal Educational Opportunity Act.”</p>
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</p>
<p>School district consolidation that came with Act 46 meant that all school buildings are owned by the district versus individual towns and this is the first time the playground has needed upgrades since Act 46 in 2016.</p>
<p>The PTO and the Warren Recreation Committee are working together to develop plans for the playground rebuild. However, those roles, select board chair Luke Youmell said, need be more clearly defined.</p>
<p>“We have these possibly conflicting beneficiaries of this,” Cunningham said – with the school district owning the school itself and the town responsible for Brooks Field.</p>
<p>The select board will discuss this in more detail at their April 23 meeting, reviewing a Memorandum of Understanding that would outline the town’s and the PTO’s responsibilities.</p>
</div><div class="feed-description"><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/Warren-Town-Hall.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="500" loading="lazy"></p><p>At its March 12 meeting, the Warren Select Board recapped Town Meeting Day. The board revisited some questions that were raised about how a rebuild of the Warren Elementary School playground should be managed going forward. While the school is owned by the school district, the playground is on town-owned land. </p>
<p>
Advertisement
</p>
<p>It sits on Brooks Recreation Field – a multi-use facility with basketball courts, tennis courts, a skate park, and the Mad River Dog Park. “It’s an asset of the town,” former Warren Select Board member Bob Ackland said on March 5 at Town Meeting, “and anybody who wants to use the playground in the town of Warren, is able to use it.”</p>
<p>Warren Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) president Jessica Washington said at Town Meeting that the playground is due for a rebuild because some of its equipment is “borderline unsafe.” She said that the PTO is tasked with replacing it and could expect to spend upwards of $500,000.</p>
<p>The most recent renovation of the playground was around 2005, according to select board vice chair Andy Cunningham. At the time, the town owned the school in addition to Brooks Field. The PTO was in charge of raising funds and managing the project. “That’s just always how it’s been done,” Cunningham said.</p>
<p>The PTO raises funds through events, apparel sales and donations. The PTO also gets U.S. Forest Service funds from the town – roughly $21,000 in next year’s budget. Select board member Devin Corrigan said that taxpayers have voted to give those funds to the PTO in order to support school-related programs that were at risk of being cut with the 1997 passage of Act 60 or “The Equal Educational Opportunity Act.”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>School district consolidation that came with Act 46 meant that all school buildings are owned by the district versus individual towns and this is the first time the playground has needed upgrades since Act 46 in 2016.</p>
<p>The PTO and the Warren Recreation Committee are working together to develop plans for the playground rebuild. However, those roles, select board chair Luke Youmell said, need be more clearly defined.</p>
<p>“We have these possibly conflicting beneficiaries of this,” Cunningham said – with the school district owning the school itself and the town responsible for Brooks Field.</p>
<p>The select board will discuss this in more detail at their April 23 meeting, reviewing a Memorandum of Understanding that would outline the town’s and the PTO’s responsibilities.</p>
</div>Taking a head coaching job, school board member resigns2024-03-23T15:43:03-04:002024-03-23T15:43:03-04:00https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/local-news/18745-taking-a-head-coaching-job-school-board-member-resignsLisa Scagliottijeff@valleyreporter.com<div class="feed-description"><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5349/jakepitman.jpg" alt="Jake Pitman" width="800" height="500" loading="lazy"></p><p>By Lisa Scagliotti, Waterbury Roundabout</p>
<p>The transitions continue with Waterbury’s representation on the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board as board member Jake Pitman on Friday, March 22 announced he would be stepping down to take the Harwood track and field team’s head coaching position.</p>
<p> </p>
Advertisement
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>A 2013 Harwood graduate, Pitman joined the school board in <span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT48_com_zimbra_date" class="Object" role="link">October 2022</span> when he was appointed to fill a vacancy. He then ran in 2023 for a full three-year term which ends in 2026. </p>
<p>“While this is a difficult decision, I know it's the right one,” he wrote in a letter to the full school board sharing his resignation news. “By directly working with students, I can impact the district more greatly than I can as a school board member. I have a degree in Human Development and Family Relations, but I work as an IT project manager for a health insurance company. Coaching is how I use my degree.”</p>
<p>Pitman’s hiring for the coaching position comes as the spring high school athletics season is about to start. For the past several years, he has worked as an assistant coach with the cross country program in the fall and with track and field in the spring.</p>
<p>To coach and serve on the school board simultaneously, Pitman had received a waiver from the state Agency of Education given that school district employees are prohibited from school board roles. The exemption came during the COVID-19 pandemic with consideration that the coaching role was part-time and Pitman was the sole applicant for the board vacancy.</p>
<p>In a statement to local newspapers, Pitman said he views the new coaching role as posing more of a conflict and warrants stepping away from the board position. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Now that I am set to become a head coach, the contractual responsibilities that come along with this position – particularly with respect to the supervision and general well-being of students on the team – are too significant to be overlooked,” he said.</p>
<p>Last spring, Anissa Davis served as head coach for track and field. Davis has worked for many years as the school’s gymnastics coach each winter. The track coach position has been in flux for the past couple of years since longtime coach Taggert Haslam passed away in 2021. Pitman said he only recently learned that the head coaching opportunity was open. </p>
<p>Athletic director Ian Fraunfelder on <span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT49_com_zimbra_date" class="Object" role="link">Friday</span> said now with Pitman in the lead role, “we are still working on rounding out the rest of the coaching staff for track,” this season. </p>
<p>In his letter to the school board, Pitman explained how he felt compelled to accept the coaching opportunity, recalling Haslam as his mentor when he was a member of the track team a little over a decade ago. Haslam’s unexpected death motivated him to become a coach, he said, calling it “the greatest decision I have made in my entire life. I did not realize I would love it as much as I do.”</p>
<p>It was through coaching, Pitman pointed out, that he decided to join the school board. </p>
<p>“I re-established a connection with the Harwood community through coaching. I desired to keep exploring ways I could give back to the school district and community that raised me,” he said, recalling how he volunteered to fill a Waterbury opening in 2022. “You all welcomed me so graciously. I am forever grateful to all of you for accepting me in the way that you did,” he wrote.</p>
<p>During board meetings and at recent community presentations to discuss needed renovations to Harwood Union High School, Pitman often contributes observations that come from his own experience from when he was a student and from his interactions with students now as a coach. That isn’t lost on board chair Ashley Woods of Warren, herself a Harwood alumna but a generation earlier than Pitman. “Jake’s unique perspective will be missed!” she said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<h4> </h4>
<h4><strong>Process to fill board openings</strong> </h4>
<p>With the largest population in the school district, Waterbury has four seats on the school board. Duxbury, Fayston, Moretown, Waitsfield and Warren each have two. </p>
<p>The board has been recruiting since January for candidates to fill two Waterbury positions after members Kelley Hackett and Marlena Tucker-Fishman ended their terms on Town Meeting Day and neither sought re-election. Victoria Taravella is the fourth Waterbury member and her term ends in 2025.</p>
<p>The school board recently put out a call for interested community members <span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT50_com_zimbra_url" class="Object" role="link"><a href="https://www.waterburyroundabout.org/public-notices/pbhau2xkmfoa91etyc74wkfopo9uy5" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">to apply for the positions</a></span> with a deadline of <span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT51_com_zimbra_date" class="Object" role="link">next Wednesday</span>, <span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT52_com_zimbra_date" class="Object" role="link">March 27</span>. The school board would appoint new members to fill the seats to serve until Town Meeting Day in <span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT53_com_zimbra_date" class="Object" role="link">March 2025</span>. At that point, the members could run for election or step aside. </p>
<p>The board’s process also involves local select boards when there is a vacancy to fill in between elections. In this case, information on applicants would be forwarded to the Waterbury Select Board which has its next meeting on <span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT54_com_zimbra_date" class="Object" role="link">Monday, April 1</span>. The board would interview school board applicants and make a recommendation to the school board. The school board would then consider appointments at its <span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT55_com_zimbra_date" class="Object" role="link">April 10</span> meeting. </p>
<p>Woods confirmed on <span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT56_com_zimbra_date" class="Object" role="link">Saturday</span> morning that there have been three applicants for the Waterbury seats so far: Elizabeth Brown, Dan Gwaltney and Dan Roscioli.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<h4> </h4>
<h4><strong>Offering thanks and encouragement</strong> </h4>
<p>Pitman offered words of encouragement to his fellow board members given the task ahead to rework the 2024-25 budget after the defeat at the ballot box on Town Meeting Day earlier this month. “Good luck, everyone. You are the ones who have stepped up for the greater good of the district,” he wrote. “While everyone loves to shout their opinions, they cannot claim to be making the direct impact that you all do. Thank you all for not only just caring, but taking action to represent your personal ethics and values toward public education. I have met some wonderful individuals through this experience. It is one that I will never forget.”</p>
<p>He said he believes the board “is in excellent hands with Ashley Woods and [vice chair] Cindy Senning leading the way” along with Superintendent Mike Leichliter. </p>
<p>“I extend my best wishes toward the board as it moves through some turbulent times. Thankfully, I couldn't be more confident in its leadership,” he wrote.</p>
<p>When asked what he might say to those considering applying to join the board, Pitman reflected: “It is more fulfilling than one might realize. It's in the quiet moments, perhaps after a long and grueling board meeting where tough decisions had to be made, that you realize how important it is to have a seat at the table. Plus, the excellent character and values of your fellow board members becomes prevalent almost immediately. You feel proud to be one of them, and proud to be contributing to something bigger than yourself.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.waterburyroundabout.org/public-notices/pbhau2xkmfoa91etyc74wkfopo9uy5" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><strong><em>Details on how to apply for one of the school board openings can be found here.</em></strong></a></p>
</div><div class="feed-description"><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5349/jakepitman.jpg" alt="Jake Pitman" width="800" height="500" loading="lazy"></p><p>By Lisa Scagliotti, Waterbury Roundabout</p>
<p>The transitions continue with Waterbury’s representation on the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board as board member Jake Pitman on Friday, March 22 announced he would be stepping down to take the Harwood track and field team’s head coaching position.</p>
<p> </p>
Advertisement
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>A 2013 Harwood graduate, Pitman joined the school board in <span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT48_com_zimbra_date" class="Object" role="link">October 2022</span> when he was appointed to fill a vacancy. He then ran in 2023 for a full three-year term which ends in 2026. </p>
<p>“While this is a difficult decision, I know it's the right one,” he wrote in a letter to the full school board sharing his resignation news. “By directly working with students, I can impact the district more greatly than I can as a school board member. I have a degree in Human Development and Family Relations, but I work as an IT project manager for a health insurance company. Coaching is how I use my degree.”</p>
<p>Pitman’s hiring for the coaching position comes as the spring high school athletics season is about to start. For the past several years, he has worked as an assistant coach with the cross country program in the fall and with track and field in the spring.</p>
<p>To coach and serve on the school board simultaneously, Pitman had received a waiver from the state Agency of Education given that school district employees are prohibited from school board roles. The exemption came during the COVID-19 pandemic with consideration that the coaching role was part-time and Pitman was the sole applicant for the board vacancy.</p>
<p>In a statement to local newspapers, Pitman said he views the new coaching role as posing more of a conflict and warrants stepping away from the board position. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Now that I am set to become a head coach, the contractual responsibilities that come along with this position – particularly with respect to the supervision and general well-being of students on the team – are too significant to be overlooked,” he said.</p>
<p>Last spring, Anissa Davis served as head coach for track and field. Davis has worked for many years as the school’s gymnastics coach each winter. The track coach position has been in flux for the past couple of years since longtime coach Taggert Haslam passed away in 2021. Pitman said he only recently learned that the head coaching opportunity was open. </p>
<p>Athletic director Ian Fraunfelder on <span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT49_com_zimbra_date" class="Object" role="link">Friday</span> said now with Pitman in the lead role, “we are still working on rounding out the rest of the coaching staff for track,” this season. </p>
<p>In his letter to the school board, Pitman explained how he felt compelled to accept the coaching opportunity, recalling Haslam as his mentor when he was a member of the track team a little over a decade ago. Haslam’s unexpected death motivated him to become a coach, he said, calling it “the greatest decision I have made in my entire life. I did not realize I would love it as much as I do.”</p>
<p>It was through coaching, Pitman pointed out, that he decided to join the school board. </p>
<p>“I re-established a connection with the Harwood community through coaching. I desired to keep exploring ways I could give back to the school district and community that raised me,” he said, recalling how he volunteered to fill a Waterbury opening in 2022. “You all welcomed me so graciously. I am forever grateful to all of you for accepting me in the way that you did,” he wrote.</p>
<p>During board meetings and at recent community presentations to discuss needed renovations to Harwood Union High School, Pitman often contributes observations that come from his own experience from when he was a student and from his interactions with students now as a coach. That isn’t lost on board chair Ashley Woods of Warren, herself a Harwood alumna but a generation earlier than Pitman. “Jake’s unique perspective will be missed!” she said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<h4> </h4>
<h4><strong>Process to fill board openings</strong> </h4>
<p>With the largest population in the school district, Waterbury has four seats on the school board. Duxbury, Fayston, Moretown, Waitsfield and Warren each have two. </p>
<p>The board has been recruiting since January for candidates to fill two Waterbury positions after members Kelley Hackett and Marlena Tucker-Fishman ended their terms on Town Meeting Day and neither sought re-election. Victoria Taravella is the fourth Waterbury member and her term ends in 2025.</p>
<p>The school board recently put out a call for interested community members <span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT50_com_zimbra_url" class="Object" role="link"><a href="https://www.waterburyroundabout.org/public-notices/pbhau2xkmfoa91etyc74wkfopo9uy5" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">to apply for the positions</a></span> with a deadline of <span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT51_com_zimbra_date" class="Object" role="link">next Wednesday</span>, <span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT52_com_zimbra_date" class="Object" role="link">March 27</span>. The school board would appoint new members to fill the seats to serve until Town Meeting Day in <span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT53_com_zimbra_date" class="Object" role="link">March 2025</span>. At that point, the members could run for election or step aside. </p>
<p>The board’s process also involves local select boards when there is a vacancy to fill in between elections. In this case, information on applicants would be forwarded to the Waterbury Select Board which has its next meeting on <span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT54_com_zimbra_date" class="Object" role="link">Monday, April 1</span>. The board would interview school board applicants and make a recommendation to the school board. The school board would then consider appointments at its <span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT55_com_zimbra_date" class="Object" role="link">April 10</span> meeting. </p>
<p>Woods confirmed on <span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT56_com_zimbra_date" class="Object" role="link">Saturday</span> morning that there have been three applicants for the Waterbury seats so far: Elizabeth Brown, Dan Gwaltney and Dan Roscioli.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<h4> </h4>
<h4><strong>Offering thanks and encouragement</strong> </h4>
<p>Pitman offered words of encouragement to his fellow board members given the task ahead to rework the 2024-25 budget after the defeat at the ballot box on Town Meeting Day earlier this month. “Good luck, everyone. You are the ones who have stepped up for the greater good of the district,” he wrote. “While everyone loves to shout their opinions, they cannot claim to be making the direct impact that you all do. Thank you all for not only just caring, but taking action to represent your personal ethics and values toward public education. I have met some wonderful individuals through this experience. It is one that I will never forget.”</p>
<p>He said he believes the board “is in excellent hands with Ashley Woods and [vice chair] Cindy Senning leading the way” along with Superintendent Mike Leichliter. </p>
<p>“I extend my best wishes toward the board as it moves through some turbulent times. Thankfully, I couldn't be more confident in its leadership,” he wrote.</p>
<p>When asked what he might say to those considering applying to join the board, Pitman reflected: “It is more fulfilling than one might realize. It's in the quiet moments, perhaps after a long and grueling board meeting where tough decisions had to be made, that you realize how important it is to have a seat at the table. Plus, the excellent character and values of your fellow board members becomes prevalent almost immediately. You feel proud to be one of them, and proud to be contributing to something bigger than yourself.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.waterburyroundabout.org/public-notices/pbhau2xkmfoa91etyc74wkfopo9uy5" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><strong><em>Details on how to apply for one of the school board openings can be found here.</em></strong></a></p>
</div>Local Girl Scouts sell 3,200 boxes of cookies2024-03-23T02:56:33-04:002024-03-23T02:56:33-04:00https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/artsent/18740-local-girl-scouts-sell-3-200-boxes-of-cookiesTracy Brannstromjeff@valleyreporter.com<div class="feed-description"><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5349/girlscouts-lawsons.jpg" alt="Members of The Valley Girl Scouts troop -- Waitsfield, Warren and Fayston -- sell Girl Scout cookies at Lawson’s Finest. Photo: Crystal Lund." width="800" height="500" loading="lazy"></p><p>Girl Scout cookie season is wrapping up – with Thin Mints, Samoas, Tagalongs and other varieties distributed across The Valley since sales started early this year.</p>
<p> </p>
Advertisement
<p> </p>
<p>Troop members in Waitsfield, Fayston and Warren, who form a single troop, delivered<br /> the last of their boxes in mid-March. The Moretown troop is nearly done, waiting on cookie distributors to restock their supplies for one final order. They plan to host a pop-event to sell leftover boxes in the coming weeks – “to find good homes for our remaining cookies,” Moretown troop co-leader Kae Zaino said.</p>
<p>Girl Scouts began selling cookies as early as 1917 – five years after Juliette Gordon Low founded Girl Scouts of the USA. In the early years, cookies were home-baked by scouts and their troop leaders, especially following a 1922 recipe for basic sugar cookies written by a Girl Scouts director in Chicago and printed in The American Girl magazine. Troops baked these, packaged them in wax paper, and sold them door-to-door for 35 cents a dozen.</p>
<p><strong>COOKIE CUPBOARD</strong></p>
<p>In the mid 1930s, a council in Philadelphia became the first to sell commercially-baked cookies, and in the following decades, the number of commercial bakers became more and more streamlined, allowing for lower prices and uniform quality. Various cookie types emerged over time – like a S’mores Sandwich variety introduced in 2016, a gluten-free option called Toffee-tastic in 2017, and a thin, crispy cookie infused with raspberry flavor and dipped in chocolatey coating that the organization sees a “sister cookie” to Thin Mints, released last year.</p>
<p>After local troops took orders in early winter, they picked up cases of cookies from distributors in Barre and Williston, called The Cookie Cupboard. The boxes were then divvyed up and sorted for delivery. They ordered additional boxes for booth sales, setting up in front of Mehuron’s, Shaw’s, Lawsons Finest Liquids, Moretown Elementary School during Town Meeting Day, and other locations throughout the winter.</p>
<p>“We have sold in really windy weather, in 20-degree weather, in rainy weather – in just about any weather you can imagine,” said Crystal Lund, a co-leader of the Valley troop alongside leader Kayla Bourne for about five years.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>ABLE TO SELL</strong></p>
<p>“It definitely shows the girls what kind of push you need to have, to be able to sell. We have to make sure they’re all in,” Lund said.</p>
<p>According to the organization, Girl Scouts of the USA is “the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world,” with nearly 700,000 scouts participating. “Girl Scout cookies are more than delicious treats,” the website reads, “they’re entrepreneurial juggernauts.”</p>
<p>Cookie selling is meant to instill a host of business-oriented values like goal setting, decision making, sales promotion, customer interaction and money management. The organization offers a host of sales-related educational materials for Scouts and their troop leaders – like a leaflet that lays the different “types” of sellers a Scout might be. The “networker” asks existing customers to refer them to others who might want cookies, the “consumer expert” comes up with the perfect pitch, and the “cookie techie” is a Scout who promotes sales by circulating homemade videos on social media platforms – creating a kind of “digital storefront” for online sales.</p>
<p><strong>EYE CONTACT</strong></p>
<p>As far as what scouts are learning on the ground, “I would say it’s more basic,” Zaino said about her Moretown troop. “We talk about customer service skills, like making eye contact and thanking people, that sort of thing.”</p>
<p>In January, Moretown troop leader Jeannie Randall took the group to a “cookie rally” at St. Michael’s College, where Scouts practiced skills like counting change. </p>
<p>Lund said she was impressed by how her troop handled sales. “In their sales pitch, they would say what the proceeds would be spent on. They’d say ‘we’re selling cookies to fund an educational field trip.’ I think that’s just phenomenal, if you ask me.”</p>
<p>Each year, U.S. Girl Scouts sell about 200 million boxes of cookies. If they hit that mark this year, cookie revenue would come to $1 billion, according to Forbes.</p>
<p><strong>CAMPING TRIP</strong></p>
<p>Some of these profits are directed back to local troops – in The Valley, keeping 85 cents to $1 for every $6 box – and the majority goes to state-wide Girl Scout Councils, Zaino said. Her troop already spent some of their funds on a day trip to the ice skating rink at Spruce Peak in Stowe. Scouts also planned a camping trip at Elmore State Park for June. </p>
<p>Lund’s Valley troop hasn’t decided how they’ll spend funds just yet, but they discussed some possibilities early on. The Scouts imagined camping, visiting a museum, or donating to a charity. “They’re very generous young ladies,” Lund said.</p>
<p>In total, the two troops sold roughly 3,200 boxes of cookies, with Thin Mints as the best seller, per usual.</p>
<p>Lund said her favorite cookies are the peanut-butter-containing Tagalongs and Do-Si-Dos. “But then again, the old shortbread cookies are one of my favorites too. It’s just so hard to pick.”</p>
</div><div class="feed-description"><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5349/girlscouts-lawsons.jpg" alt="Members of The Valley Girl Scouts troop -- Waitsfield, Warren and Fayston -- sell Girl Scout cookies at Lawson’s Finest. Photo: Crystal Lund." width="800" height="500" loading="lazy"></p><p>Girl Scout cookie season is wrapping up – with Thin Mints, Samoas, Tagalongs and other varieties distributed across The Valley since sales started early this year.</p>
<p> </p>
Advertisement
<p> </p>
<p>Troop members in Waitsfield, Fayston and Warren, who form a single troop, delivered<br /> the last of their boxes in mid-March. The Moretown troop is nearly done, waiting on cookie distributors to restock their supplies for one final order. They plan to host a pop-event to sell leftover boxes in the coming weeks – “to find good homes for our remaining cookies,” Moretown troop co-leader Kae Zaino said.</p>
<p>Girl Scouts began selling cookies as early as 1917 – five years after Juliette Gordon Low founded Girl Scouts of the USA. In the early years, cookies were home-baked by scouts and their troop leaders, especially following a 1922 recipe for basic sugar cookies written by a Girl Scouts director in Chicago and printed in The American Girl magazine. Troops baked these, packaged them in wax paper, and sold them door-to-door for 35 cents a dozen.</p>
<p><strong>COOKIE CUPBOARD</strong></p>
<p>In the mid 1930s, a council in Philadelphia became the first to sell commercially-baked cookies, and in the following decades, the number of commercial bakers became more and more streamlined, allowing for lower prices and uniform quality. Various cookie types emerged over time – like a S’mores Sandwich variety introduced in 2016, a gluten-free option called Toffee-tastic in 2017, and a thin, crispy cookie infused with raspberry flavor and dipped in chocolatey coating that the organization sees a “sister cookie” to Thin Mints, released last year.</p>
<p>After local troops took orders in early winter, they picked up cases of cookies from distributors in Barre and Williston, called The Cookie Cupboard. The boxes were then divvyed up and sorted for delivery. They ordered additional boxes for booth sales, setting up in front of Mehuron’s, Shaw’s, Lawsons Finest Liquids, Moretown Elementary School during Town Meeting Day, and other locations throughout the winter.</p>
<p>“We have sold in really windy weather, in 20-degree weather, in rainy weather – in just about any weather you can imagine,” said Crystal Lund, a co-leader of the Valley troop alongside leader Kayla Bourne for about five years.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>ABLE TO SELL</strong></p>
<p>“It definitely shows the girls what kind of push you need to have, to be able to sell. We have to make sure they’re all in,” Lund said.</p>
<p>According to the organization, Girl Scouts of the USA is “the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world,” with nearly 700,000 scouts participating. “Girl Scout cookies are more than delicious treats,” the website reads, “they’re entrepreneurial juggernauts.”</p>
<p>Cookie selling is meant to instill a host of business-oriented values like goal setting, decision making, sales promotion, customer interaction and money management. The organization offers a host of sales-related educational materials for Scouts and their troop leaders – like a leaflet that lays the different “types” of sellers a Scout might be. The “networker” asks existing customers to refer them to others who might want cookies, the “consumer expert” comes up with the perfect pitch, and the “cookie techie” is a Scout who promotes sales by circulating homemade videos on social media platforms – creating a kind of “digital storefront” for online sales.</p>
<p><strong>EYE CONTACT</strong></p>
<p>As far as what scouts are learning on the ground, “I would say it’s more basic,” Zaino said about her Moretown troop. “We talk about customer service skills, like making eye contact and thanking people, that sort of thing.”</p>
<p>In January, Moretown troop leader Jeannie Randall took the group to a “cookie rally” at St. Michael’s College, where Scouts practiced skills like counting change. </p>
<p>Lund said she was impressed by how her troop handled sales. “In their sales pitch, they would say what the proceeds would be spent on. They’d say ‘we’re selling cookies to fund an educational field trip.’ I think that’s just phenomenal, if you ask me.”</p>
<p>Each year, U.S. Girl Scouts sell about 200 million boxes of cookies. If they hit that mark this year, cookie revenue would come to $1 billion, according to Forbes.</p>
<p><strong>CAMPING TRIP</strong></p>
<p>Some of these profits are directed back to local troops – in The Valley, keeping 85 cents to $1 for every $6 box – and the majority goes to state-wide Girl Scout Councils, Zaino said. Her troop already spent some of their funds on a day trip to the ice skating rink at Spruce Peak in Stowe. Scouts also planned a camping trip at Elmore State Park for June. </p>
<p>Lund’s Valley troop hasn’t decided how they’ll spend funds just yet, but they discussed some possibilities early on. The Scouts imagined camping, visiting a museum, or donating to a charity. “They’re very generous young ladies,” Lund said.</p>
<p>In total, the two troops sold roughly 3,200 boxes of cookies, with Thin Mints as the best seller, per usual.</p>
<p>Lund said her favorite cookies are the peanut-butter-containing Tagalongs and Do-Si-Dos. “But then again, the old shortbread cookies are one of my favorites too. It’s just so hard to pick.”</p>