Archive - Jun 2006

By CYRUS LEVESQUE

BRISTOL — The Bristol Bakery on Main Street closed last week, and on June 27 the building and business were sold to Conner & Buck Builders, according to Larry Buck. Conner & Buck owns the top part of the building, which is a condominium, and when they learned the first floor was for sale they made an offer, which was accepted.

Buck said that they do not have any definite plans so soon after buying the store, but they recognize the importance of the bakery to the community and, if possible, hope to reopen it.

“We are trying to get somebody involved in the bakery,” Buck said.

The previous owner, Tom Clemonts, could not be reached for comment, and the reason for the sale as the Addison Independent went to press late Wednesday was not known.

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By MEGAN GAMBINO

BRISTOL — The Fourth of July weekend sometimes calls for a visit to out-of-town relatives, but for those staying home and those looking to entertain friends and family, there are parades, fireworks, live music, and an array of contests happening in Addison County and Brandon.

STARTING IN BRISTOL

Bristol’s annual Fourth of July celebration, recently highlighted in the summer issue of Vermont Life, fires up on Monday, July 3, with live music by local groups “Sweet Bents� and “In Transition� at 8 p.m. and a fireworks display by Northstar Fireworks, a Vermont-based fireworks company, at 9 p.m. on the Bristol Recreation Field.

Festivities carry over to Tuesday, July 4, as does the precedent of explosive starts, with a 5-kilometer road race scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m.

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By JOHN FLOWERS

LINCOLN — St. Albans Republican and U.S. House candidate Martha Rainville won’t be the only Rainville to see her name appear on an election ballot this fall.

Her cousin, Barbara Rainville, has also decided to enter the political arena — as a candidate for one of the two Vermont House seats in the Addison-4 district, which includes the towns of Bristol, Monkton, Lincoln and Starksboro.

Rainville, a Lincoln Republican, enters a race that thus far includes incumbent Reps. Michael Fisher, D-Lincoln, and David Sharpe, D-Bristol. She currently works as marketing manager for Middlebury-based Maple Landmark Woodcraft, which was founded by her brother, Michael Rainville.

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By CYRUS LEVESQUE

BRISTOL — In their third vote on the issue, Bristol voters on Tuesday approved a proposed 2006-2007 Bristol Elementary School budget. The $4,208,820 spending plan passed on a tally of 222-184, prompting school officials to heave a collective sigh of relief.

“It feels wonderful,” said BES Co-principal Jill Mackler. “It has been a long process to reach a budget that the community felt good about supporting, and we got there.”

BES board member Meg Wendel agreed. She felt the board and administration had managed to use the feedback they received well. “It feels very good,” she said. “There was a response to (community input), and it worked.”

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By JOHN FLOWERS

MIDDLEBURY — A Middle-bury resident has filed a citizens’ petition requesting that the community’s new junk law be put to a townwide Australian ballot vote.

The petition was filed on June 16 by Case Street resident Peggy Kimball, who, with some helpers, gathered 242 valid signatures — 20 more than the required threshold of 5 percent (222) of Middlebury’s total 4,435 registered voters.

Kimball’s petition targets the new junk law that selectmen endorsed, by a 5-2 margin, in early May. The new law would require residents in the core village of Middlebury and the “main village corridor” of East Middlebury to remove or screen junk on their property — or face fines and possible court action.

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By JOHN FLOWERS

VERGENNES — The race for a Vermont House seat in the Addison-3 district race now includes the previous, as well as the current, mayor of the city of Vergennes.

Republican Kitty Oxholm, who served as the Little City’s mayor for four years until March 2005, confirmed on Thursday that she will run for one of two House seats representing the Addison-3 communities of Vergennes, Ferrisburgh, Panton, Addison and Waltham.

Oxholm enters a race that already includes the current mayor of Vergennes, Progressive April Jin; incumbent Rep. Greg Clark, R-Vergennes; Ferrisburgh Democrat Liz Markowski; and Vergennes Democrat Diane Lanpher.

Oxholm has had a long interest in serving in the House. When longtime incumbent Rep. Connie Houston, R-Ferrisburgh, announced she would not seek re-election this year, Oxholm decided to throw her hat into the ring.

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By CYRUS LEVESQUE

BRISTOL — As the 2006 election races heat up, Vermonters are looking for ways to support their chosen candidate or just speak their minds.

But like many Vermont towns, Bristol’s zoning ordinances control when and how such signs can be displayed. Seeing that some Bristol residents have put up signs in violation of those ordinances, the selectboard is planning to clamp down.

“We have a state without billboards for a reason,” said selectboard Chairman Warren Baker at the board’s meeting on June 12.

After that meeting town administrator Bob Hall at the direction of the board asked three residents to take down signs, and they complied. Having any signs up right now would be a violation, because the ordinance forbids people from putting up signs more than 60 days before the election to which they refer.

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ADDISON COUNTY — Many people have been glad to see a break in the rain that has seemed almost constant over the last month. But for those who till the soils and milk cows the wet weather has combined with depressed milk prices and high fuel costs to create what some are referring to as a perfect storm for swamping Vermont’s dairy industry.

Gov. James Douglas this week called for federal disaster assistance to aid dairy farmers and said he would convene a special dairy summit by the end of the month to see what more could be done.

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