Archive - Jul 5, 2006

By JOHN FLOWERS

SHOREHAM — Jeremiah Parker has spent his professional life restoring historic homes and barns to their former glory.

Now he wants to take a temporary detour from renovation to build some brand new homes — seven of them, to be precise. He is proposing those new abodes as part of “Green Woods Village,” an eight-lot subdivision that would be located on a four-acre parcel in the village of Shoreham.

Parker, the owner of Shoreham-based Jeremiah Parker Restoration, is collaborating with the Addison County Community Trust (ACCT) to find state and federal grants to make the new homes more affordable for middle-income buyers. He said he wants to market the development to people of all walks of life, who would benefit from the project’s proximity to town services, schools and churches.

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By CYRUS LEVESQUE

BRISTOL — The Vermont Downtown Development Board last week awarded its official “downtown designation” to Bristol, which could make available more than $2 million in grants and tax credits to residents, business owners and property owners in the downtown area as well as to the town itself.

“It’s a fairly big deal,” said Joss Besse, coordinator of the Downtown Program of the Vermont Agency of Commerce. “The community has demonstrated it’s done a lot of work already (preserving) the downtown area.”

In order to obtain the downtown designation, which was created under the 1998 Downtown Development Act, a community must demonstrate a long-term commitment to revitalization through planning, capital improvements, economic development, and preservation of historic resources.

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By JOHN FLOWERS

SHOREHAM — Having spent years selling apples, fudge and hot dogs, it’s only appropriate that Steve Jackson would use a food metaphor in describing Vermont’s economy.

The Shoreham Republican, one of two candidates in the running for the Addison-Rutland-1 seat in the Vermont House, likens the state’s economy to a pie that needs to be super-sized.

“Whenever I hear that money is needed to fund particular programs in the state of Vermont, it’s always, ‘What department are we going to take it out of?’” Jackson said. “It’s like the pie can be only one size. How about making the pie bigger?”

Jackson proposes to make Vermont’s economic pie larger by making it an even bigger draw for tourists, while encouraging the state’s smaller communities to follow Middlebury’s lead in creating their own industrial/business parks.

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By CYRUS LEVESQUE
BRISTOL — The Deerleap Books team dashed into first place at the 27th annual Bristol Outhouse Race on July 4, and won the grand prize as the 2006 champions. In the final heat, they defeated teams sponsored by the Bristol Historical Society, Snaps Restaurant, and Robinson Elementary School with a time of 21 seconds.
This is the team’s second win in as many races. The store did not sponsor a team last year, but the year before that they had the winning team as well, according to owner Carol Wells.
“We’re going to start a dynasty,” joked Barry Vitz, 37, one of the team’s two runners.
Tuesday’s race followed its traditional course on West Street, starting at Saint Ambrose Church and ending at the stoplight.

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