Archive - 2009
December 30th
I have a neighbor, an avid golfer, who a couple of years ago had the opportunity to play Augusta National Golf Club, and was absolutely thrilled. He would play on the course where the Masters Golf Tournament is held each April, the Valhalla, or Eden, of golf courses, sacred ground, where the immortal gods of golf have trod and reside.
I didn’t dare to tell him that you couldn’t pay me to set foot on Augusta National.
FOREST DALE — If Dave Rowden had filled out a Christmas list this year, it would’ve had only one thing on it — a new liver.
In 2005, Dave and his wife Sally were just going along in their lives like everyone else. Dave had retired from the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department after 33 years as the area game warden. He had recently started working with Brandon Police Department as an officer. Sally was working at Rite-Aid. Their kids were grown and married with kids of their own.
One day, Rowden wasn’t feeling well and went home sick from the police department.
December 28th
A siren cut through Monday morning’s gray, flurry-filled sky above the Champlain Bridge and suddenly the anticipatory chatter among the assembled masses waned to a collective murmur.
In an instant, the wintry tableau before them was shattered by a loud thud, punctuated by a series of brilliant yellow and red flashes. Like a sand castle hit by a tsunami, the bridge dissolved into Lake Champlain from beneath a rising plume of thick, angry smoke, debris and dust.
When the Champlain Bridge was demolished on Dec. 28, the explosion echoed through Addison County. Now the bridge is gone, but it leaves in its wake 80 years of history. This is a place for the community to share thoughts and memories of the old bridge, feelings on watching it go down, and hopes for the new bridge. Leave a comment below!
For news coverage of the Champlain Bridge, click here.
6:30 on Monday morning was dark, the roads slick and the air icy. There was no reason to be up so early. Well, no reason but a bridge demolition.
Which was why John Flowers, Trent Campbell and I were already on our way out to Addison, cameras and notebooks in hand to cover the last moments of the Champlain Bridge. The bridge wasn't scheduled to blow until 10, but we were hoping for a parking space at the Bridge Restaurant, right at the heart of the action.
December 24th
When I think of the holidays, I think of lots of relatives gathered around the dinner table, enjoying the company, the occasion, and an indulgent meal. It's a time when normal food rules are suspended, the dieters, fitness freaks and food-obsessed alike using the occasion to try some of everything. (Why, yes, I'll have some of Grandma's cookies, but not without a side of Uncle Morgan's pumpkin pie…)
Plus, as an added perk, I get to stop obsessing about how much each serving is costing me or how many meals I'll get out of whatever I'm making and just enjoy the food.
December 23rd
ADDISON COUNTY — It’s a busy time of year for Addison County residents — and a busier time still for the man of the hour, Kris Kringle, who is slated to swing by local homes late Thursday night on his annual Christmas rounds.
Kringle was unavailable for comment Monday at his North Pole workshop, but sources close to the man confirmed that Kringle, who also goes by “Santa Claus” and “Jolly Old St. Nick,” had spent much of December deep in plans for the big event.
ADDISON COUNTY — Loren Wood was 18 years old in 1972 when he and his family relocated from New Hampshire to Vermont, leaving a farm just outside of Manchester to set up shop in Shoreham.
At the time, Wood remembers, the farmland around Manchester was slowly beginning to be transformed by development — a house here and a house there.
“It’s not hard to see why we chose to conserve our land,” Wood said. “It bothers me to see good farmland go to houses.”
