Archive - Jun 2010

BRISTOL — If any tune was missing from the Bristol Band’s weekly summer concert last Wednesday night, it was “Happy Birthday to You.”

After all, this year marks the 140th consecutive summer that musicians young and old have picked up their instruments, packed into the Bristol bandstand, and serenaded the town with a weekly outdoor concert.

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MIDDLEBURY — The Addison County Parent-Child Center (PCC) was born in 1980 in the basement of the Congregational Church of Middlebury with an uncertain future, but a noble mission: to help pregnant teens learn how to care for their children and make better decisions before conceiving again.

Thirty years later, the center has grown into its own building at 126 Monroe St. with a staff of 40 full- and part-time workers offering more than two dozen programs and services.

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ADDISON COUNTY — Music? Check. Food? Check. Fireworks? Of course.

With celebrations for the Fourth of July in Addison County ranging from local barbecues and ice cream socials to major parades and time-tested traditions, chances are there are events to suit everyone’s preferences happening somewhere in the county this week.

The challenge, it turns out, is just choosing.

MUSICAL CELEBRATIONS

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BRISTOL — For one weekend in early July, the town that bills itself as the “Gateway to the Green Mountains” will become the unlikely epicenter of the hardcore punk rock music world.

Twenty bands from around the country are beating a path to Bristol, where on July 3 and 4 musicians will take the stage at the Bristol Hub Teen Center for the “Screaming for Change” music festival.

The music might sound angry, said organizer Ryan Krushenick, but it’s anything but.

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ADDISON COUNTY — A months-long push to extend emergency unemployment benefits to out-of-work Americans stalled in Congress late last week after a united GOP caucus kept Senate Democrats short of the 60 votes needed to push their bill through.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ office estimated that 1.2 million Americans are already experiencing a cutoff in unemployment benefits because of the Republican filibuster, including an estimated 121 workers in Vermont. Another 860 Vermonters face a cutoff in benefits on July 10 unless Congress extends benefits.

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VERGENNES — A company based in Anchorage, Alaska, but already familiar with Northlands Job Corps in Vergennes has won the latest five-year contract with the U.S. Department of Labor to operate the federal job training center for disadvantaged youths.

An official of that company, Alutiiq Professional Services LLC, said few changes are planned in staffing and programming after a transition that will become official on Thursday.

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EAST MIDDLEBURY — Since opening her candy store Middlebury Sweets in 2007, Blanca Jenne has been searching for a fun and exciting way to enrich the Addison County community. Now, with the help of other local businesses, she has come up with just the plan she was looking for.

“I wanted to find a way to give back to the community, and I enjoy reading with my daughter tremendously,” Jenne explained.

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