Habitat for Humanity of Addison County invites you to its first benefit dinner of 2018 at Mary’s at Baldwin Creek (1868 Route 116 N, Bristol) this Friday, June 8. In addition to having a great meal, you’ll be supporting Habitat, as Mary’s will donate 50 percent of its food sales to support the organization’s efforts to build affordable housing. Mary’s is open from 5 to 9 p.m.
 
We got a sad follow up to the deadly crash on Route 116 in Bristol on May 25. A friend of the family of Kasech Alemayehu called to inform us that the 70-year-old killed in the crash was a woman, not a man as we reported (apologies to the family). The friend also gave some backstory: Alemayehu had come to Vermont from Ethiopia to see her grandson Beemnet Amdemicael graduate from Middlebury College that weekend — he earned a degree in neuroscience and Spanish. She and her husband Gebru Gebregziabher (who is over age 80) were traveling in an SUV with several other family members and friends to some of the pre-graduation festivities, when the car was involved in a crash with a pickup truck. Alemayehu was taken to UVM Medical Center, where she succumbed to her injuries later that day. The family has started a gofundme campaign to raise money to send Alemayehu’s remains back to her native Ethiopia. The friend told us that Middlebury College has been very supportive of the family.
 
The Mount Abraham Union High School class of 1978 will be hosting its 40th reunion on Sunday, July 1, at the Button Bay State Park Pavilion. If you would like to help organize and get the word out, there’s a meeting on Thursday, June 7, at 6:30 p.m. at the home of Robin (Prescott) Hewitt. Please call 989-8521 or email [email protected] for more information or if you need to update your contact information from five years ago.
 
Contestants from the Middlebury Highway Department excelled in the 36th Annual VHMA Equipment Show & Field Day held on May 9 in Barre. Contestants had to maneuver a highway plow truck with full wing attachment through a series of turns and chutes while knocking over obstacles with both front plow and side-wing without disturbing surrounding objects. Scoring was a combination of overall time to run through the course with deductions for missed items. Shawn Devino and Jordan Fleming of Middlebury participated in the event and took home 3rd place out of 35 total teams. This followed a first-place finish last year, along with achieving the best safety record as well. Quite an accomplishment for two of Middlebury’s hard working highway crew members.
 
The Addison County Chamber of Commerce is warning businesses to be on their guard for calls from a company called Hometown Productions, which has been soliciting money. Chamber President Rob Carter said Hometown Productions is alleging a listing in “the Addison County Map” while claiming to be working for the chamber of commerce. The caller then tries to collect money supposedly owed for an ad. This company doesn’t represent the Addison County Chamber, and is not part of the Addison County Visitor’s Guide or the Discovery Map. There are online complaints about Hometown Productions dating to 2011. If you receive a call like this, please don’t pay them anything.
 
ACTR reminds Snow Bowl Shuttle riders that Thursday, June 7, will be the last day of service on that route until Tuesday, Sept. 4. During the past school year, the Snow Bowl Shuttle provided 5,237 rides — is similar to the numbers from the previous two years.
 
Addison County Home Health & Hospice has earned a Five Star Rating by Medicare, according to Maureen Conrad, the organization’s director of development. In the last survey conducted by medicare.gov, Home Health Compare, Addison County Home Health and Hospice was voted one of two 5-star agencies in Vermont for patient satisfaction. Ninety-percent of patients surveyed said they’d recommend the agency to their friends and families, Conrad said. The 5-star rating is the highest available, and the national average for patient satisfaction ratings is 78 percent, according to Conrad.
 
The Middlebury Rail Platform Steering Committee will hold its first public meeting at the Middlebury Town Offices at 77 Main St. on June 19 at 7 p.m. This will be the first in a series of public meetings and will provide a feedback opportunity for people interested in the process of siting a passenger rail platform in Middlebury village. Representatives from the consulting firm VHB, who will be assisting with the project, will be facilitating the meeting.