Addison County veterans were among several honored and/or promoted to leadership positions during the American Legion Department of Vermont 99th Annual Convention held in Rutland on June 22-23, during which Legion members from 36 posts throughout Vermont helped conduct the organization’s business. Bristol Post 19’s Ronald LaRose was elected to the position of Senior Vice Commander. Awardees included Middlebury Post 27’s Tom Scanlon, who was named “County Commander of the Year”; and June Kelly of Brandon Post 55, who was named “Legionnaire of the Year.” This year’s convention was dedicated in memory of our past Department Commander John Heald from Poultney’s J. Claire Carmody Post 39, who passed away last December.
 
Work continues on a new drainage system for the downtown Middlebury rail bed, as part of a $72 million, three-year project to replace the Merchants Row and Main Street rail bridges with a concrete tunnel. The current drainage work will temporarily reduce downtown parking — including five spaces on Main Street along Triangle Park. Kubricky Construction workers on Wednesday coned off those spots in preparation for delivery of drainage-related materials into the adjacent Triangle Park. Once the materials are safely stored in the park, those five spots will be restored, though probably not for long, according to Jim Gish, Middlebury’s community liaison for the rail bridges project. Those spaces will again be lost in order to provide safe access in and out of the Triangle Park area for contractors. Gish said there are usually several open parking spots in the upper area of Merchants Row, so spaces are available to those willing to do a little hunting.
 
This is the final call for book donations to benefit the Middlebury Dog Park, located of South Street behind the Middlebury Regional EMS headquarters. The book sale at Hannaford Supermarket is in its final week and going well. However, more books are needed in order to continue it through the end of June. If you have any more books to donate, deliver them to Hannaford Supermarket or call 802-989-3701 for a pick up ASAP. Books must be in good to excellent condition. No textbooks, instructional books or children’s books; novels sell best.
 
School children look forward to summer vacation, but it’s also a period when a lot of kids go hungry. Some low-income families depend on free/reduced-price breakfast and lunch programs at public schools to feed their children. The Vermont Department For Children And Families wants to remind families that there are free food programs available this summer for income-eligible households. Among them are 3SquaresVT — formerly known as the “Food Stamps” program — that provides resources for people to buy groceries at stores and farmers markets. There’s also the “Summer Meals for Kids” program that offers free lunches and snacks to children ages 18 or younger throughout the summer. And the Women Infants & Children program provides healthy foods and nutrition resources — such as breastfeeding support and nutrition education and counseling — to qualifying pregnant women or the parent/caregiver of a child under 5 years old. More information about these and other nutrition programs can be found at dcf.vermont.gov.