Those with an interest in the future of through truck traffic in northwestern Addison County might want to set time aside this coming Wednesday, Sept. 26. That’s when a 7 p.m. forum in the Vergennes Opera House will look at the issue of the more than 800 trucks a day that now rumble through Vergennes and how their impact might be reduced. The Addison County Regional Planning Commission and the Vermont Agency of Transportation have commissioned a study to assess options. Those include two bypasses, one that might make use of Routes 17 and 7 through Addison, New Haven and Ferrisburgh, and another that could leave Route 22A west of Vergennes and run through Vergennes and some of Ferrisburgh before reaching Route 7. According to PR for the meeting one of its goals is for officials to hear from residents “to help us create a project that improves conditions in Vergennes, is sensitive to the concerns of neighboring communities and that the state will commit to implementing.”
 
The Middlebury Planning Commission, its staff and consultants have been working with the public to site and design a passenger rail platform for future Amtrak train service, anticipated in 2021-2022. Planners have designed a 10-minute survey to get additional guidance from area residents unable to make the rail platform planning meetings. That online survey can be found at tinyurl.com/y9fo78rh. Feedback will be compiled by the Planning Commission and discussed at a Sept. 27 public meeting at 7 p.m. in the municipal offices conference room.  The survey will remain open until Nov. 5.
 
It is time for the 14th Annual Duck Race to benefit this year’s Mount Abraham Union Middle/High School Fall Musical, “Newsies.” Tickets are $5 each and can be purchased at the Mount Abe main office or from parents of students in the play. Here’s how it works:  Sponsor a plastic duck for $5. Get your duck’s number and your ticket/receipt and come to the Duck Race — if you can — on Saturday, Sept. 29, at 8 a.m. at Bristol’s Sycamore Park, south of the village. The ducks will be dumped into the river, allowing them to float downstream at the mercy of the current. If your duck is the first to cross the finish line, you get $500. You don’t need to be present to win. Other prizes will be awarded for second and third place, and last duck. Organizers hope to sell 600 tickets for this fundraiser. “Newsies” will be staged on Nov. 15, 16, and twice on Nov. 17.
 
Workers at Community Bank N.A.’s branches in Bristol and Vergennes will spend Friday, Sept. 28, partnering with local American Legion officials to do fall yard work for local veterans, as a way of showing appreciation for their service. It’s part of a community service effort the bank’s 90 branches are practicing on National Good Neighbor Day. Other branches of the bank will be engaging in food drives, bake sales or fundraising for a local charities.
 
Gov. Phil Scott last week appointed 16 Vermonters to various state boards and commissions, for terms that began in August. Locally, Loren Wood of Shoreham was named to the state’s Barn Expansion Advisory Group, while Mary Luci Stephens of Goshen was named to the Vermont Parole Board.
 
The Everybody Wins! Vermont literacy program at Middlebury’s Mary Hogan Elementary School is looking for reading mentors for this October through April. Consider filling out an application to mentor a child through literacy. The program starts in late fall, and the time commitment is less than an hour, one day per week, typically during lunchtime. Everybody Wins! Vermont is a statewide, nonprofit, children’s literacy and mentoring program. Together, mentor and child explore books and literacy activities and build a meaningful friendship, within the school setting. You help a child build strong self-esteem, reading skills, and a lifelong love of books. For more information about becoming a reading mentor, email Angela at [email protected].
 
Mary Hogan School is putting out a call for exercise bikes, to be used in therapeutic situations for children who want some physical activity, or just to blow off some steam. If you have one cluttering up your attic, basement or garage, Mary Hogan School in Middlebury would be truly grateful for the donation. If you have one you’d like to donate email to [email protected].