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Events cancelled as organizers stress social distancing

THE MARQUEE AT Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater says it all — the active venue, which can accommodate hundreds of people at a time, has cancelled its schedule for the time being.

ADDISON COUNTY — The threat of the coronavirus is prompting cancellation of many activities that would require a gathering of people. One need only look at the Addison Independent calendar to see that events, meetings, church services and other activities have either been postponed, or will be held “virtually,” over social media platforms.
As the threat from the novel coronavirus sunk in late last week, many people heeded the advice to create more social distance, exercise proper hygiene and, critically, not panic. Even the Vermont Legislature announced it would suspend it session for at least a week.
It would be near impossible to catalog all of the activities that have been canceled, postponed and rescheduled. Anyone planning to travel for an event is urged to double check with organizers to be sure it is going to happen before getting in the car. 
As the Independent went to press on Friday, here is a sampling of some the events affected:
•  The Addison Central School District on Thursday cancelled all community events and field trips until further notice.
“We will reevaluate this restriction as we learn more from the Vermont Department of Health and the Agency of Education in the weeks to come,” reads an email to the ACSD community, signed by Superintendent Peter Burrows. “Please check in with the principal in your school should you have questions about an event’s potential postponement. As stated previously, we will be taking direction from the Agency of Education and Vermont Department of Health regarding school closure.”
•  Vergennes Union High School was handing out Chromebook computers to its students on Friday. Possibly this was a precursor to students working from home.
•  Mount Abraham Union High School indefinitely suspended all field trips, school-sponsored events and activities, large school gatherings and staff travel — including public use of MAUSD facilities.
“It has become clear that measures need to be taken to help ensure the safety of our community and to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” Superintendent Patrick Reen said in a letter to the MAUSD community.
The afterschool homework club and the Mary Johnson afterschool programs will run. School-sponsored athletic practices will continue pending further information from the Vermont Principals Association.
•  The North Branch School, an independent middle school in Ripton, suspended on-campus classes and moved to online classes effective Friday for the foreseeable future.
•  Town Hall Theater in Middlebury canceled all of its events until further notice.
•  The “Hemp Happy Hour” sponsored by ACORN was canceled in Bristol on Thursday. It was going to be a gathering of hemp growers discussing this past season and plans for the coming year.
•  Middlebury’s Memorial Baptist Church will be having worship online only for March 15 and 22, says the Rev. Dr. Stephanie Allen. Services will be broadcast on MCTV and then uploaded onto the church website.
•  Wild Roots Farm in Bristol postponed its March 28-29 Spring Homestead Weekend, which was going to offer demos and discussions on grafting, pruning, plant propagation, bio-char, soil building and on-farm slaughter. As of late last week it was tentatively rescheduled for May 2 and 3. 
•  The NCAA canceled all championship games, including the Division III women’s hockey playoff game that was supposed to be played at Middlebury College on Saturday (see story on Page 20).
•  The Addison County Workforce Alliance postponed its Financial Reality Fairs scheduled for March 24 and 25 at Mount Abe, Vergennes and Middlebury union high schools. The Alliance will work with the high schools to reschedule the events for the fall.
•  The Bridport Grange confirmed cancelation of the balance of its weekly legislative breakfast series. The series had been scheduled for Bristol on Monday morning, March 16. A total of eight gatherings were canceled, including their annual “Ag Lunch” that was set for March 23 in Bridport.
“It is with regret that we have decided to cancel the remaining Legislative Breakfasts through April 27, 2020, due to the concerns of the coronavirus (COVID-19),” reads an email sent by event organizer James Morse.” We will try to set up a wrap up of the Legislative session in June, we will keep you posted on when and where.”
In the meantime, those with questions about legislative activities have been encouraged to post their questions on the Addison County Legislative Breakfast Facebook page.
“We will ensure that the Legislators see your questions and a response will be posted,” Morse said.
Anyone who is not on Facebook can email their questions to [email protected], or send them to James Morse, 92 Happy Valley Rd, Middlebury, Vt., 05753.

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