Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
Bryan Ballinger is trying to raise a STINK!
By Shawn Cunningham With an Aug. 8 deadline approaching on his Kickstarter funding campaign, former Chester resident Bryan “Breadwig” Ballinger is optimistic that he will raise the $20,000 needed to publish his “scratch and sniff” children’s book, Animal Gas. At press time, his appeal to help produce the allegory on how we perceive our ourselves […]
Under perfect skies, 41 graduate from GMUHS
ON THE COVER: Ann-Marie Toussaint gets a kiss from her nephew during graduation ceremonies. The 41 members of the Green Mountain Union High School Class of 2013 graduated under perfect skies on Friday evening, June 21 on the grounds of the school. In attendance were family and friends of the graduates as well as members […]
Apartment application, sand & gravel extraction proposed before DRB
The Chester Development Review Board took a look at two new conditional use permit applications during its Monday, June 24 meeting. After a site visit to 18 S. Main St., the board accepted the application and exhibits for Scarlett Veil, LLC, a company owned by the Meyer family,for a renovation and adaptive reuse of a […]
A day to remember those who died in service
Chester observed Memorial Day on the traditional “Decoration Day” of May 30th with a parade, prayers, gun salutes, speeches, wreath layings and other ceremonies. The day was warm and sunny as bands from Chester-Andover Elementary and Green Mountain Union High schools played and marched from the North Street Cemetery to the Brook Side Cemetery and […]
Chester detective injured at fire scene
By Shawn Cunningham Chester Police Det. Matt Wilson was injured Sunday, May 5 when the concussion from the exploding tire on a burning loader knocked him to the ground. The Chester Fire Department and Chester Ambulance Service were called out around 5 p.m. for an equipment fire at Rhoman-Wai Farm on Green Mountain Turnpike. According […]
Season’s Greenings
The long winter has finally ended but the weather has been holding us in a limbo of lukewarm days and cold nights — not what most Southern Vermonters are looking for so long after maple sugaring has ended. Still, the signs are here and, on Tuesday, Shawn Cunningham ventured out camera in hand to capture […]
Burtco proposes five-bay car wash for Route 103 S.
By Shawn Cunningham On Monday night, the Chester Development Review Board reconvened a hearing on a conditional use permit for a five-bay car wash to be built and operated on Route 103 south. The facility, which will have two automatic and three self-serve bays will be owned and operated by Burtco and is proposed for […]
4th public-private solar proposal aired; economic development plan suggested; Missing Link Bridge in question
By Shawn Cunningham During its April 3 meeting, the Chester Select Board heard from a fourth company proposing to put a solar farm on town land on Route 103N across from Trebo Road, discussed a four-page economic development plan for the town and considered not replacing Missing Link Bridge, this following 20 minutes of correcting […]
Sugar house spark ignites hillside fire
Richard Root of Green Mountain Turnpike was just finishing up sugaring for the season, cleaning and rinsing his equipment around 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 7th, when he noticed smoke. The hillside adjacent to his sugar house had caught fire – due to a stray spark from his smokestack. According to Root, within 10 minutes, the […]
Red feeders have local guano harvesters seeing green
By Shawn Cunningham As April 1st arrives, the advent of spring makes many think ahead to a season of rebirth and growth. Gardeners are starting plants indoors and planning vegetable beds, while sugarhouses steam and farmers prepare their manure spreaders. At the same time, one little known part of Vermont’s agricultural economy prepares for the […]
GMUHS students present past at History Symposium
Green Mountain Union High School held its History Symposium on Wednesday, March 13. Dozens of students exhibited panels, slideshows, interact displays and documentaries that they produced as an adjunct to their classroom history studies. The students made presentations and answered questions from visitors. Topics ranged from indentured servitude to Elvis Presley.
Proposed zoning changes to get public hearing Aug. 20
By Shawn Cunningham After nearly two years of work, the Chester Planning Commission has released the proposed new zoning regulations ahead of a Monday, Aug. 20 hearing when the public can ask questions and comment on major changes to the town’s land-use laws including new districts, minimum lot sizes, new setbacks, fewer conditional uses and […]
Biomass plant switches to air-cooled; fiber optic coming on line
By Shawn Cunningham In a remarkably short meeting on Wednesday, July 18, the Chester Select Board covered a wide variety of topics in just under 90 minutes, including updates on the Springfield biomass plant and VTel’s federally funded project to replace existing telephone wires with fiber optic cable. Board members had a number of questions […]
Introducing A Good Nose: A guy walks into a wine shop …
By Shawn Cunningham Anyone with a well-rounded elementary school education knows that “you can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your friend’s nose.” Good advice, until you need to pick a friendly nose for wine. And since as we age, more and more of us prefer wine, it’s […]
Select Board meeting: Hudkins resigns DRB, Biomass concerns voiced, tax rates set
By Shawn Cunningham On a sticky early July evening when electric fans on the second floor of Town Hall had to be shut off for the gathering to hear, the Select Board’s special meeting was meant to set the town’s tax rate but included the resignation of Development Review Board chair Peter Hudkins. Just before […]
E. coli at two Williams River spots 10 times above acceptable level
By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie E. coli levels at two spots in the Williams River in and near Chester were 10 times higher than acceptable levels for swimming, according to samples taken at those sites Wednesday morning, June 27. Those spots are below the Waste Water Treatment Plant and at the Bartonsville Bridge. “The […]
A Day of Remembrance: Chester’s Memorial Day 2012
Traffic came to a standstill for a short time on Routes 103 and 11 on Wednesday as Chester once again observed Memorial Day on its traditional May 30th date. Hundreds of residents including students from Chester Andover Elementary and Green Mountain Union High School took part. The annual parade kicked off at 9 a.m. with […]
GM’s Ferenc named VT Principal of the Year
By Shawn Cunningham Green Mountain Union High School Principal Tom Ferenc has been named MetLife/NASSP High School Principal of the Year for Vermont. It was just last week that another Chester educator, Frank Kelley, was recognized statewide for his history teaching chops. The award – which is underwritten by MetLife on behalf of the National […]
Creation of new GMUHS library under way
Renovations have begun on the Green Mountain Union High library in mid-April. GMUSH Principal said the renovations will make the library “the coolest place in the school,” not the least because of its central air conditioning. With two more weeks of work, the $100,000 renovations should be completed the week of May 15. The project […]
Lego assembly clicks at St. Luke’s
About 75 children and adults were present as 33 Lego scene creations were entered in St. Luke’s Episcopal Church’s Lego scene contest on Saturday April 14th. The contest was open to children from pre-K to grade 6 with the proceeds going to benefit St. Luke’s and the Whiting Library Children’s Room. The church was abuzz […]
