Talk of the town

What’s a local newspaper to do beside hope one of them wins? We did, but none of them did.

That honor went to Julie Brown, the structured literacy teacher at Woodstock Union Middle and High School.

Fair enough. That didn’t stop us from pondering how to deal with the nominees who work in schools right here in central Vermont, and we decided it would be simple enough to highlight one a week.

But who to feature first? When in doubt, go with alphabetical order, which is why our Lifechanger du jour is Jennifer Bisson.

Bisson teaches at Barre City Elementary and Middle School, and she has a big fan in parent Sara Palmisano, who nominated her for the award.

“Our daughter is one of those soft-spoken, introverted, caring kids,” explained Palmisano. “Enrolled in preschool to help expand her world, she (and we) anticipated having a few kids she already knew in her kindergarten class, but it didn’t happen. It was a very difficult adjustment, and I’m convinced the only reason why her year turned out to be as fabulous as it was, was because of her teacher, Jen Bisson.”

Palmisano wasn’t done.

“Jen’s caring personality, gentle guidance and pushing for those young children to not only learn, but learn of each other and general helpfulness, helped to make our daughter an engaged student,” she added. “For example, Jen (Bisson) gave each student a laminated photo of her with them. Our daughter still has that proudly displayed in her room, and she’s now 12 years old.”

Bisson is a math coordinator at BCEMS, but through her years teaching kindergarten, her nomination indicates she was frequently thought of as “one of the best teachers at the school.”

That’s saying something, and while her role has changed a couple of times through the past few years, respect for her in the school community remains high.

Don’t take our word for it, just ask Palmisano.

“Jen (Bisson) exemplifies the multitude of ways that an educator can impact many lives in so many ways,” Palmisano said, in a nomination that describes Bisson as an inspiration to everyone, with a family story that is not without its challenges, or rewards.

One down, nine to go.

Happy ending

MONTPELIER — Tuesday night’s special meeting of the Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District’s board wasn’t all business, thanks to Chair Fred Thumm.

Though Thumm lives in Barre Town, he shared a story about how a sound booth he built for his daughter-in-law on Long Island was recently used by his granddaughter, Alaina Postiglione, when she was offered the chance to do the voice-over for a book on (wait for it) recycling.

“It really came out awesome,” Thumm said of the book, which was written for 4- to 6-year-olds and narrated by his 7-year-old granddaughter.

“I was really impressed with it,” he told board members. “The story and the actress.”

Enter Bill Powell, who represents Calais on the board and was openly curious about how the recycling tale turned out.

“Does it have a happy ending?” he asked.

“Yes,” Thumm replied. “The world is saved.”

Technically, the book, which was recorded in Long Island and is now in printing and development, isn’t finished, but Thumm said when it is, it would be a nice addition to school libraries in Vermont.

Ice off?

WEST DANVILLE — Last Sunday, there were plenty of folks out frolicking on the snow-covered ice at Joe’s Pond. This Sunday there will be considerably less snow and the last of the ice fishing shanties will have to be removed.

That doesn’t mean the ice is going anywhere anytime soon, it’s just a precaution to make sure the shanties don’t end up stranded on ice that isn’t safe to traverse, or worse yet, underwater.

It isn’t just a Joe’s Pond thing, it’s state law, and the fine for leaving your ice fishing shanty on the ice after the last Sunday in March can be $1,000.

That’s a fraction of the potential prize for winning the Joe’s Pond “ice out,” which has an approaching deadline of its own.

April 1 (that’s a week from Saturday) is coming, and it appears it will arrive, as it always has before the ice goes out on a pond where that has become a pretty big deal.

The cost of entering this year’s ice out — $1 — is the same as it was when the official version of the contest was held in 1988.

That’s 35 years ago, and past winners will tell you it doesn’t take any special skill to win this one, just a whole lot of luck.

All you have to do is pick a date and time (think April, maybe May) and hope for the best.

If you’d like to enter (or enter again) just visit www.joespondvermont.com/ice-out-tickets.html and follow the directions, and wait.

Film festival

BARRE — Regular readers may recall the folks at the Old Labor Hall in Barre celebrated Black History Month by co-sponsoring a free, February-ending on-demand film festival that was timely and time sensitive.

That was February.

March is Women’s History Month and no one should be surprised (we weren’t) that the Barre Historical Society (they’re the muscle behind the Old Labor Hall) are co-sponsoring a free six-pack of on-demand films that are part of the Workers Unite Film Festival.

If you’re interested, you can watch from home (or anywhere else that has internet access) from 6 p.m. this Friday to 11:45 p.m. next Friday (March 31).

All you have to do to view the films is visit watch.eventive.org/workersunitefilmfest2023 or bit.ly/WatchWUFF12 and make a free Eventive login, and you’ll be good to go.

All the films involve women (it is Women’s History Month), and most have a labor link (it is the Workers Unite Film Festival).

Take “Aparecides.” The film is about “a massive popular uprising in Santiago, Chile, that forces a young Thai singer performing in an exclusive lounge to choose between escaping like the elites she performs for, or staying and changing her song.”

Then there’s “Spread Thin” — a film that relates how “Chelsey Glasson’s life is changed forever when she reports overhearing a senior manager make discriminatory remarks about a pregnant employee at the large tech company where she’s an up-and-coming manager.”

There are a couple of documentaries.

One of them — “Long Haulers” — provides a glimpse at the life of a female trucker, while the other — “Anchor Point” — is about women firefighters battling to “change the culture of firefighting” and “build an equitable workplace free from discrimination and assault.”

Two have ties to world-renowned Indigenous leader and activist Berta Cáceres. One — “Berta Didn’t Die, She Multiplied!” explains how her murder ignited an “international movement for justice, Indigenous sovereignty, and the planet.” The other — “La Lucha Sigue” (“The Struggle Continues”) — is set in Honduras and features Cáceres’ daughter, who confronts struggles of her own.

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