BIRTHS
Copley Hospital
A son, Beau Matthew Nadeau, was born Oct. 21, 2023, to Madison Johnson and Cody Nadeau, of Johnson.
A son, Leeland James Ingalls, was born Nov. 11, 2023, to Tatum Silver and Jesse Ingalls, of East Hardwick.
A son, Linus Paine Ballard, was born Nov. 13, 2023, to Dylan and Samantha (Paine) Ballard, of Eden.
A daughter, Hudson Lee Premont, was born Nov. 16, 2023, to Branden Premont and Sage Ruffle, of Johnson.
AROUND TOWN
Maple conference
LYNDONVILLE — The 2023 Vermont Maple Conference, Dec. 5-9, offers online and in-person learning with sessions led by maple industry experts and maple producers. UVM Extension and Vermont Maple Sugar Makers’ Association will host the hybrid conference, co-sponsored by Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. Daily sessions will also interest foresters who work with maple producers and forest landowners looking to lease to a producer. Forestry credits will be available for the online and in-person sessions.
Conference event begins with a full day Maple Quality School on Tuesday, Dec. 5, at the UVM Extension office in Berlin. Mark Isselhardt from UVM Extension and Jason Lilley from UMaine Extension are featured. The online portion begins at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, with the first of eight online sessions over a three-day period. The conference concludes with a full day of sessions Saturday, Dec. 9, guest speakers and a tradeshow at Vermont State University’s Randolph campus.
Go to www.vermontmaple.org/maple-conferences for details and to register. Attendees can register for online sessions or a full conference pass.
VLT staff
Clarice Cutler, of East Montpelier, has joined Vermont Land Trust as project director for central Vermont and the Northeast Kingdom. Her prior experience includes roles focused on water quality and agriculture at Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets, and Vermont Association of Conservation Districts. At VLT, Cutler will be working with farmers on new conservation projects and helping to steward lands that have already been conserved.
VTF&W
Hunting continues
Seven days of hunting season remain after regular deer season ends Nov. 26. Archery deer hunting continues Nov. 27 through Dec. 15, and muzzleloader deer hunting will occur Dec. 2 to 10.
An archery deer license and a hunting license are required to hunt during the archery season. An antlerless deer, or a legal buck, if you did not take one earlier, are allowed during this season.
A muzzleloader deer license and a hunting license are required to hunt during the muzzleloader season. A legal buck may be taken if you did not take one earlier, and an antlerless deer may be taken in a designated Wildlife Management Unit if you have a muzzleloader antlerless deer permit and you have not already reached your annual limit. A few of these permits may still be available on Vermont Fish and Wildlife’s website.
Vermont has an annual limit of four deer during its deer hunting seasons, including only one legal buck annually during those seasons. A 2023 Deer Season Hunting Guide with regulations is available on Vermont Fish and Wildlife’s website.
BUSINESS
Blackbird Organics
MARSHFIELD — Vermont Land Trust announced, after five years of farming on leased land, Elise Magnant and Kagen Dewey became first-time farm owners buying 78 acres of open and wooded land on Maple Hill Road in Marshfield. They run Blackbird Organics and produce organic-certified vegetables. Dewey and Magnant bought the land from Dorigen Keeney who worked closely with them to establish vegetable production on the farmland, and support their land purchase.
Dewey and Magnant established Blackbird Organics in 2018. The new farm is just two miles from the land they lease, and will continue to operate. Before closing on the sale, Dewey and Magnant began working the land in Marshfield. In the 2023 season, they grew a third of their product on the new land and piloted a CSA (community supported agriculture) program with pick-up at the Maple Hill farm. Next season, they plan to expand production and continue to sell to the Hunger Mountain and Plainfield food co-ops, and directly at the Montpelier Farmers’ Market.
Artistic director
GREENSBORO — The Circus Smirkus board of directors announces the appointment of Rachel Schiffer as executive artistic director. A Vermonter and Middlebury College graduate, she joined the Circus Smirkus Big Top Tour in 1995 for the first of 10 years as a trouper. Schiffer later worked as a Smirkus residency coach, and on the Big Top Tour as house manager and trouper head counselor, and the Smirkus Alumni Committee for many years. She traveled the world as a circus artist working in France, Denmark, England, Wales and United States.
Bullying prevention
MONTPELIER — North Country Chevy Dealers, a group of 15 Chevrolet dealerships in northern New York, Vermont and northern New Hampshire, have partnered with Sweethearts & Heroes, a bullying and suicide prevention program, since 2018. Sweethearts & Heroes shares messages of anti-bullying practices to students and teachers. The Sweethearts & Heroes team is Tom Murphy, director and founder, of St. Albans; Ret. U.S. Army Sgt. Rick Yarosh, a HOPE expert and motivational speaker from New York; and Pat Fish, BRAVES and Circle leader. With support from Cody Chevrolet in Montpelier, Sweethearts & Heroes has worked at U-32 Middle and High School several times — most recently in mid-October, during National Bullying Prevention Month.
Board members
The Vermont Futures Project Board of Directors welcomed three new members: Jake Holzscheiter, president and CEO, LCB & CCS of A.N. Deringer Inc.; Peter McDougall, president and director of Paul Frank + Collins; and David Tabaruka, financial controller of Community College of Vermont.
The Vermont Futures Project is currently on a statewide tour to inform the development of a unified and durable statewide economic plan to be released in June. Central to this work is the goal of increasing Vermont’s population to 802,000 by 2035 and increasing housing inventory to 350,000 non-seasonal units by 2035.
Bookseller group
ROCHESTER — The Vermont Antiquarian Booksellers Association met Nov. 19 at Sandy’s Book and Bakery in Rochester, for its fall meeting to discuss future book fairs and elect new officers. The new officers for 2024 are Donna Howard, secretary, from The Eloquent Page in St. Albans; Barbara Harding, vice president, from Otter Creek Used Books in Middlebury; Joseph Trenn, treasurer, from The Book Shed in Benson; and Karen Austin, president from Austin’s Antiquarian Books in Wilmington. The Vermont Antiquarian Booksellers Association is an organization of professional booksellers offering rare, out of print, collectible, ephemera, with open stores found at www.vermontisbookcountry.com online.
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