YOUTH NEWS
4-H teamster
CHELSEA — Matthew Whitney, a member of the Green Mountain Teamsters 4-H club in Pomfret, was among 15 youths from four New England states, and the only Vermonter, who competed in the youth working steer contests held Sept. 23 to 25 at Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Massachusetts. The 13-year-old placed fourth overall in the Junior Division for ages 10-13 with his Holstein team, Bud and Bear. He also was awarded the Robert Young Spirit Award for his age group, presented to a teamster who is helpful, encouraging and supportive of fellow competitors.
Working steer competitions are scored on performance in the show ring with the teams evaluated on how close they come to specific standards for appearance and condition. Matthew earned a red ribbon in the fitting and showing contest, and a blue ribbon in both the cart class and stone boat pull time-based competitions.
He qualified to compete at Eastern States through his performance and overall point accumulation at two Vermont 4-H working steer shows this summer and evaluation of his 4-H working steer project and 4-H member record books. His trip to Eastern States Exposition was sponsored in part by Aubuchon Hardware in South Royalton.
Unicorn party
BARRE — Girls in grades K-3 and a caregiver can learn about participation in Girl Scouts at a special unicorn party from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, at Barre City Elementary School, 50 Parkside Terrace. For in-person and virtual sign-up events, join online at girlscoutsgwm.org. Walk-ins are welcome.
STEM Showcase
BURLINGTON — STEM Showcase 5.0 for youths, ages 8-14, will be held from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Nov. 4 at UVM in Burlington. It is hosted by UVM Extension 4-H with sessions led by UVM STEM Ambassadors.
Participants may sign up for two of the five hands-on workshops. Options include the Magic of Rain Gardens, Design a Water Wonderland!; What Floats Your Boat?, Civil Engineering; Crossroads of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, Strength and Materials; Let’s Go for Gold, Robot Olympics; and Dressing for the Stars, Galactic Garb.
Attendance is free, but registration is required at go.uvm.edu/stem5. Registrations will be accepted until Nov. 1 or all spaces are filled. To request language interpretation, translation assistance and/or a disability-related accommodation, call 802-656-7634 or email margaret.coan@uvm.edu by Oct. 20.
COLLEGE NEWS
Jessica Abisla, of Morrisville, graduated with a Master of Science in Nursing from Elms College following the conclusion of the summer 2023 semester.
AROUND TOWN
WCREA meet
BARRE — The last 2023 meeting of Washington County Retired Educators Association will be Thursday, Oct. 12, in the Aldrich Library Milne Room in Barre. Schedule is 9:30 to 10 a.m. coffee and pastries, 10 to 11 a.m. business meeting, 11 a.m. to noon presentation by Caroline Earl on wills and trusts, noon lunch $10. RSVP by calling 802-476-7414 or email jpdolan23@aol.com to plan lunch.
Expungement
Attorney General Charity Clark, along with Washington County State’s Attorney Michelle Donnelly, will host a free expungement clinic with appointments available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27. The free clinic will focus on expunging and sealing criminal charges and convictions from Washington County. Attorneys from the Attorney General’s Office will offer free assistance with petitions for Vermont-specific “qualifying” criminal convictions and dismissed charges. Schedule appointments in advance by calling 802-828-0033 by Oct. 12. Eligible participants will have the option of scheduling an in-person or telephone appointment; in-person appointments will be conducted at the City Center building in Montpelier. For more information, visit www.vtlawhelp.org/expungement.
AROUND VT
New directors
Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas announced David Hall will be joining the office as the new director of corporations. After serving in the Office of Legislative Counsel for 15 years, providing non-partisan legal counsel to the Vermont General Assembly, Hall will now oversee the transparency and accountability in the Business Services Division of the agency. He has been ensuring the legality of legislation created by the Vermont House of Representatives and Senate since 2008 and helping the Legislature create the infrastructure that serves business owners.
Homeshare Vermont has a new executive director. Connor Timmons joined the nonprofit on Sept. 5, succeeding Kirby Dunn, who retired after serving as executive director for 23 years. Timmons has two decades of organizational leadership and collaborative management experience working with children, young adults and families, through the Common Ground Center in Starksboro and the YMCA in his native Montreal.
Vermont Department of Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison appointed Eric Forand as director of Vermont Emergency Management. He had been serving as interim director since June that included leadership of the State Emergency Operations Center during this summer’s floods. Forand joined VEM in September 2017, was named deputy director in July 2022, and has managed day-to-day operations at VEM working with communities and partners. He previously served as a firefighter, EMT, and instructor at Vermont Fire Academy.
Kilpatrick recognized
The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources announced this year’s Sally Laughlin Award for the Conservation of Endangered and Threatened Species recipient is Dr. C. William “Bill” Kilpatrick. The award is given to a person who has shown leadership in advancing knowledge, understanding and conservation of endangered and threatened species and their habitats in Vermont. As a specialist in small mammals, Kilpatrick has been on the Vermont Endangered Species Committee since its inception 42 years ago and often provides both testimony and public interviews, including for National Public Radio, USA Today, Science News, Vermont Public and Burlington Free Press.
Do you have an item you would like to see in Community News? A milestone? A public announcement? A short news release about something entertaining going on in your town? Simply email the information to us at news@timesargus.com. Be sure to put For Community News in the subject line. (Note: We do reserve the right to edit for length.)
