Top Stories for Tuesday July 18, 2006

Marnie Wood A Facilitator And Guide
By Larry Johnson
    Marnie Wood sees her role as an educator as someone who “points the way,” a facilitator and a guide. After 30 years of teaching---22 of those years in Bridport teaching 3rd and 4th grade---Marnie is confident that the way to capture a child’s curiosity is by exposing him or her to the wonders of the immediate environment.
     “I love the 3rd and 4th grades,” Marnie told me, “because the world is opening up for them. They are all empty vessels. It’s almost magical when the light bulb goes on in their heads.” Marnie’s passion is history and social studies, and she goes to great lengths to acquaint her students with local historical points of interest. “I’m known as the ‘Field Trip Queen,’ “ she acknowledged. “I like to take the kids to actual sites. We go to Crown Point, Fort Ti, Chimney Point and Mt. Independence. I think it’s important to integrate into the curriculum what is local. We study our town’s history as well.”
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Perfect Stormwater: Delays hit Rte. 7 Rebuild Through Brandon
By Ed Barna
     Since 1998, when the effort to upgrade Route 7 between Brandon and Pittsford began, the great fear among local officials has been that the momentum would stall, delays would come, and finally the plan would be shelved--the fate of other such projects since the 1930’s.
     So the news that a stormwater issue will delay the Act 250 construction permit application for the section through Brandon village (section six of a 12-mile, six-section master plan that does have an Act 250 permit) has Brandon members of the Route 7 Steering Committee riled.
     At a regular Select Board meeting July 10, board member Richard Baker delivered what he said was a preview of remarks he would make to state officials at the Steering Committee meeting July 17. Eight years had gone by without a shovel full of dirt being turned (not strictly true, since the whole 12 miles have been spot tested for archeological remains, but true for construction purposes) and he was growing increasingly concerned about delays, he said.
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Perfection in Vermont
By Brian Bauer
     It was one of those Vermont hot and humid July days. I had an appointment to talk with a fellow by the name of Jim Geier. I had often passed the sign for his business, Vermont Folk Rocker, located in Starksboro just off of Route 116 but had dismissed it as just another craft shop. I was to be surprised.
     Jim, in his early sixties, is a study in contrasts. He is a perfectionist with a multitude of things going on around him all at the same time. His home is in an expansion phase. He is supervising his employees. He is answering the phone taking orders. He is getting ready to cleanup an adjoining property he has recently purchased. While all these things are happening, he is reviewing new furniture designs in his head.  [ more ]