Top Stories for Tuesday December 13, 2011

A Working Life: Teacher Mary Doyle
By Marcie Bolton
One September morning, the first day of school at Middlebury Elementary in 1964, Mary Doyle was standing in front of a class full of six year olds.  It was also her very first official day of teaching.   There were many firsts that day.  Sitting amidst the first grade classroom, on his very first day of school, ever, (there was no kindergarten then) a wide-eyed little boy was left off by his father.  All this six year old child knew was that his father had just walked out the door, leaving him in a strange place, where all around him were people he didn’t know,…and he was going to have none of it.  The door was open and he ran out the classroom and around the corner and who did he run into but Mary Hogan herself, the principal at the time, and the namesake of Middlebury’s elementary school.
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Zeno’s Tree Farm Is a Holiday Tradition
By Paige Stolen
The sounds of snow crunching underneath your boots; icicles hanging from the trees, the flash of white and colored lights and a sense of fun all mark the beginning of the holiday season and the search for the perfect tree. This reporter remembers some of her first outings at the Zeno Tree Farm and running through rows of snow-laden trees with the serious task of finding the fullest and most special tree. Even though she was only five, she took her job very seriously and looked forward to Christmas songs and ornaments as the tree got decorated later that day. For her family and hundreds others the season starts with a trip to Zeno’s Tree Farm in Starksboro.
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13th Annual Gingerbread House Contest and Exhibit
By Marcie Bolton
The 13th Annual Gingerbread House Contest and Exhibit will run from December 2, 2011 - December 21, 2011 at the Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury.
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Vergennes Rowers End Season on High Note

This fall the Vergennes rowing team competed for and succeeded at being the best high school rowing team in Vermont. The experienced team consisting of Emily Weber as coxswain and rowers; Dale Eriksen, Max Campono, Rachel Clark, Jesse Bunde, Alex Hulfish, and Emily Delgadillo won both the James Wakefield Rescue Row (having the overall fastest time from all three divisions) and the Otter Creek Challenge in Vermont.  [ more ]