Top Stories for Wednesday January 18, 2012

Lucien Paquette Shares A Glimpse Of What Makes Him Tick After 97 Years
By Marcie Bolton
   Lucien Paquette has a kind smile on his face always gives a warm hello whenever I see him, telling me that his ninety seven years so far, have been good to him.  He was born Lucien Demers Paquette in Craftsbury, Vermont in 1916.  The third of seven children of Mary Anastasia (Demers) Paquette and Adelard Paquette.  Both his parents grew up and lived much of their lives in Canada and moved to Vermont to start a small dairy farm.  Lucien has fond memories of Craftsbury and the simplicity of life back then.  He goes back to visit his childhood home maybe once or twice a year now a days.  He will pick up his 93 year old sister Hilda in Burlington and drive out to Orleans County, journey over the hills and through the mountains to visit his 91 year old brother who lives in the original Paquette family home which was built in 1910.  [ more ]

VUHS Wrestlers Have An Exciting Year
By Cookie Steponaitis
While Geoffrey Grant admits to learning a lot of wrestling moves by just hanging out and wrestling his older brother and cousins, his first formal exposure to the sport came in the ninth grade. Discovering that he was good at it was wonderful, but what really stuck with Geoffrey in that first year was the realization that if he set a goal and worked as hard as he was capable of anything was possible. “I was the JV State Champion my first year,” shared Geoffrey. “Each year after that I set goals and mostly was able to attain them. In my junior year I broke my hand and was out for part of the season but this year I reached my goal of 100 career wins.” Geoffrey plans on being involved with teaching younger wrestlers wherever he goes in addition to continuing his work with the youth wrestling program.    [ more ]

Teens Ponder The State Of The Nation And Share Their Views In A Variety Of Forums
By Cookie Steponaitis
Issues are heating up the airwaves and filling the Internet and televisions with images, speeches and commentary on the state of the nation. Teenagers at VUHS reached out to share their viewpoints in competitions ranging from writing contests to oratorical competitions. When Senator Bernie Sanders called for his second annual State of the Nation contest, over twenty-five history students responded in voicing their views to the members of Congress and the President.

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