Top Stories for Tuesday July 24, 2007

OMYA Would Prefer To Ship By Rail
By Ed Barna
   The news that Omya plans to move its administration headquarters to the Cincinnati, Ohio area sent out shock waves like a quarry blast.
    The company wasn't as much of a Vermont icon as Ethan Allen Furniture, which is now made in the South. But in terms of economic impact, Omya has been a heavyweight, with around 300 employees earning very good pay, and the company adding about $55 million (by their figures) to the area economy in payroll, purchases, taxes and subcontracting work.
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Kampersville: One Woman’s Dream
By Larry Johnson
   Kampersville resort on Lake Dunmore is a great deal more than just another RV park. It is a “theme” park, according to owner/manager Jean Wisnowski, and the theme is always the same: family fun.
     Kampersville as an idea, as well as a reality, was born in 1969 when Jean's father, Alson “Ted” Drew bought the land from Peter Langrock and Lee Tucker, and Jean and her husband Ed (Chink) bought the land from Jean's father. They wanted to turn the property into a mobile home park but the town of Salisbury rejected this idea, however. They didn't want a permanent mobile home facility in the town. So Chink, Jean and her father approached them with the RV concept and Kampersville was born.
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Vergennes Youth Honored by Boys & Girls Club

Belinda Hall represented the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Vergennes and the State of Vermont in the Northeast Regional Youth of the Year event in New York City last week.  In friendly competition with 11 other candidates from Northeastern states, Puerto Rico and European Military Bases, Belinda presented a speech about what the Boys & Girls Club has meant to her and was interviewed by a panel of judges including the reigning Miss USA.   Though Belinda was not selected to represent the Northeast Region at the National competition, she did a great job representing the State of Vermont and was congratulated by the Boys & Girls Club national staff, Youth of the Year Judges, and her fellow candidates for all of her achievements.  Belinda took the disappointment in stride, saying, “I had such a great time in New York.  It was a once in a lifetime experience and I'm really glad I got to participate”.  Not all competition, the trip to New York included a tour of Times Square, a visit to Rockefeller Center, and tickets to a Broadway show.  “It was great to spend time with the other candidates,” continued Hall, “They are all such great people and all deserving of the Youth of the Year honor.  I wish Gino good luck in Washington.”  Gino Binkert, from the Sarah Hines House Boys & Girls Club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was selected to move on to the national competition in Washington DC and received a $10,000 scholarship from the Readers Digest Foundation.  [ more ]