Windsor County Sheriff Ryan Palmer said Tuesday he has begun securing official appointments for several of his deputies after a Vermont Standard investigation determined that their commissions were never filed with the county clerk so they could begin work. 

In a breaking story, the Vermont Standard reported online on Monday that at least seven law enforcement employees of the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department, including one that police say was involved in a fatal on-duty shooting in Springfield last month, were never officially commissioned to work as deputy sheriffs. 

Palmer, who became the county sheriff on Feb. 1, 2023, was required to appoint deputies, to have the officers swear an oath of office and to have the appointment document notarized and filed with the county clerk before any work could be undertaken, according to Vermont law. The appointment is embossed with the county seal certifying the officer. 

“Clearly, some things did not get done,” Palmer told the Standard on Tuesday afternoon, one day after the initial news report. “It’s on me, I dropped the ball.”

He estimated that the missing appointments would be filled out and filed within a few days.

Since the news story was posted Monday, the Vermont Standard received tips about other department employees that worked for Palmer and apparently never had an official appointment filed with the county clerk.

Since his election, Palmer has been hustling to build the sheriff’s department and to add more community patrols and security contracts in Windsor County and nearby counties. 

It appears he was not attentive to the statutory appointment requirements of the office. 

Windsor County Clerk Pepper Tepperman, in response to a Vermont Public Records request, showed Palmer had 23 deputies with commissions on file with the county. 

The Vermont Standard identified at least seven other deputies that have been working for Palmer that had no commissions on file with the county clerk. Most of the seven are listed on the department’s website.

Deputy Sheriff Bryan Jalava, who was involved in the fatal on-duty shooting in Springfield, is among those seven employees working as paid deputies for Palmer, but never had their appointments formally filed with the Windsor County Clerk as required by state statute, according to a Vermont Public Records request.

Also, former Windsor County Capt. Paul Samataro, who served as the chief deputy for Palmer for 18 months until a falling out on July 23, never had his appointment, known as a commission, filed with the county, records show.

The Vermont Standard filed a public records request with the county clerk for all deputy sheriff commissions. It came after Palmer rejected a separate public records request last week for documents involving the forced departures of Samataro and longtime Administrative Lt. Thomas Battista, both on July 23.

After an appeal by the Standard, Palmer released the public records about Samataro and Battista this week. (See related news story.) 

Windsor County State’s Attorney Ward Goodenough said Tuesday he first learned about the deputies lacking recorded commissions at the county office Monday night while reading the Vermont Standard online story. 

“I am aware, and we will review the implications internally,” Goodenough said when asked about possible legal issues.

Goodenough would not speculate on the impact on any pending or closed cases. He said he tries to avoid commenting on active cases.

It is still unclear what, if any, legal liability Windsor County residents or the Sheriff’s Department could face from the Aug. 21 fatal shooting that involved both the non-commissioned Jalava and a Springfield Police officer.

Also, it is unknown what impact the non-recorded appointments would have on all the criminal and motor vehicle arrests made by those various deputy sheriffs since Sheriff Palmer took over 2.5 years ago.

For more on this, please see our September 18 edition of the Vermont Standard. 

Movie theaters in small towns and cities throughout the United States have been closing in significant numbers in recent years — a lingering impact of the COVID pandemic and, particularly, of the steadily burgeoning impact of streaming video, which allows movie fans, comfortably ensconced on a couch or cozy chair, a glass of wine in hand, to enjoy both recently released films and classics on large, wide-screen televisions from the comfort of home, popcorn at the ready.

In Woodstock Village, Pentangle Arts, which has been presenting first-run films at Woodstock Town Hall Theatre as frequently as 40 to 48 weekends a year for decades, has now cut back on its showings, especially since the first of this year. The phenomenon reflects both the economic realities of small-town theaters presenting first-run films and the declining audience for experiencing cinema in a communal setting.

Here in Vermont, the numbers are telling — there are now fewer than two dozen movie theaters left in the entire state. The iconic Roxy in Burlington, formerly the Nickolodeon, shuttered a year ago after a four-decades-plus run, leaving Vermont’s largest city without a movie theater. In smaller communities more analogous to Woodstock, beloved theaters such as the Savoy in Montpelier and the Playhouse in Randolph have had to reinvent themselves to stay afloat.

Pentangle’s Woodstock Town Hall Theatre film house is no exception.

In a conversation with the Standard last week, Deborah Greene, the executive director of Pentangle Arts, said the Pentangle Board of Directors is engaged in ongoing discussions about the future of cinema screenings at Town Hall Theatre, as well as about other live theater, music performances, and classes that might keep the historic venue in Woodstock Village animated on a weekly basis. She also spoke of the economic challenges of the current first-run film world that are leading Pentangle toward offering just a single first-run film on one or at most two weekends a month.

Greene and the Pentangle leadership are also weighing opportunities to bring in films by regional creators — both features and documentaries — including advance screenings of works-in-progress. And they’re talking about forming a Pentangle Cinema Club for adults and a similar group for children in the near future — ideas that have borne fruit at other small-town theaters in the state, including at The Playhouse in Randolph.

For more on this, please see our September 18 edition of the Vermont Standard. 

By Tyler Maheu, Staff Sportswriter

Milo Farrington doesn’t watch football. He only played briefly in elementary school. But the high school senior hits opposing running backs like he’s been doing this his whole life.

Farrington and his family have always called the area home. He attended Prosper Valley in Pomfret in his younger years and has attended Woodstock High School for all four years. But this season is his first time stepping foot on the gridiron. “Throughout high school, a lot of people said I might be good at it and that it was fun,” he explained in an interview this week with the Standard. “I’ve always been mountain biking with my brother, or working towards getting my license, so there was always a reason not to.” 

But a conversation with his former Boy Scouts of America scout master made him see an opportunity. “He told me not to leave senior year with any regrets,” said Farrington. “So I figured, no regrets, and I signed up.”

Milo Farrington, who just joined the football team as a senior at Woodstock Union High School, is excelling in his new sport. Tyler Maheu Photo

The transition for the lacrosse player was not easy at first. “I was lost,” he said of his first few practices. “I never watched football, so I didn’t even know the positions.” He said that he started out playing on the line, but was eventually moved to linebacker and fullback. 

Through hard work, he started to make an impression. “I started staying an extra 15 to 30 minutes after practice with the coaches,” he said, detailing his efforts to go the extra mile to make himself useful to the team. “They’ve been really good. They always tell me that if I’m gonna make a mistake, to do it hard, or don’t do it at all.” Assistant coach Matt Frederick praised the first-year player. “He’s a good kid; it’s been really great to have him around,” he said during an e-mail correspondence. “The other players really encourage and root for him. He’s been a great fit for our team culture.” 

Farrington’s first in-game action came in the season opener on Sept. 5, and he felt prepared. “People asked me if I was nervous, but I wasn’t,” he said. But as gametime loomed closer, the butterflies kicked in. “The closer the game got, the more nervous I was,” he admitted. “The nerves really set in during warm-ups. But they disappeared the second the ball snapped.” 

If he was nervous, observers and the opposing U-32 Raiders couldn’t tell. Farrington dominated the defensive side of the ball from his position at linebacker, accounting for 21 tackles, four of which were solo in Woodstock’s week one loss. “It felt like only I was out there,” said Farrington of the moments before his first tackle. “I just knew I couldn’t let him through.” 

In week two, Farrington continued to shine, this time contributing eight tackles (two for a loss), helping his Wasps get to 1-1 on the season with the 35-0 victory versus Poultney. He knows he has much to learn as the season progresses, but he will take all the bumps in the road in stride. “I just can’t be too hard on myself,” he said.

The linebacker will look to help the Wasps earn more victories this season, but he already has his mind set on his future. After high school, he set his eyes on the sky. “My dream is to do aerial firefighting,” he said. “I’d like to be flying helicopters out west and to fight wildfires.” 

The Windsor County Sheriff’s Department has lost another longtime deputy following an undisclosed disagreement with Sheriff Ryan Palmer.

Cpl. Tyler Trombley, a 14-year veteran with the sheriff’s department, said this week he was fired for unknown reasons by Palmer on Aug. 28.

He said it came the same day the Vermont Standard broke a news story about Palmer being under investigation by the Vermont State Police for questions about department spending and finances.

Palmer told the Standard he was unhappy that he learned about the police investigation from the media. 

The Vermont Standard story also mentioned the forced resignations of two of the most senior leaders in the department: Capt. Paul Samataro, the chief deputy, and Administrative Lt. Thomas Battista.

The Vermont Standard obtained records this week that show Palmer had both Samataro and Battista sign confidentiality and non-disparagement agreements as they left.

“Employee agrees not to publicly disparage the Employer, Sheriff Ryan Palmer, or any members or employees of the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department. Employer likewise agrees not to publicly disparage Employee,” the separation agreements note.

Both Samataro, a 38-year veteran, and Battista, a 20-year veteran, declined to discuss their departures when reached by the Vermont Standard.

Trombley said he got his bad news when he received a phone call on his personal cellphone from Palmer while working courthouse security at Vermont Superior Court in Barre on Thursday, Aug. 28.

Trombley said Palmer told him to pack up his gear and drive the department cruiser back to Windsor County, collect the rest of his deputy gear, and turn it all in.

“Are you firing me?” Trombley said he asked Palmer, who took over as sheriff in February 2023.

“Yes, I am,” was the response from the sheriff, Trombley said.

The phone call ended with no explanation, he said.

Chester Police have since hired Trombley to work as a full-time patrol officer. It brings the town department back up to full strength.

Battista had been hired earlier by Chester Police Chief Thomas Williams, a retired Vermont State Police detective. 

Trombley said he has no signed separation agreement with Palmer.

Palmer initially declined to discuss with the Vermont Standard the sudden departures of Samataro and Battista and whether they were resignations or firings.

The sheriff eventually told the Standard that the department agreed to continue to cover health insurance for Battista for two months and would pay Samataro until Oct. 1

Last week, Palmer rejected a Vermont Public Records request from the newspaper for copies of all public documents pertaining to resignations, dismissals, and letters of non-disparagement for both Samataro and Battista.

Palmer, in an email to the Standard last Friday evening, said he thought those records were exempt.

The Standard told Palmer this week the newspaper was planning an appeal because those records in other cases were considered public. The sheriff, after consulting with his lawyer, then forwarded the 4-page signed agreements he had with both Samataro and Battista. 

The resignation letters are on Palmer’s office stationery, and the wording and formatting are virtually identical.  The type size and font are also identical.

“This letter serves as an official notice that I am resigning my position as [their respective job titles] at the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department,” they each say.

The departure of the three veteran deputies will make a dent in covering work shifts and contracts for the department. The department has patrol contracts with several towns in Windsor and Orange Counties and also helps provide security at courthouses in Windsor, Orange, Washington and Caledonia counties.

Lt. Anthony Leonard, who is assigned to patrol, is the highest-ranking member left in the sheriff’s department.

For more on this, please see our September 18 edition of the Vermont Standard.

By Emma Stanton, Staff Writer

Last week, a white substance was spotted in the Kedron Brook in Woodstock Village. According to Woodstock officials, the Woodstock Fire Station, under the authority of Chief David Green, was quick to respond to the scene last Tuesday, Sept. 9, to ensure that any contamination in the brook was contained. 

In a call with the Standard, Green expressed relief that the situation was handled swiftly and with no damage to the surrounding wildlife. “We were notified right away after the spill occurred,” he said. “Someone walking past the brook saw the discoloration of the stream and called it in.” 

The Vermont Office of Emergency Management, the Agency of Natural Resources, river management engineer Todd Menees of the State of Vermont, and the Vermont Hazardous Materials department were all immediately notified, Green said. Working together, a containment and cleanup plan was developed and executed.

After a brief investigation, Green said he and his staff concluded that the contamination was a result of an accidental release of paint into the brook by an employee of the Town of Woodstock. “A new employee was not aware that we do not dump contaminants down any storm drain in town, and was also unaware that the storm drain went directly to the Kedron Brook. As a result, a small amount of water-based white paint was accidentally dumped into the brook.” This employee had reportedly been cleaning a crosswalk paint sprayer when runoff entered the storm drain, temporarily creating a white discoloration in the water.

“We have retrained this employee and plan to retrain all town employees on this policy, to ensure that contamination does not happen again in the future,” added Green. 

Due to rapid dilution in the brook, the paint could not be captured or removed from the brook. “On the morning of Sept. 10, representatives from the Woodstock Fire Department and Todd Menees from ANR returned to the site. The water appeared clean, and fish were observed swimming in the area, indicating no lasting impact,” Green said. “I walked past the stream just the other day, and the Kedron Brook was full of swimming fish with no apparent damage done to the ecosystem.” 

According to Green, following a test of the water, the river management engineer for the state of Vermont assured the Woodstock Fire Department that there is no long-term damage to the brook or the environment.

Extensive repairs to Pomfret Road and Caper Street in North Pomfret are underway, necessitated by a landslide that occurred in the early morning hours of Saturday, May 10.

During the destructive landslide last spring, which followed more than a week of significant rainfall, a torrent of debris, rock, mud, and mature trees slid onto Pomfret Road, tumbling down from an embankment that runs along Caper Street to the north. Local officials estimated that approximately five inches of rain fell on the impacted location in eight days, including 2.5 inches over the weekend of May 9. Pomfret’s road crew and emergency responders acted quickly to clear debris and address public safety concerns, and Pomfret Road was reopened on the afternoon of May 12. Caper Street, on the other hand, has remained reduced to one lane ever since the mudslide because a portion of the road was washed away by the incessant rain.

Among interim repair measures utilized by the Pomfret road crew in the immediate wake of the early May landslide was the installation of additional ditching and drainage uphill of Caper Street to reduce further hydraulic pressure on the slide site. Pomfret Road, which is recognized as a “major collector” route by the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), remained open to two-way traffic throughout the late spring and summer. The road connects travelers from Sharon, West Hartford, Norwich, and points beyond to Pomfret and Woodstock.

Work on a permanent fix to the areas impacted by the May mudslide commenced last week, with the closure of Pomfret Road on Wednesday, Sept. 10, and Caper Street the following day. Both roads will remain one-lane only until construction is complete. Alternating traffic on Pomfret Road is being controlled by temporary signals, with three to five-minute delays in both directions, Ben Brickner, the Pomfret Selectboard chair, noted in an email to the Standard on Monday morning.

Brickner said that completion of the repair project is expected toward the latter part of this month — in “about two weeks.” 

For more on this, please see our May 18 edition of the Vermont Standard. 

According to an emailed statement to the Standard from Vermont State Police public information officer Adam Silverman, at about 10 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 14, the VSP responded to the Hartland Diner, following a report that a man who appeared to be angry about social media posts related to last week’s assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk came to the establishment, tore down a “No Kings” flag outside and a Joe Biden poster inside, while screaming at the owner and creating a scene. The man left before troopers arrived. State police have identified a potential person of interest. Silverman said the investigation remains active and ongoing. Anyone with information about this incident should call the Royalton Barracks at 802-234-9933.

On Saturday, Sept. 27, the town of West Windsor will host an Affordable Homes Forum in the Town Hall from 10 a.m. to noon, where residents will be provided with more information on the local housing situation and hear potential paths forward from members of the West Windsor Planning Commission. 

Chair of the Planning Commission (PC), Alan Keiller, alongside fellow PC member and Homes Study project manager Jill Appel, sat down with the Standard to discuss their progress and future plans for the housing landscape in West Windsor.     

“Housing is a state-wide problem,” Keiller began. “Our community is beginning to look like a retirement center. The median age in our area went from 45 to 56 years old. Our goal with this Affordable Homes initiative is to create infrastructure in our community that will build density and bring younger families into our town.” 

Appel echoed this sentiment, telling the Standard, “Our buzzword for this project is ‘pocket neighborhoods,’ small groupings of homes, usually around six to twelve parcels, with homes ranging from 800 to 1,600 square feet, that rely on each other, create a connected community, and share in local amenities. Along with houses, we also hope to develop a mixture of apartment buildings, condos, duplexes, and small homes to afford families the opportunity to move to our beloved town. Our housing initiative seeks to support families across a range of income, as we strive to offer market-rate and subsidized housing.”

She added, “Our goal with affordable housing means that the cost of housing does not exceed 30% of household income. Our focus is on the ‘missing middle’ income level, which takes into account a person or family’s income, in relation to the cost of mortgage, rent, and home expenses for a mixture of long-term rentals and owned homes.” 

This project began in January of this year, as Keiller and Appel sought to find parcels suitable for building and/or renovation. Appel continued, “We began with 21 parcels, and after holding a forum in February, found that members of our town were eager to recommend more potential build sites. Since then, we have partnered with Brian Lane-Karnas, senior civil engineer at DeWolfe Engineering in Montpelier, as well as Matt Giffin with Banwell Architects in Lebanon to assess the properties and help determine if they were viable sites. Out of the 21 potential parcels, they deemed four to be adequate properties that could support infrastructure, water, and sewage disposal, along with two potential renovation sites.” 

Now, Appel and Keiller plan to hold a public forum to show the town their findings for each location, along with their building plans for the future.

Appel and Keiller say they are excited for the future of West Windsor and ask for the residents of the town to come together on Sept. 27 to share ideas and brainstorm next steps. “We want feedback from our town each step of the way,” Appel said. “Together, I think we can build a stronger and more vibrant community.” 

For more on this, please see our September 11 edition of the Vermont Standard. 

This Sunday, Next Stage Arts in Putney will host Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning journalist Tim Weiner for an evening set to explore the high-stakes battles shaping America’s intelligence community today.

The acclaimed author of “Legacy of Ashes” has written a sequel, “The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century,” drawing from over one hundred exclusive on-the-record interviews with CIA directors, top spymasters, and undercover officers. In his work, Weiner examines the escalating conflicts between the White House, U.S. intelligence agencies, and the press in an era of unprecedented political and global upheaval.

This week, Weiner spoke with the Standard about his latest book, his career as an award-winning journalist, and his personal ties to the Green Mountain State. Weiner attended the Putney School in Putney, Vt., and he recalled, “The Putney School stands on top of a hill. I remember climbing that hill to the old Elm Tree before I decided to attend. When I got to the top and looked out over the miles of curvaceous Vermont hills, something in me knew I was home.”

According to Weiner, his career really took off in the late ‘80s. “I worked as a journalist for the Philadelphia Inquirer,” Weiner said. “It was a great paper at the time, run by a top editor named Gene Roberts — a legendary man in the industry. My beat was white collar crime until the day my editor wandered over to my desk and asked, in his perfect North Carolina drawl, if I had a passport. The day prior, the dictator of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos, who had been in power for over twenty years, declared that he was going to have a snap election, and the whole country was erupting into revolution. I told him I had my passport, and so he sent me to the Philippines.” 

Once Weiner touched down in the Philippines, he spent several weeks reporting on the revolution of the Filipino people revolting against their dictator. He went on to tell the Standard, “We did not and could not have known it then, but this was the beginning of the end of the Cold War.” 

The next secret project Weiner would go on to tackle took place in Afghanistan. In 1987, the CIA was in its eighth year of smuggling weapons and war material to Afghanistan to help the Afghans fight the Soviet occupation of their country. “Congress at the time, in its infinite wisdom, decided to send American weapons to the Mujahideen,” Weiner said. “For the first time in the history of the Cold War, American weapons were going to be used to shoot down Soviet planes and to kill Soviet soldiers. This was a big deal back then. Very few reporters went to Afghanistan — the land was a war zone, and so much had been destroyed in the last eight years. I decided that I had to go and see this war for myself.”

While there, Weiner collected evidence — he saw the American missiles fire at Soviet planes, brought back pictures and vivid accounts of how the operation worked, and then returned to his desk in Washington, D.C. “One day the phone rang and my pal from the CIA — the one who hung up on me just three months ago — was on the other end,” Weiner recalled. “He asked if I wanted to come down to the CIA for a briefing. Of course, I said yes.” 

Weiner would go on to recount the story of his first time stepping into the lobby of the CIA, saying, “Inscribed on the left-hand wall in capital letters sits the bible verse ‘And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,’ John 8:32. I remember how deeply this image struck me.

Tim Weiner will be discussing “The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century,” and sharing his thoughts on where intelligence stands in the present political landscape at Next Stage Arts in Putney on Sunday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance at nextstagearts.org.

Those who wish to support the Barnard Volunteer Fire Department (BVFD) will be able to purchase a 2026 calendar featuring the pet dogs of the squad. All proceeds from the calendar will go toward upgrading pagers and radios for the department.

Current chief of the BVFD, Stuart Hull, told the Standard that the department had previously tried other kinds of fundraising efforts, including “labor-intensive” events such as their annual 4th of July flea market, chicken barbecue, and raffle. Hull said the dog calendar was his wife and Barnard community member Kassie Hull’s idea and that it offers a more “low impact” way to raise revenue — as well as a fun way to celebrate the crew members’ dogs. The dogs, it should be noted, are not workers on the squad, but simply pets of those who serve in the BVFD.

Those wishing to support their local volunteer-firefighter force — and celebrate 70 years of service to its community — may consider purchasing this fun, lighthearted calendar for next year. Reserve a calendar by emailing town administrator Kassie Hull at ktibbott@gmail.com.

For more on this, please see our September 18 edition of the Vermont Standard.

Bodie, a ten-year-old Rough Collie, is July’s featured dog. Courtesy of the Bridgewater Volunteer Fire Department

Nestled in the verdant fields of Taftsville sits MoonRise Therapeutics — a horse farm and mental health facility that has been serving the local community for over two decades. This weekend, those who appreciate the importance of the work MoonRise is doing, or who would like to support their efforts, are invited to attend the organization’s annual fundraiser dinner held at MoonRise Farm this Sunday, Sept. 21. 

Founded in 2002 by DJ Jesser — a licensed clinical social worker, who found through her practice a sacred bond between humans and horses — MoonRise Therapeutics now operates as a nonprofit, helping people transform their lives through meaningful partnership with horses, standardized talk-therapy, and expressive arts. This week, Jesser spoke to the Standard about the formation of MoonRise Therapeutics, and how she and her team have transformed her farm into a space of communal healing, emotional regulating, and empathetic, equestrian-driven, mental health service. 

“Back in the mid-90s, I was part of The Wilder School,” Jesser began. “We served kids with emotional behavioral issues, and as a child and family therapist there, I was allowed to take children out to do different experiential activities. One day, I asked if I could bring the kids to my farm in Taftsville, where at the time we had two horses. I was amazed watching these children interact with the horses, and how the students were able to see themselves in a whole different light. They were able to see their own courage, their own capabilities, and their own skills. These are kids who were unable to be in mainstream public school because of behavioral disabilities, but behind those behavioral issues lay deep-rooted trauma. With the horses, however, I saw these children become motivated to regulate their behavior in order to be in a relationship with the horses. I just watched, and when the time came to open MoonRise, I kept the same spirit of these initial equestrian encounters, creating a program centered around play, and allowing the horses to help lead the treatment plan process.” 

In 2002, Jesser began MoonRise Therapeutics to offer equestrian and mental health support to children and adults across the Upper Valley. “While equine therapy may have been happening in small pockets across the country, at the time, this work was very new to me. But being around horses, seeing the emotional regulation happening before my eyes, changed something in my practice. I was witnessing a deep power, and my team and I strive to bring that power to every client who visits our farm.”  

MoonRise Therapeutics has evolved over the past two decades but has maintained a zealous passion for mental health treatment. Whether MoonRise is serving kids from Zack’s Place, helping emotionally regulate those at The Wilder School, offering a calm and safe atmosphere for victims of domestic violence, or aiding Veterans grappling with PTSD, service is at the heart of this organization.

This weekend’s sixth-annual fundraiser will include a silent auction, a live auction, and a chance to spend an evening on the farm that has helped heal so many. 

MoonRise Therapeutics operations director Laura Perez said, “hopefully, if the weather holds up, we’ll have a tent pitched out in the arena. Attendees will be able to pet and visit the horses, and our equine specialists will be there to help introduce people to horses. It is just a feel-good, fun event. It’s such a beautiful time of year at MoonRise Therapeutics, and this fundraiser is a chance for people to get a sense of what it feels like to be in a space that is so re-energizing and peaceful for our clients.” 

The fundraiser will be held this Sunday, Sept. 21, from 4-7 p.m. at MoonRise Farm in Taftsville. Only 75 spots are available. To reserve a seat and purchase a ticket, visit moonrisetherapeutics.org.

For more on this, please see our September 18 edition of the Vermont Standard. 

The Thompson held a “Grand Re-Opening” event last Wednesday evening, opening the space for interested locals to explore the newly updated and expanded location.

The event featured live music by Plymouth Rock, guided tours of the new facility, remarks from community leaders, and refreshments and treats by the Thompson Culinary Team, Woodstock Pizza Chef “Hoppy” craft beer and food truck, and Silver Lake Syrups.

From left: Thompson Marketing Coordinator Jen Bloch, Aging at Home support coordinator Pam Butler, business office manager Paula Audsley, Building Project Co-Chairs Ginny Eames and Liza Deignan, executive director Deanna Jones, Meals on Wheels and transportation coordinator Siobhan Wright, architect Jeremiah Goulet, and Sen. Alison Clarkson applaud after the official ribbon-cutting of the new space. Noel Clark Photo

A superstar band of rock, reggae, blues, and pop music luminaries that has been performing benefit shows for nonprofit organizations throughout the United States for the past 15 years is returning to Woodstock for a concert in support of the Lucy Mackenzie Humane Society in West Windsor.

“The Fur Ball” concert by the legendary rockers of the American Vinyl All Star Band (AVASB) will fire up the stage at the Woodstock Town Hall Theatre on Friday evening, Oct. 10, at 8 p.m. The special show will be one of only a handful of performances that the classic rock outfit does each year, the majority of which benefit veterans’ groups, police associations, and other community-based service organizations. The six members of the AVASB outfit who will perform for a third time at the Town Hall Theatre are all veterans of the classic rock, psychedelic, reggae, blues, soul, and R&B scenes of the 1960s through the present day.

Anchoring the band is the celebrated guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, who played his way into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers in the Seventies.

The AVASB’s concert repertoire is drawn from the rock, reggae and pop hits with which many of the group’s members have been associated. The core superstar band is typically joined in concert by special guests. For the upcoming Woodstock gig, those guests will include The Uptown Horns, a standout brass ensemble that has recorded with the Rolling Stones; longtime Boston-based bluesman Jon Butcher; and ace backup singer Sharlotte Gibson, who worked with both Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston.

For more on this story, please see our September 11 edition of the Vermont Standard. 

By Tyler Maheu, Staff Sportswriter

The Woodstock Cross Country runners made the trip down I-91 to Bellows Falls High School for a meet on Friday, Sept. 12. 

The Wasps performed well, taking second place out of the four teams in attendance (Bellows Falls, Brattleboro, Leland & Grey, Woodstock) in boys competition. Brattleboro paced the field, scoring 16 points to Woodstock’s 39. “The way you score a meet has to do with your place and finish,” explained co-coach Martha Perkins. “Low score wins, so the runner in first is worth one point and so on.” The top four finishers were all Bears, with sophomore Liam Conathan-Leach completing the course in 18:33.

Woodstock’s top runner, senior Zach Peterman, finished the 5000-meter race in just 20:20, good enough for fifth and a new personal record. “The run felt very good,” he said afterwards. “I feel like I had a good, strong race thanks to my teammates. I started off slow but persevered to the end.”

In the girls’ competition, it was an easy, clean sweep for the Wasps, due to them being the only school that brought girls to the event. “It was a weird meet because boys and girls were combined, and we were the only girls team there,” said Woodstock co-coach Abbie Castriotta. Perkins followed, “It’s been an interesting season because we’ve been to these meets and you can’t really say that we won because we were the only ones with a complete team.” She explained that this has been a trend, happening at two of their three Southern Vermont League meets. 

Despite this, Woodstock’s girls had a very impressive showing, as freshman runner Kasia Sluka finished seventh overall and first in her gender grouping with a time of 20:43. “I felt really great, there were only two hills so it was an easier course,” she said of her personal record run. 

While cross country may seem like an individual sport, both runners and coaches preached the importance of teamwork in their success. “A bunch of my boy teammates really pushed me on,” said Sluka. “We push each other a lot on the course, and that helps our performance.” Running in packs can help keep the athletes motivated and improve their team’s overall score. “We talk about packing up so Woodstock can finish with runners in fifth and sixth instead of fifth and twelfth,” said Perkins. “Also, maybe it is just me, but as a runner, it’s easier to run with people instead of doing it solo.” 

The Wasps will travel to the Granite State this Saturday for their next meet in Manchester, New Hampshire at 10 AM. 

Top Performers

Boys: Zach Peterman (5th), Logan Martes (7th), Josh Peterman (8th), Liam Wheeler (9th), Henry Harrington (13th)

Girls: Kasia Sluka (1st), Bethany Thorburn (2nd), Ruth Stallard (3rd), Ada McNaughton (4th), Tilly Richardson (5th)

The Vermont Standard will provide daily reports on its website and full coverage in its Oct. 2 issue of the Ryder Cup golf competition that is taking place at the Bethpage Black Golf Course on Long Island, N.Y., next week, Sept. 23-28.

The U.S. team will be captained by Woodstock native and standout PGA Tour professional golfer Keegan Bradley.

Vermont Standard senior staff writer Tom Ayres will be on-site to provide daily reports on the Ryder Cup action, together with the reactions of Bradley’s many family members and those of other Vermonters who may be on hand for the event.

Janice Josephine (Emery) Barron passed away at the age of 85, on Sept.10, 2025 at Valley Regional Hospital in Claremont, N.H. 

Janice was born July 16, 1940 in Hanover, N.H., the daughter of Frank Maurice Emery and Genevieve (Koloski) Emery. She was a graduate of Woodstock Union High School class of 1958. 

Janice was born into hardship, and developed a diligent work ethic at an early age. She obtained her first job at age 12 as an elevator operator for the Woodstock Inn, adding to it a second job at age 13 working for the Town Hall Theatre. Following her high school graduation, Janice put herself through the Katharine Gibbs School, completing a two-year program in just one year by doubling up on her work load (and often going without anything to eat).

Shortly after her graduation from Katharine Gibbs, on Sept. 26, 1959, Janice married her high school sweetheart Reginald Barron. As he was enlisted in the navy at the time, Janice and Reg forewent a honeymoon and moved directly to Key West Florida to begin their life together. Janice started her administrative career by securing a job as secretary to the city manager of Key West. Not long after, in March of 1961, they welcomed a daughter Dawn Marie. 

In 1964, Reg was transferred for a shore duty tour, and the family moved to Virginia. Janice was hired to run the office for the city of Fairfax Va. It is here that she made a name for herself and gained the impeccable reputation she both earned, and carried, for herself throughout her life. 

The family had a brief tenure in Mystic, Conn. where the couple welcomed a second daughter, Elizabeth Ann, in 1966. Then in 1969, when Reg was honorably discharged from the navy, the couple moved back to Woodstock to raise their children in the safe spaces of the town they grew up in. 

Janice was the proud owner of the Green Beauty Shop on Central Street in Woodstock, as well as being a licensed real estate broker , operating out of the Green Mountain Opportunities office. Everything she set her mind on doing, she not only accomplished, but she excelled at. 

Eventually Janice felt the calling back to the administrative field, and accepted a position in the law office of Thomas M Debevoise, Debevoise and Lieberman. She became the administrative voice of the Woodstock Foundation, holding a paralegal role for Laurance Rockefeller. 

Janice worked until the age of 65, then retired to enjoy winters at their home in Lake Placid Florida with Reg, their family, and their friends. 

Janice will be remembered for loving fiercely, and having extreme devotion to her family. Being a mother and nana were her favorite things. The void left in the hearts of her loved ones can never be filled. 

Janice was predeceased by her parents, her brother Ralph Emery, sisters Regis Emery Kelly and Lyn Emery Bridge, her daughter Dawn Barron Davis, nieces Barbara Kelly Sundquist and Michelle Kelly Bradley, and nephew Jeffrey Kelly.

She is survived by her husband Reginald Barron of Charlestown, N.H.; daughter Elizabeth Barron Mills of Charlestown, N.H.; nephews Byron Kelly of Woodstock, and Jeremy Perkins of Lebanon, N.H.; nieces Jennifer Tessier of Raleigh, N.C. and Heather St Onge of Plant City, Fla.; grandchildren Richard Davis II (MA), Collin Davis (FL), Autumn Maguire (IL), Cassandra McGee (VT), Mallory King-Childs (VT), Lyndon Oakes (VT), and Arlon Oakes (VT/NH); and great-grandchildren Chayce Gallo, Royce King-Childs, Richard Davis III, Isabelle Davis, and Haven Davis. 

A celebration of life will be held at the White River Junction United Methodist Church (Gates Street, WRJ) on Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 6 p.m. 

In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made in Janice’s name to Golden Cross Ambulance (5 Lincoln Heights, Claremont NH 03743) or Valley Regional Hospital (Savannah Tyrrell 603-542-3495 or mail your donation to Valley Regional Hospital, Community Engagement, 243 Elm Street, Claremont NH 03743). Both organizations provided selfless care, love, and genuine compassion in Janice’s passing. 

An online guestbook can be found at cabotfh.com.

David Shockcor, 66, of Quechee, passed away at his home Aug 15, 2025. He lived a spectacular life filled with family, caring friendships, a love of nature, and he found a meaningful place in the Upper Valley community. He was loved and will be missed. 

David moved to Woodstock in 1973, graduated WUHS in 1975, attended UVM and headed across country. After a time in Phoenix, he returned, lived a short time in Lebanon and ended up in Quechee. Moving “home” he was able to be a significant part of his parents’ lives spending time and helping Joe and Shirley Shockcor — both passed. He worked as a finance guru, a chemical process engineer, a waiter at the Hanover Inn, an account rep for the Valley News, and finally as a U.S. postal clerk over in Hanover. He loved being out in nature: feeling the sun and wind, hearing the sounds, walking his beloved dog Josie, hiking, kayaking, swimming, camping, fishing, skiing, and boating. He threw awesome parties living across the river from the Quechee Balloon Fest. He loved music, festivals, and concerts. He really enjoyed his time ushering at the WRJ Tupelo, seeing the wide selection of shows. 

David is survived by his brothers: Joe Shockcor – Barnard and Bill Shockcor – Normantown, W.Va.; his niece Nicole Shockcor – Atlanta, Ga.; and nephews Michael Shockcor – Morgantown, W.Va.; and Jeremy Shockcor – Charlotte, N.C. Dave’s greatest accomplishment was finding a deep meaningful peace and contentment. He overcame his addictions and found the strength to become the caring and “gentle soul” we all knew him to be. His family would like to thank the Upper Valley AA community and all the people who helped him on his 24 year journey to sobriety. That support helped save his life and his family and provided him the inner strength he needed throughout his cancer journey. We thank everyone for being important in Dave’s life. He knew and appreciated everything you all did for him. As he would say, “You are never alone.” Thank you. A celebration of Dave will be held at the Cabot Funeral Home Saturday, Sept. 27 from 3-5 p.m. Please come, meet the family and share some stories of his spectacular life. Memorial donations may be made to the Upper Valley Haven, Food Market, 713 Hartford Ave, White River Junction, VT 05001. 

An online guestbook can be found at cabotfh.com.

Alden Leighton Fiertz passed away peacefully on Aug. 20, 2025, in Brattleboro, Vt., just four days shy of his 95th birthday, with his wife Mary at his side. He was born on Aug. 24, 1930, in New York City to Gertrude Barnes and Carl O. Fiertz and held dual USA/Swiss nationalities. 

Throughout his life, Alden remained deeply committed to the pursuit of knowledge and the thrill of flight. These twin passions shaped not only his career but also the way he engaged with the world around him. 

Alden graduated from Manhasset (NY) High School in 1948 and went on to earn his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College in 1952. His academic journey continued at Columbia University Graduate School of Business, where he graduated in 1961. These formative years laid the foundation for a distinguished career that spanned continents and industries. 

Following his graduation from Dartmouth, Alden served with honor in the United States Marine Corps from 1952 to 1956. As a Captain and flight leader during the Korean War, he piloted aircraft with skill and courage — an experience that deepened his lifelong love of aviation. 

After his military service, Alden became a pilot for Pan American World Airways, embracing the opportunity to see the world from above. His career led to management consulting, where he became a partner at Booz-Allen & Hamilton. In 1968, Booz-Allen transferred Alden and family to Dusseldorf, Germany, where he ran their Northern European Operations. Alden later transitioned into international banking, where he held senior leadership roles at Trade Development Bank, American Express Bank, and Republic National Bank of New York across major financial centers including Geneva, Luxembourg, London, Paris, and Frankfurt. His professional life reflected both his intellectual curiosity and his global perspective. 

He was an active alumnus of Dartmouth. Alden was named an All-American lacrosse player in 1951, and served as Class President, Reunion Chair, and Alumni Council member. He generously hosted Dartmouth students and alumni in his home outside Lausanne, Switzerland. 

Alden was married for 56 years to Beverly Fowle Fiertz, his high school sweetheart, until her passing. Later in life, he shared a brief but meaningful marriage of sixteen weeks with Annette Compton Fiertz before her passing as well. He is survived by three sons — Carey, Randy, and Stuart — and seven grandchildren who carry forward his legacy and his wife Mary Peck, who he married in 2014. 

In addition to Beverly and Annette, Alden was predeceased by his parents, his sister Gretchen and brother, Robert. 

In lieu of flowers, Alden requested donations be made to The Upper Valley Haven – Bev’s House, 713 Hartford Avenue, White River Junction, VT 05001; or to the Thompson Senior Center, 99 Senior Lane, Woodstock, VT. 05091 

An online guestbook can be found at https://www.cabotfh.com/.

Brian Ralph Doubleday, 78, passed away on Aug. 6, 2025, at his home in Boulder, Colo. He was born on March 6, 1947, at Mary Hitchcock Hospital in Hanover, N.H., the son of Frederick and Patricia (Harvey) Doubleday.

Brian graduated from Woodstock Union High School in Woodstock in 1965, where he distinguished himself on the basketball court as one of the legendary “Four Horsemen.” He attended the University of Vermont from 1965 to 1972, earning a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Government and discovering his lifelong passion for filmmaking.

He began his film career with James Taylor and Darrell Thompson at Blue Jay Films in Burlington, Vt. Over the decades, Brian worked as a filmmaker and entrepreneur, producing many projects, including World Walker (1987); Venturing (1991), for which he won an Emmy; and Instinct (1999).

Beyond his work, Brian was a devoted lover of music and sports, especially the Kansas City Chiefs. More than anything, he loved people. He was happiest in the company of family and friends, whom he cherished and gathered in abundance throughout his life.

Brian is survived by his wife, Marsha Castiglioni of Boulder, Colo.; son Ian (Emily) Doubleday of Pittsburgh, Pa.; stepsons Michael (Gamynne) Fernandez of San Francisco, Calif., and Nathan (Barb) Fernandez of San Diego, Calif.; brothers David (Diane) of Woodstock; Fred (Louise) of Richfield Springs, N.Y.; Barry (Carol Ann) of Derry, N.H.; and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents, Frederick and Patricia Doubleday; sister Phyllis Terino; and brother Donald Doubleday.

There will be a celebration of his life at the Thompson Senior Center on Oct. 4 ,1-4 p.m.

A remembrance gathering for Jim Fish, who passed away on May 12, 2025, will be held at the Bridgewater Grange Hall (5034 VT-100, Bridgewater, Vermont) on Sept. 20, 2025 from noon to 3 p.m.

Please stop by to share memories and stories. There will be light refreshments and a table for photos.

Please let us know if you can attend by calling or texting to Jennifer’s phone: 928-293-5381 by Sept. 15.

Albert Poland Nightingale — known and forever loved as Poli — passed away on Aug. 16, 2025, after five hard years battling cancer, never letting it define him. Surrounded by the deep love of family and friends near and far, Poli left this world with grace and peace. His devoted wife, Helen Nightingale, remained by his side every step of the way. 

You didn’t have to know Poli long to feel like you’d known him forever. A man of boundless energy and passion, Poli was rarely still. Though he cherished quiet hours alone riding his bike thru the hills of Vermont or on his tractor pushing snow, he truly came alive in the outdoors. An exceptional skier, surfer and all-around athlete, Poli embraced any challenge outside — and was hard to beat at all of them. Poli wasn’t just a skier — he was a mentor, a motivator, and, to many, the greatest ski coach they ever had. He had a way of making kids believe in themselves, of turning fear into fun, and of showing them the magic of the mountains. His love for the sport was contagious. Of all the mountains Poli skied and all the athletes he coached, his proudest runs were always the ones he took with his children, Larken and Wiley. Teaching them to ski wasn’t just about turns or technique — it was about passing down a love for the outdoors, for adventure, for freedom. Watching them carve down the hill with joy in their hearts was, for Poli, the ultimate victory. He had an unmatched love for life, for his family and children, and for the countless deep friendships he built — friendships that lasted a lifetime and stretched across the world.

Poli was born on October 26, 1972, to Bill and Nancy Nightingale of Woodstock, Vermont. At age 2, the family moved from Barnard to Woodstock, where Poli spent his childhood running through the woods, getting muddy, and inventing games in the backyard with his older brother Sean and younger sister Piper. Poli’s love for the ocean was born during family vacations to Staniel Cay, Bahamas where he dove for conch, spearfished, snorkeled and explored island life. Summers in Little Compton, RI, deepened that connection — surfing, sailing, and fishing, and spending barefoot evenings by the sea.

Poli graduated from Woodstock Union High School in 1991and graduated from UVM in 1995. He spent many days chasing powder at Stowe and Mad River Glen before heading west to Jackson Hole, where he threw himself off Corbet’s Couloir, chased powder at sunrise, managed a wine store and camped through the wilderness with close friends. 

Eventually, the East Coast called him back and Poli built a career managing events for bands and athletes, including tours with the X Games, Dew Tour, and Dave Matthews Band. For 30+ years, he traveled across the U.S. and around the world — being a part of adrenaline-fueled sporting events and music tours. It was his family on the road. 

Poli was endlessly kind, effortlessly generous, quick with a sarcastic quip and a warm, knowing smile. His twinkling blue eyes often gave away his playful wit. He was the kind of person people felt lucky to know — the best friend, brother, son, husband, papa, and colleague anyone could ask for. Poli was the kind of person who would ski 66 runs in a day at his home town mountain, Suicide Six just to see if he could — and then casually bring it up over a beach bonfire as if it were no big deal. It was a big deal. He always was.

It was in Little Compton where he met Helen, at a beach picnic. From that day forward, they were inseparable. Together, they built a beautiful life and a home filled with laughter and love, raising two children, Larken and Wiley. Poli always said his family was his world — and he was theirs. He and Helen were true partners in every joy, every adventure, and every challenge life presented.

He is deeply missed by his wife Helen, their children Larken and Wiley, and their dog Willow; by his parents Bill and Nancy Nightingale; his brother Sean Nightingale, sister-in-law Amy, niece and nephew Talus and Gus; his sister Piper Benoit, brother-in-law Cyrus, and niece and nephew Tasia and Briggs. His absence is felt deeply, but the impact of his life — the friendships, the laughter, the adventures — will live on.

Poli lived fully, with heart and purpose, every single day. He would want us to keep living in that same spirit — to laugh, love, explore, surf, bike, dance, and chase fresh snow. Most of all, he would want us to be happy. He left this world far too soon – cut short by an awful disease that takes too many. But he left us all better. In Poli’s honor, take that trip. Hug your people. Catch the wave. Ski the powder. Tell the joke. Live like he did — with strength, grace and an easy smile.

A celebration of life will occur this winter when the snow falls. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Woodstock Ski Runners. 

An online guestbook can be found at cabotfh.com.

By Dan Cotter, Publisher 

Lord knows, there are lots of fascinating people in our community.

At times, it seems as if every person you meet here in the course of a day is even more interesting than the last one. Sometimes, I marvel at how in the world all these wonderful and impressive folks are either from here or ended up here, in this little corner of Vermont.

Of course, I’m lucky. I get to participate in our story planning meetings at the Standard each week to decide who and what we’re going to write about next. Beyond the breaking news, what feature stories should we write – about which people, which organizations, which businesses?

It’s a joy.

There are always plenty of nominations. And then, even though you think you pretty well know who someone is or what an organization does and stands for, our reporter does a deep dive and provides new insight about them or their work or their cause in an account that’s simply breathtaking. Who knew? Right here among us! 

I often refer to the Vermont Standard as a kind of “glue” for our community. It’s a paper everyone can turn to in order to stay informed about the local news — the goings-on, the things to do. Something to look forward to each week to catch up on the latest. A common experience shared by those who live here or care about this place.

But maybe the best part about the Standard is the way it enables us to connect as a community. The way it helps us get to know each other better by introducing us to that really interesting person who lives next door (sometimes literally). And I’ve found that typically the more impressive people are, the less likely they are to talk about themselves. They’re too modest. So, it takes a nosy reporter to get them to tell their full story.

And the same goes for some of the incredible organizations in the area, including charities, nonprofits, schools, churches, arts organizations, libraries, history centers, and many more. They aren’t always focused on touting or telling their story – about what they do, who they help, what they accomplish. Often, they toil away under the radar. But the Standard is eager to bring their story to the public’s attention. We want to shine a spotlight, applaud their work, and make the folks who might decide to join or support them aware of them.

Soon, we’ll be bringing you those kinds of stories on video too, as we roll out our Headliners and Inside Scoop programs this fall.

The bottom line is that living in a community is much more fulfilling for most of us when we get to know more about the ordinary people among us, who are doing some pretty extraordinary things. Reading about them and their aspirations and accomplishments in the Standard is fun, and, on occasion, when those stories also explain their struggles and failures, their resilience and ultimate triumphs, it can be touching to read, inspiring even. 

These stories help us all feel a deeper sense of kinship with the people and organizations in our midst. They connect us and make us feel that we all truly belong to this beautiful community.

As I said, being this glue that strengthens our connection? It’s a joy.

We are deeply appreciative of any financial help you can offer in this year’s 2025 annual appeal. Our effort to preserve quality journalism for our community is quite urgent, my friends. And Phil Camp and I would be very grateful for an opportunity to meet with you to talk more about what’s needed and our plans. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at dcotter@thevermontstandard.com or (802) 457-1313.

Also, if you have a family foundation, please consider adding the Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation (EIN: 93-3287932) to the worthwhile causes you regularly support.

The Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation is a public charity so your gift will be fully tax-deductible. 

Your donation will be utilized in the form of project grants to support the Vermont Standard’s mission to inform, connect, and educate our community on issues of public importance. 

If you’re willing to make a tax-deductible donation to our 2025 Annual Appeal, please send a check to PO Box 88, Woodstock, VT 05091, or go to our Vermont Standard THIS WEEK website at www.thevermontstandard.com to make a contribution with your credit card. Be sure to make your check out to the “Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation.” 

By Dan Cotter, Publisher

For the past 15-20 years, most local newspapers have been trying to “do more with less” in an effort to survive. And, of course, since that’s not a good long-term strategy, it has put our industry into a slow death spiral.

America has lost 3,200 of its newspapers in that same period of time, and currently, an average of more than two per week go out of business. Hundreds more papers are on life support, as they try to hang on by cutting staff, cutting pages, cutting the frequency of their publishing days, and eliminating their print editions. In their resulting emaciated state, those papers certainly can’t serve the need for local news and information in their communities.

Those withered newspapers are called “ghost papers,” because they are hollowed out shells of their former selves. Technically, they still exist. They continue to survive. But the communities counting on them? Well, they can no longer really count on them.

The handful of hedge funds and corporate raiders that bought up so many of our nation’s newspapers and ruined them wrote the playbook. In their effort to “rightsize” (meaning to dramatically downsize…) their papers in the face of diminishing advertising revenue, they chopped the expenses. Severely.

For newspapers, the primary expense is paying the people who work there. After many rounds of staff cuts, those papers barely cover any news at all, because they no longer have enough people to do it.

And as many of the small independent papers – like the Standard – encountered those same advertising revenue headwinds, lacking a better plan, they began following the same playbook. Consequently, in their efforts to survive, they now f ind themselves in that same never-ending spiral of cost-cutting.

Also, newspapers in that ragged state aren’t able to do the type of development work required to create a sustainable path for the future. In order to survive beyond just this week or this year, news organizations must create new services and revenue streams that will support them long-term. To do that takes time, thought, experimentation, risk-taking, and perseverance.

The beleaguered staff that’s left at most newspapers today simply lacks the energy for that.

“Doing more with less” (and less, and less…) was originally supposed to be a stopgap measure to buy time for newspapers to get their feet under them so they could forge a path to sustainability. Sadly, though, for most, it’s simply become standard operating procedure.

Fortunately, for our community here, the Vermont Standard has not followed that all too popular “survivor” playbook. We’ve never wanted to preside over a slow death march, just to be able to say we’re still publishing, but, in fact, failing to serve the very real need for local news, information, and connection in this community.

Thanks to your financial support, we’ve been able to go another way. Instead of doing more with less, we realize that we – and all local news organizations, especially in today’s political climate – just need to do more. Much more. And while doing that, we also need to create a sustainable path forward so we can live on to serve this community in even better ways for many more years.

Our efforts to survive are actually just the first step towards our real intention, which is to thrive.

In fact, with your help, we’ve upgraded our staff and improved our publication in recent years. The team we have reporting local news is now stronger than ever. They have a good deal of talent and a whole lot of heart, working for ridiculously low wages at this frugal newspaper, yet fueled by such a worthy mission. At the Standard, we haven’t forgotten why we exist in the first place. We are striving to provide wall-to-wall coverage of a steady stream of complex stories that are of great interest and importance to this community we serve.

We’ve also enhanced the look, feel, and utility of our publications.

And we’ve expanded our digital news and information products – we are doing more and more online programming with them. This fall, we are introducing our new series of “Headliners” interviews with local newsmakers that you’ll be able to view on our Vermont Standard THIS WEEK website. Also, we’re introducing a new show called “Inside Scoop”, which will give you an in-depth, insider look at the goings-on at many of the businesses and organizations that make our community so special.

At the Standard, we are trying to save a real newspaper that offers the powerful local journalism our community needs to function properly. Not a ghost paper. The Standard has to be good enough to get the job done now and survive in the long run. “Right-sizing” here does not mean a diminished publication that’s essentially worthless, as it does in so many communities throughout our nation. Here, it means being just big enough to provide the essential local journalism that contributes mightily to the quality of life in our community, and break even.

That’s the kind of Vermont Standard we are trying so hard to preserve, while setting things up so we can provide the quality local journalism our community needs well into the future.

I sincerely hope you’ll join us on this very important mission.

As we begin this year’s 2025 annual appeal, we are deeply appreciative of any financial help you can give us. Our mission is quite urgent, of course, and Phil Camp and I would be very grateful for an opportunity to meet with you to talk more about what’s needed and our plans. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at dcotter@thevermontstandard.com or (802) 457-1313.

Also, if you have a family foundation, please consider adding the Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation (EIN: 933287932) to the worthwhile causes you regularly support.

The Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation is a public charity so your gift will be fully tax-deductible.

Your donation will be utilized in the form of project grants to support the Vermont Standard’s mission to inform, connect, and educate our community on issues of public importance.

If you’re willing to make a tax-deductible donation to our 2025 Annual Appeal, please send a check to PO Box 88, Woodstock, VT 05091, or go to our Vermont Standard THIS WEEK website at thevermontstandard.com to make a contribution with your credit card. Be sure to make your check out to the “Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation.”

By Dan Cotter, publisher

It’s been said that there are very few things in life that you can always count on. But there are indeed a few, and I believe you’re holding one of them in your hands right now (or perhaps reading it on a screen).

For 172 years, the people of Woodstock, Hartland, Pomfret, Barnard, Bridgewater, Reading, West Windsor, Quechee, Plymouth, and the surrounding towns have counted on the Vermont Standard to keep watch on things in order to keep them informed, empowered, and connected. Our columnist, Dave Doubleday, replays some of the top stories of the day that took place 10, 20, 50, 75, or 100 years ago in each installment of his brilliant “Olde Woodstock” feature. It’s amazing and quite reassuring that people here were reading this same paper all those years ago simply to find out what’s happening.

Just as you are today.

All this time, citizens – informed by the Standard — were able to fully participate in their local democracy as our area progressed to the state it’s in today. What a huge responsibility it must have been, and still is today, to produce this newspaper each week. To prepare a quality news report to help readers experience and enjoy day-to-day life here and make good decisions for their community.

It’s the honor of a lifetime to be entrusted with this responsibility. The Standard has a small crew of talented, fair-minded, and underpaid journalists doggedly pursuing their mission week in and week out — trying to produce an interesting local news report that will inform, educate, and entertain the people who live here. It’s a “weekly miracle.” We start with a blank page each Wednesday afternoon, and we work tirelessly to pursue stories and produce the very best finished publication we can by the following Wednesday, so that it will be in your mailbox or at the store for you on Thursday.

In the century and a three-quarters that this paper has existed, this is our time, and our team is attempting to make a proud contribution to its legacy.

Ours certainly isn’t the easiest time to be a journalist in the Standard’s and our community’s history. This is a time of transition, when traditional forms of funding for local journalism have waned. Now, we have not only to strive to produce an excellent news report each week, but we also have to hold our breath that we’ll even be able to stay afloat.

An average of more than two newspapers fold in the U.S. each week (3,200 have vanished in the past twenty years!), leaving their communities without this kind of “glue” – without the common experience of reading in print or online about issues that affect them and their neighbors and a comprehensive set of facts for all to know about what’s happening in their local area each week.

Making matters worse, hundreds of other towns throughout the nation now only have a “ghost newspaper” that is so financially compromised it can barely cover any local news in its meager news product.

Some people – perhaps taking a page from the playbook being used at the national level – might prefer that ours was a weaker, sleepier paper and that they could exert some kind of pressure to compromise the Standard’s coverage.

But they’re mistaken. It hasn’t worked in 172 years, and we won’t let it happen now. Count on it.

We’ve had many complex (and interesting!) local stories to cover just in this past year — news that people here are counting on us to follow and explain. From the Woodstock Foundation lawsuit, to school policy, budget and reorganization issues, to Peace Field Farm, to the water company purchase, to short-term rental ordinances, to the police chief demotion, to the proposed cell phone tower and farm outlet store in Hartland, to the ECFiber case, to the ongoing housing and child care shortages, to the impact of federal funding cuts on local organizations. And we’ve had many milestones and achievements to celebrate, from our football state championship team, to our local priest’s 50^th anniversary of his ordination, to the resurgence of Bookstock, to local artists and authors who released their latest works, to this year’s graduates, to a pair of brothers who achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, to the dedication and resilience shown by those remarkable protesters in Woodstock. Even the announcement of plans for a new performing arts center, and the sighting of low-flying military planes over Woodstock. Those stories aren’t easy or inexpensive to cover, but like the journalists at the Standard who were our predecessors throughout those many, many years, it’s our solemn responsibility to inform the public about the public’s business, the very best we can.

Indeed, we can, primarily because we now have the support of hundreds of residents and readers who truly understand and value what quality local journalism does — and has always done — for our community here. They respond to our annual appeal each year. They keep us afloat. They keep us encouraged. They harden our resolve to try ever harder to serve this community and this local democracy. We count on all of you.

Oftentimes, I’ve asked individual donors, “What can we possibly do to thank you for your generosity?” And, to a person, they always say, “Just keep putting out a darn good newspaper.”

In appreciation for you, our friends, the Standard has only one single objective and guiding light going forward: to keep trying to put out a better and better paper each week in service to this community.

You can count on us.

As we begin this year’s annual appeal, we are deeply appreciative of any financial help you can give us. Our mission is quite urgent, of course, and Phil Camp and I would be very grateful for an opportunity to meet with you to talk more about what’s needed and our plans. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at dcotter@thevermontstandard.com or (802) 457-1313.

We sincerely hope you’ll join us in our mission by contributing to this year’s 2025 annual appeal.

Also, if you have a family foundation, please consider adding the Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation (EIN: 93-3287932) to the worthwhile causes you regularly support.

The Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation is a public charity so your gift will be fully tax-deductible.

Your donation will be utilized in the form of project grants to support the Vermont Standard’s mission to inform, connect, and educate our community on issues of public importance.

If you’re willing to make a tax-deductible donation to our 2025 Annual Appeal, please send a check to PO Box 88, Woodstock, VT 05091, or go to our Vermont Standard THIS WEEK website at www.thevermontstandard.com to make a contribution with your credit card. Be sure to make your check out to the “Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation.”

By Dan Cotter, publisher

A huge sigh of relief and a fist pump were my first reactions, as well as a gaze skyward as I mouthed the words “thank you!” The tears welling up in my older friend’s eyes were his response when I told him.

Then we shared a long, hard hug.

After lots of research and preparation, and then six months of waiting for the application to be processed, Phil Camp and I recently learned that the IRS has approved the Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation’s application for tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) and deemed the Foundation to be a public charity.

The approval wasn’t in much doubt, really. But now it’s official.

The Foundation was established last August and it is primarily dedicated to preserving the Vermont Standard and its role in informing citizens and supporting democracy in our area well into the future. The Foundation has a board made up of local residents who care deeply about our community and the value local journalism provides. Phil and I are on the board too. Together, we’re working to keep the 171-year-old Vermont Standard going while taking steps to position the paper’s print and digital journalism for long-term sustainability.

Recognizing the critical role the Standard plays in informing and connecting our community, this Foundation wants to avoid letting our area become a “news desert,” as has happened in hundreds of other places throughout the US in recent years. Newspapers like the Standard are currently dying off at a pace of 2.5 per week. Nor do we want to end up like the hundreds of cities and towns where profit-seeking corporations that have no devotion to the public welfare have acquired their local paper and stripped it of its resources, to the point that it is only a pathetic shadow of its former self and incapable of doing its job.

Providing accurate, credible, reliable news and information to its audience is a local news organization’s primary role. A functioning democracy requires an informed, engaged public. The Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation’s board members, advisors and friends will help Phil and I in our mission to raise enough money to keep quality journalism flowing here.

So, I’m glad to report that any donation you’ve made to the Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation to support the Standard’s mission to inform, connect, and educate our community on issues of public importance is indeed tax-deductible dating back to the inception of the Foundation in late August 2023, as all donations will be going forward.

At 88 years old, Phil feels a real sense of urgency about making sure that our community will always have local journalism – especially given the 40+ years he’s dedicated to leading the paper and his unrivaled love for Woodstock and its surrounding towns. We know we’re in a race against the clock. But now, with the Foundation’s charity status and your tax deduction confirmed, we hope there will be even more support from donors and family foundations that will help us accomplish this very important mission.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your encouragement and generosity. If you would like to contribute to our Annual Appeal, please send us a check at PO Box 88, Woodstock, VT 05091, or go to our Vermont Standard THIS WEEK website at https://thevermontstandard.com/annual-appeal/ to make a contribution with your credit card. Please be sure to make your check out to the “Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation.”

“View From Here”

By Sandy Gilmour, Woodstock resident

If you are reading this column right now, that’s good news for the community. It means you probably paid for this paper, hard copy or online, maybe even made a donation to it, and value its contribution to our lives in Woodstock and surrounding areas. We are so fortunate to have the Vermont Standard week in and week out. For years, small-town dailies and weeklies have been closing their doors, leaving communities without a soul. Papers like the Standard are dying off at the rate of two per week across America. 

Such towns are called “news deserts.” Imagine weeks, months and years going by with no professional reporting on selectboards, trustees, school boards, taxes and roads. Zero stories about public school events, sports, student accomplishments, obituaries, gardening tips, neighborly cooking advice, local history, and no reports from towns from Brownsville to Pomfret. 

We would know next to nothing about the interminable Peace Field Farm restaurant delay, the Ottauquechee Trail head fiasco, the high-stakes Woodstock Foundation controversy and the fatal shooting off Central Street, including the bravery of Woodstock Police Sgt. Joe Swanson. In my view, these stories have been really well reported. 

To not get these stories delivered to us every week would be a news desert right in verdant Woodstock, for sure, a gaping hole left to be filled by rumor and mis- and dis-information, the precursors of community dissolution. So we are blessed indeed to have had the Vermont Standard around — nonstop — since 1853, and owned by beloved Woodstocker Phil Camp, now 87, since 1981. 

But as Mr. Camp has pointed out many times over the years, the paper’s solvency hangs on a thread and now more than ever. In hundreds of towns across America, owners, beleaguered by losing subscribers and advertising to social media, simply folded or sold out to hedge funds and private equity firms, whose investors are bereft of community values. Not Phil Camp. He has always said, “I never sold out. I’m never giving up.” He made up for past deficits (difference between expenses, like staff, and income from subscriptions and ads) out of company savings from better times, week after week. He stayed with it after being flooded out by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 and being burned out by the Central Street fire of 2018 (taking out his camera and snapping photos of the flames and rubble).

The paper was in dire straits when COVID hit, saved by the forgiven federal PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loans through 2021, when the largesse ended. Then beginning in January 2022, the community stepped up, responding to a fundraising appeal. I was rather stunned to learn from the Standard’s publisher, Dan Cotter, that the paper’s annual shortfall of $150,000-$200,000 is being covered by donations from local Woodstock residents. There are many (and appreciated) donations in the $50-$100-$200 range, but really heavy lifting is being done by donors of means who, Mr. Cotter says, highly value the contribution local journalism makes to communities. Several of these more-than-generous and anonymous donors contribute $20-25,000 and more — each — and, Mr. Cotter says, without any hint of trying to influence coverage. Without them, surely there would be no Vermont Standard in the mailbox or online, just the unreliable grapevine. At the same time, the paper is moving to create other revenue streams, including an online advertising app for Woodstock happenings and a magazine, in addition to improving thevermontstandard.com website for go-to news. 

Still, the operation is bare bones. It seems to me a miracle the paper “hits the streets” without fail every Thursday with some pretty good and important stories that we need to know about, and many features that are good to know about. And there are just two, count them, two, full-time staffers who report stories: the seasoned and prolific Tom Ayres, and Tess Hunter, who is also the managing editor. Ms. Hunter says reporter staffing is the big issue; she has on hand freelance contract reporters that can be assigned to stories if they are available and if they want to spend the evening at yet another unexciting if important selectboard meeting. “It’s a constant juggling act,” Ms. Hunter told me, “between finding the right person for the story and just getting people to say ‘yes.’” Still, she is committed, saying, “Without us making the attempt, there would be no common base of understanding and little sense of the community spirit of the area or the hard news happening within it.”

Volunteer contributors are crucial; regular community writers like Jennifer Falvey (insightful musings on life) and Kurt Stauder (pointed political observations) are popular. Mary Lee Camp’s business column is relentlessly informative. 

Other key staff are listed in the box below — lean and spare!

Publisher and editorial content director Dan Cotter, 64, hired by Mr. Camp in 2018 after years of informal consulting for the Standard, is not a household name in Woodstock, though he is hands-on every issue. He owns a condo in the area and is here about half the month, returning to his home and wife in Chicago for the remainder. He has decades in the industry as an executive and consultant, was head of the New England Newspaper and Press Association, and takes a no-nonsense hard line on newspaper independence and objectivity. It’s an unusual situation but Mr. Camp, still the president of the company, has total confidence in Mr. Cotter and has turned over the Vermont Standard, its operation, assets and its future, to his close friend. Mr. Camp has indeed not “given up,” but hopes to ensure his dear newspaper’s future with this arrangement. 

So where does the Standard go now? Around the country, journalists are reinventing newspapers and online reporting. The most promising seems to be the non-profit model, where deductible contributions from community-minded supporters can be made even as the publication accepts subscription fees and what advertising there is left. There are indications that the Standard is moving in this direction, and the sooner the better, in my view. When I pressed Publisher Cotter on the issue, he responded with this very encouraging comment: 

“In the past couple of years, members of the community have literally kept the Standard alive with their donations — and a handful of them have given very substantial sums, even without the benefit of a tax break. That’s how much they value the role our local journalism plays in the quality of life in our area. We are working now to put the paper on a path to where donors could indeed have a tax benefit. For it is essential to our democracy and our own survival that we have the financial support we need from the community to maintain a news organization — modest as it is — that’s capable of producing good local journalism that adequately informs our citizens.”

I can’t imagine Woodstock without the Vermont Standard. The new business model provides great hope the paper will not only survive but as a Woodstock-based non-profit, continue to expand coverage to benefit all of us in this great community. 

Note: This (unpaid) column originated with me alone! 

Sandy Gilmour is a retired NBC News correspondent who lives in Woodstock.

Throughout the country newspapers are in a fight for their lives.          Here too.

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