By Tom Ayres, Senior Staff Writer

Woodstock municipal manager Eric Duffy is one of three final candidates for the city manager post in Montpelier, Vermont’s capital city.

Montpelier Mayor Jack McCullough announced Duffy’s status in a press release and on the city’s Facebook page late Wednesday. Duffy is the only candidate among the finalists who is presently serving in a municipal management post in Vermont or New England. The other finalists for the Montpelier leadership post are Kelly McNicholas Kury, a local government professional who presently chairs the Pitkin County Board of Commissioners in Aspen, Colo., and Kelcey Young, a local government leader with more than a decade of public service in Texas, California, and Oregon who most recently served as the city manager of Pinole, Calif.

Duffy, who has been in his position in Woodstock for almost three years, could not be reached for comment about his potential job change as of 2 p.m. on Thursday. At this point, it’s unknown whether Duffy is a candidate for any other positions.

Speaking on her own behalf in a phone conversation with the Standard early Thursday afternoon, Seton McIlroy, the chair of the Woodstock Village Trustees, said she was “recently made aware” that Duffy was seeking the Montpelier leadership post. “My comment would be that if Eric decides to take another job, it would be a major loss for Woodstock, but I’m certainly supportive of Eric’s decision to decide what is best for him and his family,” McIlroy said.

Contacted by the Standard, Woodstock Town Selectboard Chair Ray Bourgeois said that he, too, had only learned about Duffy’s candidacy recently. “I think it would be a loss for the town, but he [needs to] do what’s best for himself and his family,” Bourgeois commented, echoing McIlroy’s sentiments. “Anyone that’s ever left a job – it’s no different than if you went someplace or I went someplace – for sure, you do what’s best for yourself and your family. That’s always the bottom line,” the selectboard chair concluded.

“The city manager is the top appointed official in city government, and thus, this is an important and weighty decision. The Council has been methodical in our interviewing and vetting process,” stated Mayor McCullough in the media statement. “Selecting a city manager is about finding the right-fit candidate for the community, and we are pleased to present three individuals whose character and skills match the needs for this position.”

According to McCullough, the Montpelier search kicked off in September and included stakeholder input and multiple interview rounds. “The three finalists were selected from over 30 applicants in a competitive, national recruitment process facilitated by the city’s contracted search consultant, Pracademic Partners. Feedback was solicited from the public and staff on key qualities and characteristics of the ideal candidate for Montpelier City Manager, and those inputs informed the process,” McCullough said in the press release.

Finalists Duffy, McNicholas Kury, and Young will now advance to the next and final stage in the recruitment process: a full day of events on site in Montpelier that will include meetings with city staff, conversations with department leaders, and a tour of city facilities and active projects. The day will culminate in public forums with all three finalists, McCullough noted. As of Thursday afternoon, Montpelier officials had not yet set a date on which the three finalists for the city manager’s post will visit for a final round of interviews and the public forums.

By Mike Donoghue, Senior Correspondent

A Vermont judge has reversed an April ruling by the Woodstock Village Trustees upholding the demotion of Police Chief Joe Swanson and the case will now go back to the village board.

Superior Court Judge H. Dickson Corbett issued a two-page ruling on Tuesday afternoon, siding with Swanson and signed a separate one-sentence judgment order.

“Based upon the separate written decision of the court, the April 17, 2025 decision of the village trustees is reversed, and the case is remanded to the village trustees for further proceedings,” Corbett wrote in the one-line order.

“It’s a victory,” Swanson’s attorney, Linda Fraas, said Tuesday afternoon. “The judge reversed the demotion and remanded the case back to the village.”

Fraas sent a note to the village after the ruling, asking for Swanson to be reinstated immediately as police chief.

Municipal manager Eric Duffy demoted Swanson to patrol officer — the lowest rank in the department — earlier this year. Swanson appealed to the five village trustees, who heard the appeal in April.

Duffy did not respond to the Vermont Standard on Tuesday before its press deadline.

Burlington attorney John H. Klesch, who represented the village, offered a brief statement for the Standard: “The Court’s careful analysis of the issues is appreciated. Judge Corbett’s decision sets out guidelines for the Trustees to further review and determine whether Mr. Swanson should serve as Woodstock Police Chief,” Klesch said in an email.

Fraas, however, thinks the judge’s decision is clear.

“Clearly Chief Swanson can no longer lawfully be required to work in his demoted position as patrol officer. The Village also owes him back pay for the time period in which he was illegally demoted and received lesser pay. His current status per the reversal is Chief,” Fraas said in a letter to the lawyer for the village trustees.

Fraas also questioned how Duffy, the village, and its five elected trustees will proceed with potential questions about their legal representation.

She said the village trustees hired Burlington lawyer Brian Monaghan to work with the board before, during and after their 14.5-hour demotion hearing. She said they ended up getting bad legal advice.

“Please advise if you continue to represent the trustees in this matter in light of the extensive inaccurate legal advice previously rendered. As indicated, the demotion was erroneous and reversed,” Fraas wrote in the letter to Monaghan on Tuesday. 

Fraas also questioned whether Klesch’s law firm can ethically and lawfully continue to represent Duffy with respect to any process involving the trustees going forward. Fraas asked how it could be done when Klesch is representing both Duffy and the village trustees in a related $5 million unlawful removal lawsuit and the demotion appeal.

Fraas said she has asked Monaghan to outline the plans of the trustees by noon Monday so she can determine if she may need to file a motion with the superior court for any clarification.

Duffy, Interim Police Chief Chris O’Keeffe, trustee chair Seton McIlroy and the private detective firm that conducted an investigation for the manager are among the named defendants in a $5 million civil lawsuit filed by Swanson in Vermont Superior Court with multiple claims including unlawful discharge from his job. The case has been on hold while the promotion appeal was litigated. 

Fraas believes that if the trustees decide not to reinstate Swanson as chief, they must go through another removal process consistent with the remand.

“The proper protocol in this instance would be to put him on administrative leave with full chief pay pending the outcome. This appears to be an action in futility since the trustees already issued a decision that negates the requirements of just cause when they found that there was no prior notice and there was no one alleged act warranting termination,” Fraas wrote in her letter to Monaghan. 

“The trustees clearly knew that there was no just cause when they elected to unlawfully ‘demote’ Chief Swanson rather than terminate him. There is no ‘lesser standard’ of just cause than that required by Vermont precedent,” she said.

“I am extremely confident that Chief Swanson will ultimately prevail in being reinstated pursuant to law and the only question is when this will occur and how much more taxpayer money will be wasted,” Fraas said.

“We ask that the trustees finally do the right thing in the public interest to move on from this unsuccessful unlawful attempt to remove Chief Swanson and allow the restorative process to begin,” she wrote.

The decision

The ruling by Corbett came one week after he heard legal arguments on the merits of the appeal filed by Swanson claiming the demotion by Duffy was unwarranted. 

Corbett heard 15 minutes of arguments by each side during the video hearing on Nov. 25. He said the court would take the matter under advisement and “issue a written decision soon.” It only took one week, including a holiday. 

The demotion case has generated considerable attention in the Woodstock area since it began. About three dozen computers with an unknown number of interested persons tuned into the video arguments in court. They included local residents, lawyers, media and at least two village trustees. 

This week, Corbett noted Woodstock issued a written decision giving reasons for the demotion, but the village trustees failed to evaluate whether “cause” existed to remove the police chief from office. The village reasoned that a “for cause” determination was unnecessary because they were not terminating the police chief’s employment but rather demoting him. 

“This reasoning was not correct. Vermont law provides that municipal police chiefs may only be ‘removed’ from office ‘for cause,’ said Corbett, a former longtime Orange County prosecutor.

“Here, the effect of the demotion was to remove the village police chief from office. The village trustees should have determined whether cause existed for this exercise of the removal power,” he said, noting a case involving the Essex Junction village manager trying to get rid of a police officer in 1976.

“Because the trustees did not make their decision according to the correct legal standard, the April 17th decision of the village trustees is reversed, and the case is remanded to the village trustees for further proceedings,” Corbett wrote. 

“Both parties have asked the court to consider different remedies. For its part, the village has asked the court to decide whether the reasons given by the village trustees for the demotion were sufficient as a matter of law to establish cause for removal,” he said.

He said the prior cases cited by the village involved decisions by towns using the “the correct legal standard.”

Swanson asked the court to rule that the evidence did not support his removal from office, and requested reinstatement to heading the department.

“Although a court has authority to reinstate police chiefs who have been wrongfully removed…it would be premature for this court to declare an outcome to this case. All this court is deciding is that the trustees must find cause before removing the village police chief from office,” Corbett wrote. 

“On remand, the trustees will have to decide whether to pursue further removal proceedings and how to handle petitioner’s employment duties in the meantime. It is important for decisions about police department supervision to be made not by this court, but rather by the village officials who have been elected and appointed for that purpose,” he said. 

“Likewise, the court cannot review the sufficiency of the evidence to support any removal decision until after the trustees have made their determinations on remand. The court cannot predict what evidence might be credibly established in the future or review findings and conclusions that have not yet been made,” he said.

Corbett said he would not rule on some other issues, including whether certain individual trustees should be disqualified from participating in future proceedings, and which of the several formulations of the “for cause” standard the trustees should apply to any removal decision they make.

During the legal arguments last week, Klesch, on behalf of the village, had maintained there was “substantial evidence” to support reasons for the demotion. 

He said the case was “a limited, on-the-record review of a quasi-judicial body’s determination made after a hearing process.”

Klesch had maintained the court had to side with Woodstock if there is any competent evidence in the record to support the decision by the village trustees to uphold the demotion made by Duffy. 

Fraas, fighting for Swanson, disputed the claims made on behalf of the village. 

“There is nothing in the record that will support this as a matter of law. This does not require judicial discretion. It just requires applying the law to the facts in this case, which do not support anything that the village is trying to sell,” she told the court. 

“And it makes no sense and what has gone on is unconscionable, actually, for this year and that is why we are here today to ask this court to please end this ordeal, reinstate Chief Swanson, let everyone move on,” Fraas said. 

The battle between Duffy and Swanson began in October 2024 when the manager put the chief on the sidelines following a motor vehicle complaint involving the chief’s husband. Vermont State Police and the Vermont Criminal Justice Council both cleared Swanson.

Duffy, however, hired a private detective to interview village police employees and town emergency dispatchers to see if they objected to his management style. Based on the interviews in the report, Duffy demoted Swanson. The village trustees heard the appeal in March and voted 5-0 in April to uphold the removal.

Several employees had expressed frustration with the police chief because he had a messy office, wore non-matching socks, and his hair was unkept. The chief also did not tell his employees where he was going when he left the police station and they complained their boss did not always answer his phone.

Swanson has maintained he wants to return to his old job and was never given a chance to correct any possible shortcomings. Duffy has made clear he does not want Swanson running the department and also bypassed other ranks Swanson held — including corporal and sergeant — in demoting to the lowest rank in the department. 

Duffy selected Swanson, a former patrol sergeant, after a nationwide search in July 2023. One year later, Duffy issued him a positive work evaluation, but by October, Swanson was in the doghouse and has yet to get out.

Clarification: The headline for this story has been changed from the one that appeared in our print edition to reflect the judge’s ruling more accurately

By Mike Donoghue, Senior Correspondent

Authorities say it could be several weeks before they will know the cause of death of a 19-year-old Hartland man, whose car crashed into trees off East Woodstock Road and was found 17 hours later on Saturday on the edge of the Ottauquechee River about a quarter mile away.

The body of Benjamin Johnsen, a 2024 Woodstock Union High School graduate, was taken to the office of Vermont Chief Medical Examiner in Burlington for an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death, Woodstock Police said. There was no final determination made as of Tuesday, they said.

Interim Police Chief Chris O’Keeffe told the Vermont Standard that officials were looking at several possible reasons, including blunt force trauma, hypothermia and drowning.

Some test results, including toxicology, were incomplete for the Rutgers University sophomore this week, O’Keeffe said.

The brief WPD press release after the crash said the man’s death did not appear suspicious, but never elaborated on its reasoning.

He said it appeared Johnsen made it through a combination of fields and woods before crossing the river about an estimated quarter mile from the crash site. O’Keeffe estimated the river was about two feet deep and about 25-to-30 feet wide near where the body was found.

Johnsen was home from college for the Thanksgiving holiday, and he had attended a gathering of friends on Barnard Road on Friday night, police said. He was driving a grey 2013 Infiniti G37 sedan headed out of the village when it went off the road near Britten Lane shortly after 11 p.m., police said. 

The car struck one tree, continued down an embankment, and hit another smaller tree, the interim chief said.

 When Woodstock Officer Joe Swanson arrived, the driver had left the scene, O’Keeffe said. He said Woodstock Fire and Rescue helped with the search in the area to no avail. The air bag deployed, but no blood was found at the scene, police said.

There was no snow for fresh tracks to determine a possible direction he went, O’Keeffe said.

Woodstock Police reached out to his father, Bruce Johnsen, the registered owner of the car, to inquire who was driving it, police said. He reported that his son was using it that night.

The cellphone for the son, who the interim chief said was an Eagle Scout, was later determined to be in the car.

Police said the father also contacted people from the gathering with no luck in finding his son. When no contact was made with his son by family and friends for several hours, his father reported Johnsen missing to Woodstock Police about noon on Saturday.

Two on-duty WPD officers took the missing person complaint and eventually alerted the on-call supervisor, Sgt. Gary T. Salvatore, who responded to the public safety building along with O’Keeffe and Swanson by 3 p.m., police said.

As village police were continuing their plan of attack to secure more resources, a friend of the victim reported finding a body off Old River Road and Rolling Ridge Drive about 4:15 p.m.

The area on the edge of the Ottauquechee River was secured by police to allow for a proper medico-legal investigation. The man was pronounced dead and eventually confirmed as Johnsen, police said.

 Woodstock Police, after posting a press release late Saturday on Facebook about the crash, came under fire on social media for its response to the missing driver. The Woodstock Police Facebook page had generated 108 comments, 696 shares and 617 emoji reactions in three days.

Commenters were concerned about Johnsen possibly being injured and losing his way in the cold night. The temperature dipped into the high 20 degrees. 

O’Keeffe said a full review of what might have gone both wrong and right will be conducted by the department.

Windsor County Sheriff Ryan Palmer and Vermont State Police Detective Lt. Tyson Kinney, the night watch commander, told the Vermont Standard this week their respective departments were not asked to help with personnel and K-9s for the search right after the crash. 

 State Police were asked on Monday to bring in an image-taking drone to help with the investigation. It flew over both the crash and recovery areas and also the possible path Johnsen used, O’Keeffe said.

He reported Swanson, who is a state-certified death investigator, is leading the police investigation in conjunction with other department members. Veteran State Police Detective Sgt. Chris Blais, who operated the drone, will file a report.

It is the first potential highway fatal crash in the village in two years, O’Keeffe said.

Hartland town manager John Broker-Campbell got a strong vote of confidence from the Hartland Selectboard at the conclusion of Monday evening’s regularly scheduled board meeting.

Following an executive session to consider a performance review and contract renewal for Broker-Campbell, the Hartland Selectboard voted unanimously in public to okay a three-year contract extension with the town manager, effective in January. The contract calls for auto-renewal for subsequent two-year terms.

Broker-Campbell will receive a salary of $102,760 per annum at the start of the new contract, reflecting cost-of-living and merit increases over the course of the past two years. He joined the Hartland town staff in January of 2024.

For more on this, please see our Dec. 4 edition of the Vermont Standard. 

Gov. Phil Scott announced on Tuesday his appointment of Michael Hoyt, of West Hartford, to fill the vacant Windsor-4 seat in the Vermont House of Representatives. Hoyt replaces Heather Surprenant, who resigned in September, according to a press release.

“I believe Mike’s experience working in state government as well as serving in his local community will bring a valuable perspective to Montpelier,” said Governor Phil Scott.

“It is an honor to be appointed to the remainder of Representative Surprenant’s term, and I look forward to serving the people of the Windsor-4 District,” said Hoyt.

According to the release, Hoyt grew up in Norwich before attending the University of Vermont and Vanderbilt University Law School. He has worked as an attorney for the Vermont Legislature and the Vermont Department of Labor and currently works at Dartmouth College. Hoyt was elected to the Hartford Selectboard in 2021 and is currently Vice-Chair of the Selectboard, having served as Chair for the three years prior. He and his wife, Natalie, currently reside in West Hartford. Hoyt’s appointment was effective as of Tuesday, Dec. 2. He was selected from a list of candidates forwarded by the local Democratic party, the release said.

On the weekend of Dec. 12, the Woodstock Union High School Yoh Theatre stage will open on a war-torn London street, enveloped in the rubble of the London Blitzes of World War II. In the midst of this chaos and destruction will sit Alice Spencer — a budding teen whose life is turned upside-down as she and her dear friend Alfred are forced to take shelter in an underground train station. When the ailing Alfred is quarantined, Alice encourages him to escape with her into a cherished book. The audience, too, will have a chance to be transported down the rabbit hole to Wonderland, as Alice and Alfred embark on this magical journey. 

A retelling of the Lewis Caroll tale, “Alice by Heart,” the musical explores the poignancy of first love, the pain of coming to terms with loss, and the strength of finding courage amidst the bleakest circumstances. The story, written by Steven Sater and Jessie Nelson, with music by Duncan Sheik, encourages us all to celebrate the transformational power of the imagination, even during the most difficult times. 

Yoh Theatre director Marcia Bender told the Standard, “I was introduced to this musical by a few of the students. When I began investigating the text, I realized it was the perfect story for this season of Yoh.” In a year infiltrated by tumult and grief, Bender has turned to the power of storytelling to carry the Yoh Players through trying times. From “Elektra” to “Alice by Heart” to “Treasure Island” and “Pride and Prejudice” — two productions happening later this season — Bender says she has dedicated her theater to comforting familiar words told in new and awe-inspiring ways. 

“This season seems to be about stories and how stories can carry us away from difficult realities. These stories show us different sides of humanity. They can lighten us and uplift us. ‘Alice by Heart’ is obviously a retelling of ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ There is a comfort in following a character we all grew up with. She is an emblem of wonderment and curiosity and hope, and I think we all need that in our lives, whether we are fifteen or fifty-five,” Bender added.

Bringing Wonderland to life has become a joyous challenge for the Yoh Players. “Wonderland first began in Bridgewater, actually,” Bender said. “I drove by an antique shop and saw a spiral staircase connected to a deck. Brian Blanchard, the owner, let me borrow it for our production, and that’s where Wonderland was born. We play with fabric, costume, parachutes, bubbles, and the power of music (along with a couple different tricks up our sleeve) to utterly transport the audience into a magical, surreal dreamscape.” 

Performances of “Alice by Heart” will take place Friday, Dec. 12, through Sunday, Dec.14, at the Yoh Theatre at the Woodstock Union High School and Middle School. Tickets and more information can be found at yohtheatre.com.

For more on this, please see our Dec. 4 edition of the Vermont Standard. 

Northern Stage director Eric Love, who brought the area plays like “A Man of No Importance,” “Matilda,” and “The Railway Children,” will return this December with his own adaptation of “Peter & Wendy,” from the childhood novel by James Matthew Barrie. 

“Peter & Wendy” opens at Northern Stage on Thursday, Dec. 4, and will run through Jan. 1. 

Wanting the freedom to reimagine the world initially created by Barrie, Love decided to adapt the novel, not the play. “We wanted to modernize and personalize the story. The novel “Peter & Wendy” offered a depth of language and poetic prose to draw on. I had sunk into something true and ethereal and let the energy of that book radiate onto the stage,” Love said.

What was staged initially as 1900s London slowly became 1999 New York City, on the cusp of the new millennium, as technology began to advance and fear of the unknown slowly sank in. “I was twelve years old in 1999, the same age as a lost boy, and tapping back into that era of my life offered a lot of insight into the characters and the story.” 

The title, “Peter & Wendy,” allowed Love to hold space for both characters, making Peter and the maternal, timeless Wendy equal protagonists in the production.

At right, Actor Yuvraj Sathe, who plays Peter Pan, is harnessed and ready to fly in rehearsal with actress Julia Zichy, who plays Wendy. Courtesy of Northern Stage

Along with the enrichment of certain characters, Love also sought to create a dreamscape on the stage by using hand-drawn projections to create the illusion of Neverland. 

“Neverland is a tricky thing,” Love told the Standard. “Our understanding of Neverland came from a paragraph in the novel, where Barrie writes that Neverland is a map of a child’s mind. It is not a literal tropical island, as it may have been described in past renditions. Instead, we wanted to show a dreamscape of a child’s mind. When you think about the space like that, splashes of color emerge. Strange amalgamations of thought infringe. You let your childlike mind wander into spaces that grapple with relationships, parents, verb tense, and grammar lessons. We wanted to capture the naive chaos of adolescent thought; we wanted to evoke wonder and nostalgia and whimsy.” 

To achieve this, Love enlisted the help of Michelle Halewood, an animator at Stop Motion Animation, to hand-draw the scenes that will be projected on stage to create Neverland. “It’s beautiful and surreal to see this world come alive on stage,” Love added. 

Love concluded, “This production has been a fifteen-month labor of love. I want people to come into the space with an open heart and a childlike perspective. I want people to see this play through their inner child’s eyes. You can still have childlike wonder, adventure, and joy in an adult life. And, like Wendy, you can travel along the path of adolescence and realize that the wonderment of childhood never leaves you; it simply takes on a new form. You get to love deeper, show up for people in new ways, carry more responsibility, take control of your happiness. I hope people enjoy the ride and travel down this path with us. Their hearts may be opened more fully by the end.” 

For more information and tickets, visit northernstage.org/peter-wendy.

For more on this, please see our Nov. 26 edition of the Vermont Standard.

The Vail Field public ice rink is seeking the community’s help to purchase upgrades for the 2025-2026 season. 

The rink, begun by resident Leanne Tapley, her husband, and an anonymous donor several years ago, provides a free skating opportunity to the people of Woodstock. “When we started it, I had sort of an ‘if you build it, they will come’ vision for it,” said Tapley. “With help from a donor, who wished to remain anonymous, they purchased the equipment and sent it to us.” She continued, explaining that what she envisioned as a small pond rink at Vail Field was grown to a full 100×90-foot skating rink at the donor’s request. 

However, after many years of managing the rink, Tapley does not have the requisite time, which is where Mike Green stepped in. Green is a 37-year-old resident of Woodstock Village, and upon moving here six years ago, wanted a way to get involved in the community. “When I first moved here, I thought it was an amazing resource,” he said of the rink. “I started volunteering, helping each year, slowly trying to take on as much responsibility as I could.”

This year, the rink, entirely run by volunteers, needs Woodstock’s help. “At the end of last year, the rink’s liner was ripped and not in good condition,” he explained. According to Green, a new liner for the large rink costs over $840, before the nearly $500 shipping cost. The rink will also need new lights, as the previous wooden stanchions have begun to rot, making them unsafe. “We’re not making a small outdoor rink,” he said. “We’re trying to make something that can host small hockey games, host big groups.” Other items he wishes for are new benches and more hockey equipment. 

In order to help with the needed funding, Green started a GoFundMe, which at the time of publication on Tuesday had raised $3,770 of the $4,500 goal. “The more money we raise, the better quality lights, the better benches we can order,” he said. “We have absolutely zero overhead, so all the money raised goes into the end product.”

The GoFundMe can be found at www.gofundme.com/f/support-vail-field-public-skating-rink or by searching “Support Vail Public Skating Rink” on the GoFundMe website. 

For more on this, please see our Dec. 4 edition of the Vermont Standard. 

By Tyler Maheu, Staff Sportswriter

Boys Basketball

Woodstock head coach Scott Brooks is leading a program on the rise. After years of instability, Brooks took over the top job three years ago. After a 5-15 first year, Woodstock has continued to improve, going 11-9 and then 14-6 last year. The future looks bright.

“I think we are headed in the right trajectory,” he said. We’ve ratcheted up the schedule to play tougher teams. I’m excited that the program is getting a little better every year in skills and basketball IQ.” The team returns all but one player from last year’s squad and will look to emphasize a hard-nosed style. “Excited that we have a lot of returners, which makes for a good nucleus of seniors and juniors, with some sophomores possibly in the mix,” he said. “Our emphasis will be on defense, discipline, and playing unselfishly.”

The team will compete in Vermont’s Division III, but expects to see tough competition from teams throughout the state. “We play Bratt, Division I Mount Anthony, Springfield is up and coming, Williamstown, Twin Valley, and Randolph will all be tough,” he said. 

Brooks hopes that the success of the school’s football program, which made it to the state title game in the fall, will bleed into a prosperous basketball season. A good offseason should also add into that. “We had played in the Rutland summer league, playing mostly DI and DII schools, and competed,” said the coach.

Tryouts for the squad were held on Dec. 1 and Dec. 2, with the team decided afterward. On Dec. 6, the team travels to Claremont, NH, for scrimmages against the Fall Mountain Wildcats and Hanover Bears. Official team play will begin on Dec. 12 against Oxbow as part of Hartford High’s Stretch Gillam Tournament. 

“If we can play with discipline and defense, and do them well, we will have ourselves in position to succeed,” said Brooks. “The end goal is to get to the Aud (Barre Municipal Auditorium), and once you get there, anything can happen.”

Girls Basketball

Tim MacDonnell brings 16 years of experience as a coach to the 2025-2026 Wasps girls basketball team. While last season’s team didn’t see much success in the win column, the fifth-year head coach saw it as a jumping-off point. “We were young, started an eighth grader and a lot of freshmen and sophomores,” he explained. “We made strides throughout the year, so there’s a lot of excitement going into this winter.”

The team returns all but one senior, Alice Cayer, who MacDonnell hailed as a great leader who kept the team connected. So far, 18 players have signed up for basketball, a number that the coach claims is the highest turnout in a decade. “We are building positive momentum with the group,” he said. 

When asked for standouts, MacDonnell pointed to four of his returning players: Khloi Bruso, Willow Carey, Lindsey St. Cyr, and Paige Stone. Bruso is a returning junior who was last year’s leading scorer and was named all-league. “We have asked a lot of her since she was a freshman; now she needs to take on more of a leadership role,” he said. Carey started last year as an eighth grader and showed great potential. St. Cyr is a sophomore who grew into her game as a freshman but will face more responsibility. “There’s a lot of pressure on her to be an anchor on defense and an option to score,” he said. “But she had a great summer, and we expect Lindsey to have a great season coming up.” The team’s lone senior will be Paige Stone, a player who has remained loyal to the program throughout the recent growing pains. “When you don’t experience a lot of wins, it’s hard for kids to stick with it,” said MacDonnell. “Paige has stuck with it and brings a lot of leadership.”

Right now, Windsor and Hartford appear to be the most competitive teams in the region, according to MacDonnell. “Windsor has consistently been a final four team for the last six or seven years,” explained the Wasps head coach. “Rockwood does a really nice job getting his kids to play hard, and they’re probably the tops of the division.” Hartford returns Charlotte Jasmin, last season’s Vermont Gatorade Player of the Year, but plays in Division II. “When healthy, she’s arguably one of the best basketball players in the state.”

While wins are always the goal, MacDonnell hopes players and the community will believe in the process above results. “We are building our chemistry,” he said. “We have a good returning core, we are hoping to teach discipline and find ways to see growth and see positives regardless of the outcome.” He continued, “I think it’s a cliche, easy as a coach to say we want to focus on the process, but we want to find areas that we are doing well and find where we can continue to get better.”

Tryouts began on Dec. 1, and the team will kick off its season with a no-spectator scrimmage on Thursday at Lebanon High School. 

By Tyler Maheu, Staff Sportswriter

Head coach John-o Mitchell is back at the helm for his second year with the Woodstock Snowboarding team following a top-notch first season.

“It was spectacular,” Mitchell said of the 2024-2025 snowboarding season. “Our girls won the slope style state championship and had a lot of first, second, and third place finishes amongst the team.” Woodstock competes with schools around the state in the Vermont Principals’ Association’s Snowboarding League in three event types: Giant Slalom, Rail Jam, and Slopestyle.

Giant Slalom is an event in which riders are timed as they race down the mountain through spaced-out gates. Rail Jam and Slopestyle see riders navigate a course with boxes, jumps, and rails while performing tricks for a panel of judges. There will also be a Boardercross exhibition event, where riders race head-to-head with other competitors down the mountain.

Mitchell’s squad comes into the new year returning all but one athlete from last year’s team. “We’ve got a lot of returning riders,” he said. “Along with a lot of talent coming up from the middle school, so I think we’re set to have an impressive season.”

Four senior girls will look to lead the charge this year in Sierra Bystrake, Marlena Farinas, Leah Gugliotto, and Bonnie Kranz (Gugliotto and Kranz were captains last year). “These are the senior girls who stepped up in leadership roles throughout the year,” he said. “We have a number of amazing talents, but those four go above and beyond.”

Kranz’s mother, Kim Kranz, is the team’s co-coach. According to Mitchell, this year will be special because all three of her daughters will be with the varsity program this winter.

On the boy’s side, numbers are limited. Mitchell stated that this year’s unit of Ian Hewitt, Desmond Early, Camden King, and Wyatt Sinks are all returning from last season. In high school snowboarding, you need four riders to make a team, putting Woodstock in a precarious position when competition rolls around. “All the guys showed tremendous improvement last year, and I’m looking forward to seeing what they are able to do this year,” he said.

Each season brings its new challenges, and like with skiing, Mitchell sees funding and Mother Nature as their biggest hurdles. “Fewer and fewer mountains are willing to work with us on a not-for-profit level,” he said. “We used to go to Okemo a couple of times every year, but now, none of the schools can afford competition there.”

According to Mitchell, each rider needs to pay a price per event, and some mountains play ball easier than others. “The price per day at the Stowe competition is almost triple what Jay Peak offers,” he commented. Jay Peak, located in Jay, Vt., has long held steady at $15 per rider, but last year, even they had to increase their prices. However, it was only 60 cents.

The weather’s unpredictability also causes a problem for Mitchell. “Good weather for us means you can’t drive on the roads,” he joked. “It breaks my heart every time I have to cancel practice because of a snowstorm.” The less consistent amount of powder due to rising winter temperatures is also a hindrance.

Mitchell’s team will begin practice Thursday on dry land, with hopes of moving to the snow by the first week of January. While they will have no home meets, practices will be held at nearby Saskadena Six. 

Elizabeth Ann “Betty” Walker, 71, passed away on Nov. 20, surrounded by her loved ones, after an unexpectedly short fight with cancer.

Betty, known affectionately by her family as Betty Ann or Becky, was born on June 14, 1954, in Brockton, Mass., to Lloyd and Lydia Gabourel. The eldest of seven children, she grew up in a close-knit family that shaped her lifelong commitment to caring for others. After earning a Master’s Degree in Education from Castleton State College, Betty worked as a reading specialist and early childhood educator, where she fostered a love of reading and learning in all her students. In retirement, she split her time between Vermont and Rhode Island to be with her grandsons as much as possible.

Betty built a life centered on her faith and her family. She was a longtime member of the First Congregational Church of Woodstock and enjoyed the simple pleasures of life such as gardening, playing sports, reading in the sun, and exploring new places. Her calm, kind, and quiet presence left a lasting mark on everyone she met. Even in her final days, Betty focused on ensuring that everyone around her was taken care of.

Betty is survived by her daughter Ashley Stockwell and son-in-law Sam, her former husband Rick, and her grandsons Isaiah and Jude. She is also survived by her six siblings: Lloyd Jr., George, Lynne, Lee, Leslie, and Leonard, as well as many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents, Lloyd and Lydia Gabourel.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, at 11 a.m. at the First Congregational Church of Woodstock. A reception will follow for friends and family to gather and share memories. 

An online guestbook can be found at cabotfh.com.

We are sad to announce the unexpected passing of Rick Bates, 67, on Nov. 19, 2025 at his home on Maple Street. Rick was born in Jacksonville, FL on August 3, 1958 the son of Roy & Joanne Bates. He grew up on College Hill in Woodstock in the home his parents built. He attended Woodstock Schools graduating in the class of 1976. He was an athlete and played football, baseball, and basketball. He attended UVM & graduated from VT Technical School in Randolph, VT in 1980. He moved to Dallas, Texas. After 10 years he moved back to the mountains of Vermont and eventually went to work for Cold Regions Research & Engineering Lab (CRREL) in Hanover, N.H., spending 22 years there.

Rick bought the Bates family home on Maple Street and built a log cabin at Gray Camp in Barnard, where he was a 4th generation member and was treasurer for 10 years. Rick loved being outdoors and had many projects going. He enjoyed gardening and every year spent many hours growing tomatoes and flowers. The result being many years of making piccalilli and tomato sauce which he shared with many.

He was an avid fan of the Dallas Cowboys. He loved football and was very serious about Fantasy Football.

Rick is predeceased by his grandparents; Edwin and Vivian Bates, Roy and Lucille Snow, and his uncle Peter Hall.  He is survived by his parents Roy and Joanne Bates, two brothers; Randall and Timothy (Angela) Bates, six nephews and nieces; Jordan, Victoria, Vivian, Maika, Joseph, and Ana, his aunts; Sharon Hall, Jean (Bruce) Maynes, and Jane (Michael) McGee, many special friends and especially his dog “Sirius” his buddy.

A service to celebrate Rick will be held outside in the spring of 2026. Please remember Rick by planting tomatoes, or flowers, or a tree.

An online guestbook can be found at cabotfh.com.

Winthrop Ethan Lincoln, 92, born May 29th, 1933 in Pittsfield, Mass. died on Nov. 10, 2025, one day shy of Veterans Day, at Cedar Hill Skilled Nursing Facility in Windsor, Vt. Pneumonia, and lack of appetite, and wondering if anyone was as tired as him, finally took him to the great beyond. He was eagerly hoping to continue playing cribbage with his friend, Frank who passed away last winter. They became fast friends at Cedar Hill Assisted Living, they were The Odd Couple, guess who was who? Known as the greeter and everyone’s friend, he remembered names, something to be admired and gave so many nicknames, not just at CH, but throughout his life.

Win joined the Air Force right after graduating from Pittsfield High School and served in the Korean War as a radio operator on Air Sea Rescue flight missions. He always had a story to tell, now we get to tell his. 

Claire MacDonald from Hanson, Mass. married Win 70 years ago this past August in 1955 on Cape Cod, Mass., a lot of it wedded bliss. Three daughters, who all reside in Vermont, Janelle (Tom) Blake, Bonnie (Richard) Sargent, and Joyce (Jeff) Reynolds; five grandchildren, Amy, David, Bryan, Lindsey, Chelsea; two honorary, Susanna and Alicia; four great-grandchildren, Elliot, Piper, Bennett and Sullivan; two honorary, Braley and Sloan. The grandkids called him, Gramp, Grandpa Win and Bumpa, he loved them all.

Living in Hanson, Mass. and raising his girls, he worked for The MacDonald Fuel Corporation, owned by his father-in-law, was a fireman, ambulance worker and a member of the Kiwanis Club. He could sing and can still hear him singing, The Downtown Strutters Ball to a standing ovation! Camping was one of his favorite things. First was the big trip across country, in the summer of 1966, towing the JanBonJoy pop-up camper behind our station wagon. He would pull into a campground, set up the camper, then sat in a chair with his clipboard and a much needed beer while his three girls would set up camp, all while Claire cooked a meal over the campfire. Then they purchased a Winnebago and had many trips, to mention a few, to Nova Scotia, D.C., and the Montreal Expo.

Win was precise, detailed and a stickler for following what was the right thing to do. He listened and gave advice. He played pool, poker, cribbage, darts, badminton and was a lifelong sports fan, especially the Red Sox.

He moved the family to Plymouth, Mass. in 1969 and, after the fuel company sale, became a court officer. In his uniform, at 6’4” tall, he was an imposing figure you didn’t want to mess with. Then a move to VT in 1975, bought a log cabin, a mile up Dunham Hill in Woodstock with a million dollar view, the children thought in the middle of nowhere. Win and Claire loved skiing, hiking and hunting so it was a good fit. Took a ski patrol course at Killington, in way over his head as he’d only been skiing for five years. He was hired as the Director of the ski patrol at Mount Tom and Suicide Six for over 30 years. His bigger than life personality, confidence and ability to take charge got him the job. He also worked on clearing trails at Six, Bunny’s Boulevard and Skyline.

He was an avid golf lover and actually got a hole-in-one at the Woodstock Country club. He worked there for decades, first on the grounds crew, then in the clubhouse, and eventually as the starter. Win also drove the Woodstock Inn van for many years.

The family would like to thank first Doctor Hugh Hermann, a great friend and his doctor for a long time until he went to the VA for care. The WRJ VA for a mountain of superb care from staff, nurses and doctors and the friendships he made were many. Finally, Cedar Hill Assisted Living and the Skilled Nursing Facility, the extraordinary staff and nurses, he was humbled by their care.

His body has gone to the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Win loved life and the many friends and relatives and family he shared it with. He liked to say, “It was quite the ride.” Indeed it was. He asked that we throw him a party, which we will do at Saskadena Six on Sunday, Dec. 7 from 1-3 p.m. Memorial contributions can be made to Make-A-Wish, 6655 Shelburne Road, STE. 33, Shelburne, VT 05482.

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” — A.A.Milne, (Winnie the Pooh).

An online guestbook can be found at cabotfh.com.

Elsa Talbot of Bethel, Vt. passed peacefully in her home on Oct. 20 surrounded by her two daughters and her sister.  

Elsa was born at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in 1950 and brought home to the family dairy farm in South Pomfret. The youngest of six children Elsa enjoyed her early life on the farm, exploring the mountains, riding horses and skiing at Suicide Six. She attended Woodstock Country School and studied Education at Oregon College of Education, although, always committed to living life on her own terms, she left three credits short of completing her degree. Elsa’s younger years were filled with adventure. She spent months hitchhiking through Europe and traveled extensively around the United States; at one point living in a teepee she sewed herself.

When Elsa settled back in Vermont with her daughters, she became a beloved preschool teacher and fixture of the community. She began as cook at The Day Care Center in Norwich, Vermont before becoming a teacher at Mount Tom Preschool, Green Mountain Children’s Center, and finally, Rainbow Playschool. Elsa excelled for over 40 years in early childhood education, making an outsized impact on generations of children in the Upper Valley. Elsa had a strong connection with young people, and children could always be heard laughing and giggling in her presence. Her preschool classroom was alive with all sorts of activities and nothing was too messy or too big of a project. This included hatching ducks, chickens, and sometimes emus every springtime as well as keeping a corn snake in her classroom that grew to be larger than many of her students. Elsa loved her job so much that she went back to school at the age of 66, when new legislation forced her to choose between finishing her degree or retiring.

Elsa was a lifelong gardener, lover of music and advocate of equality, peace, and justice. She took these passions to new heights when she retired in 2020. She could often be found at local concerts and protests, no matter the cold and rain. Her house overflowed with rare and beautiful plants, cared for with great detail. The garden she planted every year was frequented by hummingbirds and grandchildren alike, with Elsa invariably giving away most of her harvest to friends and family. 

Elsa will be forever remembered for her caring attitude, generosity, passionate opinions, and homemade bread. Elsa is survived by her sister, Sara Miller; her two daughters, Yarrow and Mika Fought; and her five grandchildren,  Rye Fought, Cypress Levitt, Brio Levitt, Emry Kielty, Brecken Kielty. 

Elsa was buried at the Forest Cemetery in Roxbury Vermont. A memorial will be held in Elsa’s honor on Saturday, Nov. 22 from 2-4 p.m. at Artistree in South Pomfret (Elsa’s childhood farm).

Attendees will be informally visiting, blowing bubbles, and remembering Elsa, all are welcome to join during this time. In lieu of flowers please make a donation in Elsa’s name to Greenpeace or the Vermont Food Bank.

By Dan Cotter, Publisher 

Well, my friends, this is my fourth and final article of our 2025 annual appeal. 

Once again, this year, it’s been a privilege to talk directly with you about the mission we’re on at the Vermont Standard and the difficult challenges we face — to ask if you’ll please consider donating to the Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation in support of our efforts to connect our community and keep you informed on issues of public importance.

Today, the main thing I want you to know is that we are proud to work for you.

We know you’re counting on us to be your eyes and ears — filling you in about local government actions that affect you, about local crime, about court cases playing out here, about notable news items and occurrences, the accomplishments of our neighbors and local youth, about developments at our schools, churches, businesses, and charitable or civic organizations, about the happenings and things to do in the local area, and lots more. 

We are the one and only news source that’s entirely focused on our area; reporting news that’s primarily of interest right here. Our work — week in and week out — is entirely dedicated to the welfare of this community. 

That’s the way it’s been here for 172 years. And Phil Camp and I and our small team are now trying to produce a 2025 version of the Vermont Standard that’s the best it has ever been in the paper’s long history.

The Standard is for you. It exists simply to benefit you and your neighbors. We regard this responsibility and the trust you place in us as a badge of honor. We pledge to give it our best. All we’ve got.

As I’ve explained before, the financial pressures we face are intense. And, tragically, various powers that be are trying to exert additional pressure in a sad attempt to undermine the press. By extension, their actions undermine you, the public. That’s nothing new, really, but it’s pretty acute right now. Shame on them.

However, with your donations to keep us afloat, we’re hanging in there, staying strong and getting stronger. We are continuing to work, not only on improving this week’s Vermont Standard, but next month’s and next year’s too, as we attempt to set things up so we can produce high-quality local journalism for the long term. 

We’ll make sure your gift is put to good use as a worthwhile investment in one of the key components of the critical infrastructure that underpins this community.

As a citizen, it’s essential for you to be well-informed. That’s the only way we can have a functioning local democracy and a lively, connected community. As your eyes and ears, we’ll continue to follow the news closely and report it to you in new, better, and more engaging ways as time goes on. 

We hope to make you proud as we strive to do the best community journalism in the country. We believe that’s a realistic goal. This weekend — for the ninth time in the last twelve years — the Standard will once again be a finalist for the honor of being named New England Weekly Newspaper of the Year.

When it comes to journalism, we believe you deserve the absolute best.

We are deeply appreciative of any financial help you can offer in this year’s 2025 annual appeal. In fact, if you’re interested, Phil Camp and I would be very grateful for an opportunity to meet with you in person 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 — very importantly — if you have a family foundation, please consider adding the Woodstock Region Journalism Foundation (EIN: 93-3287932) to the worthwhile causes you regularly support. We’ll be deeply indebted to you.

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

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 

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.

Read Full Article