Local author will speak at Barnard library on Sunday

“Life in Hungary was dismal, my father was beaten several times by the secret police because he refused to spy,” says Barnard’s Geza Tatrallyay, the author of a memoir recounting his family’s efforts to escape from the Communist government in Hungary. “My parents both came from a family of doctors, so were among the middle class intelligentsia that the post-War Stalinist regime in Hungary tried to destroy,” says Tatrallyay, who was only seven years old when his his family managed to smuggle him across the border in 1956 and make their escape to Canada. 

Tatrallyay will talk about his family’s experiences at an author event this Sunday at the Charles B. Danforth Library in Barnard. 

“When we were escaping, I knew something momentous was happening, although, clearly, as a seven year old I could not understand it,” says Tatrallyay, adding, “but the memories remain with me vividly — more visually than anything else, like a movie.”

 Tatrallyay recalls a family story about an early escape attempt at a soccer game in the divided city of Vienna, where the family may have been able to slip into the crowd — cut short when Tatrallyay’s pregnant mother’s water broke on the way to the station. 

Then, when the babies were old enough to walk, a long drive through the night in a borrowed truck to a village at the border, the crunch of frost underfoot as Tatrallyay and his family walked through frozen fields and forests, and at last the border road in sight. “Our little family ran along the edge of the field toward the road… Just as we were close, from behind a tree out jumped a soldier yelling at us in Russian and shooting in the air,” Tatrallyay recalls. The captured family was put on a train back to Budapest. 

“My parents did not rest though,” says Tatrallyay, and when they got a tip that there was a train that would cross over to Austria without stopping at the border, they made sure they and their children were on it. “After an interminable journey, the train pulled up at a border village and the conductor came back saying he could not go through with it because his family would suffer,” says Tatrallyay.  Instead, Tatrallyay’s family and many other would-be-escapees on the train hatched a plot to walk to the border that night. This time, things went even worse than before. 

As the band of refugees made their way to the outskirts of the village, “just as we turned a corner, out jumped several members of the secret police — I remember one man trying to run for it being shot,” says Tatrallyay. Again, the family was captured and put on a train back to Budapest.

Read more in the August 11 edition of the Vermont Standard.

Veteran police officer Ryan Palmer bested Windsor County Sheriff’s Deputy Thomas Battista in Tuesday night’s Democratic primary. In the final tally, Palmer carried 44.5% of the vote over Battista’s 30%. As well as being a longtime police officer, Palmer is a U.S. Air Force veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and chair of the Windsor Selectboard. Now, he will face off against incumbent and uncontested Republican Primary candidate Sheriff Mike Chamberlain on Nov. 8.

In a statement on Tuesday night, Palmer congratulated his opponent and looked to the future: “First and foremost, I want to thank everyone who believed in me, encouraged me, and supported this campaign. Tonight was the first step in affecting serious change and improvement to the sheriff’s department. I also want to thank Tom Battista. Tom ran a great campaign and should be very proud of what he accomplished. I hope that we can work together in the future and bring some of his ideas to life as we both seek to improve the service provided by the Sheriff’s department.”

Read more in the August 11 edition of the Vermont Standard.

Veteran paralegal Alison Johannensen of Woodstock and former Assistant Judge David Singer of Hartland secured the Democratic nomination for two open positions of Assistant Judge in Tuesday night’s Primary, beating out current Assistant Judge Michael Ricci, also of Woodstock. Johannensen took 26.5% of the vote with Singer behind her with 18%, and Ricci closing out at nearly 15%. Ricci was appointed by Vermont Gov. Phil Scott in September 2021 to fill the unexpired term of former Judge Jack Anderson, who resigned and moved out of state last fall. Present Windsor County Assistant Judge Ellen Terie is stepping down after two terms, which opened a second slot in the November general election. Singer previously served in the judicial post for two terms from 2007 to 2015. The role of the assistant judge in both judicial proceedings and county governance is unique to Vermont. It is often called side judge in the common vernacular because the judges sit beside the presiding judge in each county. The role dates to the precolonial times of the Vermont Republic and was continued in the Vermont Constitution when Vermont became the fourteenth state in 1791.

Read more in the August 11 edition of the Vermont Standard.

The Woodstock Economic Development Commission (EDC) met on Thursday, Aug. 4 with three main agenda items. The first was a re-examination of the commission’s overall priorities, followed by a significant decision regarding marketing, and the approval by the EDC of its first Accessory Dwelling Unit Worker Rental Program (ADUWRP) grant. Commission members discussed the importance of childcare and housing in attracting and retaining a vibrant workforce for Woodstock, with some members questioning whether those initiatives should take precedence over issues such as downtown revitalization and event organizing. The assessment of priorities was directly related to the marketing decision, as the EDC was set to decide whether to halt or continue a costly advertising initiative. Charles Kahn, a Woodstock native representing Class Four Marketing of Burlington, was on hand to give a progress report on the first phase of the advertising campaign that it had been commissioned to design. EDC Chair Jon Spector reported that the data-driven direct marketing program that Class Four had created for Woodstock was showing “extraordinary” results, measured in click views and “average open” rate. Kahn claimed that the campaign has generated more contacts with potential visitors, and captured more information about those potential visitors, than previous campaigns. The platform also created a real-time tracking dashboard accessible to the EDC.

Read more in the August 11 edition of the Vermont Standard.

This Saturday, August 13th, Elm street will be closed to traffic and transformed into a festive space as Taste of Woodstock returns to downtown from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  The event will feature food, music, kids’ activities, and more than 50 vendors showcasing the town’s unique crafts and retail offerings. 

Beth Finlayson, Executive Director of the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce, says that the broad range of vendors “represents everything good and interesting about Woodstock.” 

The music stage will be at the south end of Elm Street, and Finlayson notes that all the performers are new this year.

Music starts at 10 a.m. with a strong showing of Vermont bands. Jim Yeager will provide entertainment and stage management, and audiences can enjoy Jacob Butler at 10 a.m., Bryan Frates at 11:15 a.m., Libby Kirkpatrick at 12:30 p.m., and Myra Flynn and Paul Bofa at 1:45 p.m. AliT will perform at 3 p.m., and the Krishna Guthrie Band will close out the music stage. Guthrie is the grandson of Arlo Guthrie, and his band blends rock, blues, and modern influences. 

The many distilleries throughout the region will be heavily represented Saturday and will offer sales and tastings. Windsor’s Silo Distillery, St.  Johnsbury Distillery,  Killington Distillery, and Shelburne’s Wild Hart Distillery will all be on hand.

VP of Operations at Silo Distillery Anne Marie Delaney says of A Taste of Woodstock: “We love it; it’s an opportunity to meet visitors and locals and share our spirits.” Going into its 13th year in business, Silo makes everything from scratch, using locally-sourced ingredients. “We’re supporting local farmers,” Delaney says, adding that the products available locally drive creative craftsmanship. This weekend, Silo will unveil a new apple brandy that has been patiently aging in bourbon barrels for several years. The juice for the brandy is from Moore’s Orchard in Pomfret, and so far the results are promising. “It has a great nose,” says Delaney.

In keeping with the event’s name, there will be a wide variety of local food available. 

Vermont Farmstead Cheese will offer sample tastings of its artisan products as well as its special grilled cheese sandwiches.  Located on an 18-acre dairy farm in South Woodstock, Vermont Farmstead will also bring two of its calves for petting and admiring. 

Woodstock’s The Olive Table, purveyors of olive oil and honey, will offer its products for sale, as will Springfield’s Sunnyside Taqueria. Anna’s Empanadas, Jeezum Crow Smoked Meats, and the Woodstock Pizza Chef will be cooking on site.

The Prince & the Pauper will be among the local restaurants participating. The fine dining establishment will be serving eggplant tarts and one other “chef’s choice” item, available outside their Elm Street location throughout the festival. 

For the sweet tooth, Woodstock Ono shaved ice (“Ono” is Hawaiian for “delicious”), a new vendor at the Market on the Green this year, will offer natural shaved ice with organic and locally-sourced ingredients. Howl’n Good Kettle Corn will offer sweet treats as well. Mettawee Valley Maple will keep it local with some genuine maple syrup products, and Blake Hill Preserves will offer delicious jams.

For the kids, Artistree will sponsor a children’s activity tent featuring face-painting, sidewalk chalk drawings, and musical instruments for the kids to enjoy. 

If you’ve wondered what it’s like to ride an e-bike, Saturday is your chance to demo bikes thanks to Woodstock Wheels making its e-bike fleet available throughout the day. Owner Luke Hanson says that there’s intense interest in e-bikes lately and that he’s going to “bring as many bikes as possible and get people out riding” for hour-long demos at a discounted price. 

Several local nonprofits will be on hand as well, including the Billings Farm and Museum, the Woodstock Rotary Club, Sustainable Woodstock, and the Ottauquechee Health Foundation. 

For more information call the Woodstock area Chamber of Commerce at 802-457-3555 or go to wodstockvt.com

A collaboration between Pentangle Arts at Town Hall Theater and Astral Projections Presents, a nascent arts-and-culture organization in the area, could herald a new direction for film, theater, concerts, and nightlife in Woodstock Village.

Astral Projections Presents — a partnership between Abracadabra Coffee of Woodstock and Beer Mountain, the eclectic craft beer, specialty foods, and alternative music venue at the foot of Okemo Mountain in Ludlow — will present acclaimed singer-songwriter and alternative music artist Bonnie Prince Billy at Town Hall Theater on Saturday evening, Aug. 13. Esoteric folk-rock poet Bonnie Billy has been the “singing dummy” of writer-actor-musician Will Oldham since 1998. Oldham-as-his-alter-ego will headline a triple-bill at Town Hall Theater that will also feature Bonnie Prince Billy-complementary rockers Footings from Peterborough, N.H., and Philadelphia music makers Empath, who draw their inspirations from sources as diverse as the films “Nosferatu” (1922) and “The Wicker Man” (1973), as well as David Bowie’s acclaimed recording “Low” and the band’s “forever favorites,” Fleetwood Mac. Empath will take the Town Hall stage at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 13, followed by Footings at 7:30, and headliner Bonnie Prince Billy at 8:30 p.m.

If the presentation of these three celebrated alternative music artists sounds like a turn in a new direction for Pentangle and Town Hall Theater, together with their collaborators at Astral Projections, so too is what the arts presenters have in mind for the late afternoon and early evening at Town Hall a week from Saturday. The prelude to the 6:30 p.m. concert kickoff with Empath in Town Hall’s 365-seat indoor theater will be an outdoor beer garden featuring Upper Pass craft brews from South Royalton and a food “pop-up” hosted by GameBird, caterers from Ludlow who are close friends with the owners of Beer Mountain. The 4-6:30 p.m. pre-concert festivities will also feature DJ Middle Management, supplying “a vinyl atmosphere for the good times” in the Village.

The Aug. 13 concert — and the beer garden and pop-up food/DJ event that will precede it — is the second presentation by the newly founded Astral Projections organization to take place at Town Hall Theater. On July 7, the budding arts group screened filmmaker John Carpenter’s cult classic “They Live,” a cutting examination of rampant consumerism in Ronald Reagan-era America. Both the showing of Carpenter’s satiric opus and the upcoming Bonnie Prince Billy concert were intended to draw a wholly different audience for the arts in Woodstock and the surrounding area. That’s the intent, at least according to Alita Wilson, executive director of Pentangle Arts and Josh Litwhiler, the co-owner of Bear Mountain and one of the co-founders of Astral Projections Presents.

“These are test runs to see if there is an appetite for these kinds of events,” Litwhiler said Monday. “For now, it’s very word-of-mouth and community-driven. At ‘They Live,’ it felt as if the right kind of open-minded, film-loving, arts-driven weirdos came out,” the new arts presenter said enthusiastically.

“There’s just a ton of folks out there who are dying to have more diverse entertainment. There’s a paucity of it in Woodstock,” Pentangle’s Wilson added on Monday, “so when the Astral Projections guys approached me about the John Carpenter film, that was kind of a test of our collaboration. It’s about drawing a different kind of demographic,” Wilson added. “I’ve been here at Pentangle and Town Hall for nine years and I hardly knew anyone who came to that film screening. And that was awesome. We’re expanding our audience and offering something that has not been programmed here before.”

Effervescent, deeply compassionate and caring, enormously proud of her Irish Catholic heritage, and a lifelong resident and devotee of Woodstock for nearly a century, Mary Helen Flower has been lovingly remembered by family, friends, and neighbors since she passed away at the age of 97 in her final home at Merten’s House on July 15.

Flower was known to all simply by her middle name, Helen. “Mom, like my dad, Elliott Flower, who was also a lifelong Woodstock resident, was passionate about her hometown and a devoted employee and constant volunteer over the course of her life,” the Flowers’ eldest child, daughter Lynn Flower Budnik of Essex, said on Monday. “She originally worked as a legal secretary at the old Pierce & Sherburn law firm and later was assistant town clerk in Woodstock in the 60s and early 70s. Mom was there when Fred Doubleday was the town clerk. Fred had a shoe store and mom would be selling shoes in the front of the store and then going to the back of the store to be a witness for a wedding that Fred would be performing. Fred did double-duty as town clerk while he also owned the shoe store,” Budnik said, hearkening back to a simpler, more community-oriented time in Woodstock’s history.

After graduating from Woodstock Union High School in 1944, Helen set out to be a nurse, studying for one year at the former Fanny Allen School of Nursing in Colchester. But the budding nursing career was not to be, as World War II was roaring in Europe and Helen — then Mary Helen McGee — was needed back home in Woodstock to care for a parent. “My grandmother became ill,” Budnik said of Helen’s mother, Annie Gallagher McGee. “[Mom’s] two brothers had been sent to war and her mother had a really hard time with that. She took ill and mom was called home to care for and be a companion for her own mother while the brothers were serving in the Marines.”

Elliott and Helen Flower met in high school and married several years later in 1950. The couple would spend 61 years together until Elliott’s passing in 2011, their lives intricately intertwined with the fabric of the community they both cherished.

Read more in the August 4 edition of the Vermont Standard.

Truth or Consequences

When Woodstock native, noted Civil War historian and former print journalist, academic and political communications director Howard Coffin speaks before the Bridgewater Historical Society this Sunday, he’ll share more than just “Stories from a Newspaper Reporter,” the working title of his talk. Coffin will also reveal the stories behind the stories from five decades of work as a reporter and correspondent with the Rutland Herald and Christian Science Monitor and as a media and public affairs director for Dartmouth, the University of Vermont, and for the late United States Senator from Vermont, James “Jim” Jeffords.

In the run-up to his speaking engagement at the Bridgewater Grange Hall, Coffin reflected last Monday morning about his writing career and about the news media environment in the United States, past and present. In follow-up conversations to the Memorial Day chat with Coffin, several other Woodstock area media luminaries, all retired, also shared their thoughts about the U.S. media, its accomplishments, pitfalls, and public image, then and now.

The media veterans who spoke in advance of Coffin’s presentation included another Woodstock native, Bob Hager, a veteran of 35-plus years as a foreign correspondent and analyst with NBC News; and the husband-and-wife team of Sandy and Karen Gilmour. Sandy served as a television newsman, correspondent, and international bureau chief — both with NBC and CBS News; and Karen helped forge a leading role outside the “Living” and “Society” pages for women in print journalism during a decades-long career with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Houston Chronicle, and the Associated Press that began in the late 1960s, then wrapped up with a stint in broadcast news production at NBC.

Coffin, who started out in journalism as a sportswriter for his hometown paper, the Standard here in Woodstock, spoke admiringly on Monday regarding an early editor’s news philosophy. Coffin then went on to cite his own, aggressive approach to gathering the news in a time when scooping the competition was paramount and when there wasn’t the 24-hour, technology-and-social-media-driven, flashy, ever-shifting media environment in which we live today.

“I worked for two great newspapers — the Herald and the Christian Science Monitor,” Coffin, who recently turned 80, said on Memorial Day. “Of course, the Herald was one of the great small dailies in the country and the Monitor was one of the world’s best papers. The real motto at the Herald was that the public has a right to know — and the Managing Editor Kendall Wild, a great newspaperman, had an unfailing belief that a great democracy cannot function without an informed public. So he told us to be as aggressive as we could be and to find out things we were not supposed to know.

“We worked hard in what was a tremendously competitive environment at the time,” Coffin continued.“When I got into covering politics, I became the chief political reporter for the Herald and I got a lot of complaints from elected officials because I was so assertive.” He added that the current environment for the media in the United States, rankled by allegations of promulgating “fake news” and colored by the ultra-partisan pronouncements of cable TV commentators, prognosticators, and pundits, is deeply problematic.

“Democracy is in trouble in this country,” Coffin worried. “One of the reasons is that in many instances the voters aren’t getting the truth. They sure were in my era. There was no Fox News. The media were all after basically the same thing — the truth. There were a few problems here and there. When I was at Dartmouth, the biggest problem we had in New Hampshire at the time was the Manchester Union-Leader, which distorted the news toward the right all the time. We got a preview then of what was to come.”

Hager, who covered the world from Vietnam to Berlin to Iran to international aviation disasters to the tragic, terrorism-plagued Munich Summer Olympics over the course of three-and-a-half decades with NBC News, also shared his perspective on the media landscape of yore versus today’s saturated news cycle, with its seemingly endless onslaught of “breaking news.”

“It’s drastically different today,” Hager said Tuesday. “The headlines, the reporting — it’s instantaneous. That’s different from the media I grew up with. You had some time with deadlines to reflect more on the issues, whereas today you have to grind out the news immediately, if not ad lib on the spot right away. The increasing prevalence of opinion is also a factor. At first, it was a prime-time cable phenomenon, but now it’s creeping more into the mainstream. I think young journalists feel a compulsion to take a bit more of a stance, even in a straightforward news column. They feel that’s good. I don’t. But that seems to be what is happening.”

Hager went on to address how profoundly technological advancements have impacted contemporary media coverage of events the world over. “The fact that you can go on live, immediately, from anywhere in the world — from out in the boonies, the jungle, or wherever — it’s unbelievable,” Hager noted. “In the early days of my career — of course, it was different by the time I retired — we always had to drive to an affiliate to put our stories together and feed them into the New York headquarters. By the time I left, you had a little satellite truck coming to you, no matter where you were in the world. That’s a profound change. Now everything is breaking news, whether it just happened or happened hours ago. Roger Ailes at Fox was a master at that, dressing everything up and making it sound instantaneous. Then it spread to CNN and everyone else.”

Hager also offered his thoughts on the role media outlets have played in fostering the seemingly endemic political polarization in the U.S. “I do think the media plays a role in it,” Hager offered. “But I don’t think it is completely the media’s fault by a long shot. The opinionating of the nighttime cable outlets in particular fosters the differences and encourages people to have tunnel vision where they don’t hear or bother to hear the opposing side of any issue. I’m old school — I always think you have to listen to the opposition, absorb it and think about it, and at least try to understand the other side’s argument. That’s fading — and part of it is the media, but certainly not all of it.”

Sandy and Karen Gilmour spoke by telephone Tuesday morning as they savored cups of coffee in their Woodstock home. Karen noted the steadily increasing gender and racial diversity in American newsrooms as one positive aspect of the major media’s transformation over the past generation or two. “I was the third woman hired by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at the time,” she recalled, harkening back to her early work at the Missouri newspaper in 1971. “The other two women literally came to the news side from the society and living pages.” Gilmour added that she only got the Post-Dispatch job initially because the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was pressing the newspaper to diversify its workforce significantly.

In the 1970s and ‘80s, when she stepped up to report on politics and international affairs, first with the Post-Dispatch and later with the Houston Chronicle and the Moscow bureau of the Associated Press, Karen said she wasn’t subjected to the acerbic slings and arrows that many mainstream journalists — especially women — face in today’s polarized political environment. “I got complaints about some of my stories, but they were gentle complaints,” she recalled. “There was nothing like being called an enemy of the people or anything like that. I don’t know how people can do it today. I guess they think they have to take the kind of warlike approach you see on the cable shows. What we’re talking about are not actually news programs — they’re commentaries.”

For his part, Sandy, who started out in journalism in Salt Lake City in the 1960s and then moved on to a storied career as a correspondent with both NBC and CBS-TV, including a stint as NBC’s bureau chief in Beijing, drew a distinction between the traditional news operations of the three longstanding broadcast television news outlets and their cable companions. “The three networks — ABC, CBS, NBC — still have traditional newscasts every night, just like they did 50 years ago,” Gilmour pointed out. “Of course, the ratings for those are greatly diminished. And then these cable programs come on and most of the time they don’t even give you headlines — they just start out with whatever the concern of the day is, the elementary school shooting or the takeover of the Capitol — and off they go from there. It’s not reporting, it’s not a newscast — and they miss a lot of opportunities to run actual stories and even do some more in-depth, live reporting on stuff that we as Americans really need to know about.

“The media landscape has just changed dramatically since the days when Karen, Bob [Hager], and I were in it, largely with social media and in my view for the worse,” Sandy Gilmour continued. “Back in the day, with newspapers — many of them owned by Republican families — and with the networks and local stations, at the end of the day, most Americans had some basic understanding of what was going on and they could act accordingly. There was a basic agreement and a mutual understanding of what the facts were and what they weren’t — during Watergate and things like that, for example. 

“Now it has become so diversified and fractionalized with so many different news sources out there to choose from. And that’s just the cable channels, not to mention social media,” Sandy concluded. “Every individual with a Twitter account has basically become a newspaper publisher. Americans don’t have any agreement on what the facts are, and this is negatively affecting our democracy.”

As the fall approaches, sportsmen in Windsor County are preparing for a new season of hunting and fishing, with the official start to the season occurring on Sept. 1. Enthusiasts of the sport typically understand the rules and regulations when it comes to practicing them but they should recognize there are some new recreational laws as well.

This according to State Game Warden David Lockerby, whose supervision of state wildlife and recreation covers Woodstock and much of Windsor County, who laid out the alertness hunters should have when practicing their sport.

“It’s good for people to be aware of other people that are using state lands, state WMAs [wildlife management areas], for other outdoor recreation. [We] just try to advise people that once Sept. 1 rolls around, the big game hunting season’s starting,” he said. “So just a head’s up that there’s going to be hunters on the landscape, [we’d] advise people to wear ‘hunter orange.’ If they have their dogs, keep them close, [make sure] they’re not running off game, and also be putting orange on their dogs as well.”

Overall, these measures are meant to keep all those using public lands for recreational or other purposes cognizant of their surroundings and other people’s activities, in order to minimize any potential conflicts arising on shared land.

Read more in the August 11 edition of the Vermont Standard.

A Celebration of Life for Robert (Bob) George Benz who passed away on May 26, 2022 will be held on Sunday, August 14, 2022 at the Barnard Town Hall in Barnard, Vermont from 12:00 to 4:00 pm.

BRIDGEWATER CORNERS

A celebration of life for Randy Paul Waters, 63, who passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by his family on December 21, 2021, will be held on Sunday, August 14, 2022 at the Bridgewater Grange in Bridgewater Corners, Vermont from 12 noon to 3:00 pm.

Christine Elaine Klein of Sharon, VT, passed away on Thursday, July 21, after a stoic journey with cancer.

Chris was born on February 18, 1958. She grew up in Wisconsin with her parents, older brother, and two younger sisters. Her love and devotion to animals, especially her dog Prince, began in childhood and continued throughout her life. In high school, she rode horses and spent countless weekends with veterinarians to gain experience for eventual entry to vet school. In 1979 she married Robert (Bob) Klein and they had their daughter, Jennifer (Jenny). In 1983 she began vet school at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, graduating with the charter class in 1987. Chris, Bob, and Jenny then moved to Vermont where Chris began her career of 33 years working at Riverbend Veterinary Clinic. She was described as being in “constant motion” at work. A highly skilled, hard-working and loyal veterinarian, she maintained many close friendships with colleagues and clients by whom she was loved and respected.

Chris was one of the original board members of Union Arena Community Center, helping make the skating rink possible. She was also a founding member, in 1999, of the renowned “Zambeauties” women’s hockey team. She made life-long, extraordinary friendships with her teammates. She also met Dave Phillips, her partner of 20 years, when he became the team’s coach. Dave and Chris formed a symbiotic relationship that allowed each to pursue their individual interests as well as shared ones – often involving music, hiking, camping, the outdoors, food, and friends.

In addition to family and friends, Chris loved her dogs, cats, and horses, long-distance running, walking, and dog competitions. While she loved all dogs (her crazy Pomeranian Gizmo and sweet collie Sabre, to name a few), her attention turned to Salukis in the early 2000s. Millie was followed by Valur (her “once-in-a-lifetime” dog), Yama, and Betty. Chris understood the breed and was able to prove to even long-time Saluki owners that the breed was capable of enjoying performance sports. She and Valur set the breed standard in agility, with Valur achieving more national titles than any other Saluki. He was the first Saluki to obtain a Masters Agility title and the only Saluki to qualify for the agility event at Westminster. For her part, Chris was awarded the prestigious and well-deserved “2020 Friend of the Saluki Award.” She was well-loved and respected by the global Saluki community for her tireless advice as a vet to anyone in need.

Perhaps one of Chris’s most treasured roles was bestowed upon her in 2017, when she became “Grandma Chris.” She made weekly trips to MA to see Jenny, her husband Sam, and baby Nora. Two years later, her grandson Owen was born. Although the pandemic later halted overnight visits, Jenny and her family looked forward to weekly Facetime calls with Chris. When her health began to decline over the past few months, Jenny, Nora, Owen, and Jenny’s dad, Bob, made weekly visits to Vermont to spend time with her.

In addition to Jenny, Sam, Nora, Owen, Dave, and Bob, Chris’s inner circle of friends was her chosen and extended family. Along with family, her colleagues, the Zambeauties, and her Saluki family – far too many to name but you know who you are! – had endless adventures and created hundreds of joy-filled memories throughout many years of friendship. (Zam parties and trips, ice cream Fridays, Reach the Beach and Covered Bridges road races, Montreal, dog shows, music, and camping to name a few!) Her family and friends were the ultimate support system – aiding in research, finding clinical trials, joining her on trips for treatment and for miles of walking – months after her doctors predicted her life would have ended.

Chris was recently featured on Lifetime’s “The Balancing Act,” discussing the future of cancer treatment and the need for further clinical trials. She was articulate, frank, and thoughtful in her filming. She was a determined fighter who provided support and guidance to fellow gastric cancer patients and was tireless in her pursuit of new information, participating in several trials in search of a cure for both herself AND to provide data for better treatment options for others.

Chris approached her life with modesty, determination, grit, grace, and persistence. She beat odds time and again, living life on her own terms and to its fullest, right to her last days. This was simply who she was, but she was certainly supported by the love, care, and incredible support of her clan.

Chris was predeceased by her mother, Elaine, and father, Fred. She is survived by Jenny, Sam, Nora, and Owen; Dave and his family; her first husband, Bob; her stepmother, Grace; brother, Paul; sisters, Leanne and Sandra; eight nieces and nephews; cats, Windy and Rodney; and her beloved dogs, Yama, Betty, and Betty’s very special 3 puppies born in June of this year. Equally important are the many friends who crossed her path and lived the “good life” with her. Our job is to carry her light forward.

At Chris’s request, there will be no burial. If you would like to make a donation in her memory, please consider donating to The Christine E. Klein Scholarship Fund at the University of Wisconsin Foundation. A scholarship in Chris’s honor has been established to support students at the UW School of Veterinary Medicine. Please make checks payable to the UW Foundation and send to the UW Foundation, US Bank Lockbox, Box 78807, Milwaukee, WI 53278-0807, or online at https://supportuw.org/giveto/KleinScholarship.

Thank you to the employees of Bayada and the many people around the world who were part of her care team. Thank you as well, one and all, to those who called Chris friend or family. As one friend said, “Chris never tried to be nice. She just was.” We will miss you dearly Chris but never forget you.

An online guest book can be found at cabotfh.com

Barbara Chase DeCoff Gilbert, 99 ½, passed away at her home in North Pomfret on August 2, 2022 surrounded by her family.

Barbara was born on January 21, 1923 in Lowell, Vermont, the daughter of Moses and Rena (Adams) Chase. After moving to North Pomfret she spent many years preparing lunches at her home and delivering them to the children in the Pomfret schools. She later worked for the Woodstock V.W Garage and then for Gerrish Motors both in Woodstock. Barbara lived in Pomfret nearly all her life, wintering in Florida following her retirement.

She loved making quilts, afghans, teddy bears and Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls for her family. She also made clothing for family and many friends. She was a long-time member of the No. Pomfret Congregational Church and  President of the Ladies Circle when they celebrated their 100-year anniversary.  She was also Grand Master of the Pomona Grange for several years.

She is survived by her children; Norma “Micki” (David) Peoples, Andrew (Marie) DeCoff, Sally (Ronald) Weglarz, Peter (Lee) DeCoff, son-in-law George Balch, step-children; Carol (Mike) Merrill, Betty (Arnie) Powell, Ann (Dave) Montgomery, Donald (Tina) Gilbert, a brother Howard “Chic” Chase, a sister Ethlyn Wardwell, 16 grandchildren, and many extended family and friends. In addition to her parents she is predeceased by husbands Orville A. DeCoff and Earl Gilbert, a daughter Mary Jo Balch,  a grandson Michael DeCoff, sisters Florence Rameor, and Kathleen Chase, brothers; Lyle “Herbie” Chase, Norman Chase, Ronald “Curly” Chase, Dean Chase, and Kenneth Chase.

Visiting hours will be held at the Cabot Funeral Home in Woodstock, VT on Saturday, Aug. 6^th from 6 to 8 pm. A funeral service will be held at the North Pomfret Congregational Church on Sunday, Aug. 7^th beginning at 2 pm. Burial will follow in the Hewittville Cemetery.

Those wishing may make memorial donations to the North Pomfret Fast Squad or the  North Pomfret Congregational Church.

An online guest book can be found at cabotfh.com

Elizabeth James McCredie, a long-time resident of Woodstock, VT., passed away peacefully at Woodstock Terrace Wednesday, July 27^th, 2022. Born in 1933 in Buffalo NY to Gordon and Evelyn James. She received a Fashion Merchandising degree from Southern Seminary in Virginia. She went on to be a retail store manager at LL Berger overseeing the lingerie department. It is there she met her future husband, Robert Lewis McCredie.

Liz married Robert L. McCredie in 1954 and soon after they had three children while living in Rumson, NJ. In 1969, Liz and Bob wanted to move to Vermont. They moved the family to Barnard VT., where they enjoyed snowmobiling, skiing, horseback riding, and gardening.    Since the kids had many high school activities in Woodstock, they moved into town.  Liz became an active member of the St. James Episcopal church and eventually commuted to Burlington to work at Fletcher Allen Hospital (Now UVM Medical Center) for 20-plus years. She managed the Clergy Department.

Her passion was to help patients and families with grief and loss.

Liz was classy, full of fashion, and loved being the “life of the party”. She enjoyed spending time with her close group of friends playing tennis, skiing, riding horses, and entertaining. She worked at Ann Taylor in Woodstock East. She was later a member of the Red Hat Ladies in Eastman, NH.

“Liz” loved her family…She loved gathering with family to celebrate holidays and birthdays. She and Bob made annual trips to Bermuda and the family traveled to Europe and the Virgin Islands.

Robert passed away in 2017. Liz moved to New London, NH, and then to the Woodstock Terrace in 2019. When the pandemic hit, they were in lockdown for a year. She started painting again. Painting was her passion to keep busy. She turned her passion into a business, selling her artwork online and being featured on the Super Seniors segment of WCAX, the CBS affiliate in Burlington.

She is survived by her two daughters,  Karen Zaretzky and son-in-law Ron Zaretzky of Mendon, VT. , Susan McLaughry and partner Rob McLaughry of Norwich, son Robert Jr. who’s residing in the Dominican Republic, and two grandchildren, Emily McLaughry and Paige McLaughry. Liz had one brother, Thomas M. James. He was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force. He did many top-secret reconnaissance flights over Vietnam. He passed in 2018.

A celebration of life will be announced at a future date.

It is with great sorrow we announce the passing of our beloved Shannon. Shannon Horsman passed away on March 31, 2022, in Woodstock, Vermont. She was born on March 11, 1993, to Nelly and Gary Horsman. She came into this world in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Before Woodstock, Vermont, she lived in Japan and Ireland. She attended Woodstock Elementary School and Woodstock Union High School.

As a young child, she was happy and energetic and always up for an adventure. At the age of nine, she climbed the highest mountain in Ireland, and she took delight in visiting islands off the coast of Ireland. Shannon was always excited about a challenge. She adored reading, enjoyed exploring topics, and loved discovering new places. She was an artistic person and taught herself to draw and paint.

She traveled throughout Europe and was especially fond of visiting Poland. In her mid-twenties, she decided to move from Vermont and renovated an RV with the plan to explore the United States. Shannon enjoyed road trips. She always wanted to see and understand as much as possible. Speed was not a significant factor; learning and understanding were more important.

Shannon cared for three cats, one of which she saved after it had been abandoned. She became active in fundraising for her local animal rescue organization. Her kindness was a strength. Everyone and everything could count her kindness. She was strong-willed but always had a great sensitivity to the feelings of others.

The passing of our dear Shannon has come too soon. We will always keep the memory of Shannon in our hearts.

Shannon is survived by her parents, Gary and Nelly, her younger sister Lauren, and a host of family and friends.

Harry Jorgensen, 94, of Woodstock, died peacefully, surrounded by family on July 27, 2022 after a brief stay at the Jack Byrnes Center.

Harry was born on February 22, 1928 in West Haven, CT to Harry and Lillian (Beckert) Jorgensen. Harry and his wife Doris moved to Vermont in 1961 opening the Sherburne Gift Shop and later owned the Red Cupboard in West Woodstock. He was a veteran and avid stamp collector for many years, and always enjoyed seeing friends.

He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Jean and Jim Howe of Woodstock, grandchildren Jamie, Jen, Joe, and four great-grandchildren; Hunter Eliza, Brady, and Colby. He was predeceased by his wife Doris.

A celebration of life will be held at the Bridgewater Congregational Church on Saturday, August 13^th at 1:00 pm

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Jack Byrnes Center for Palliative & Hospice Care in Lebanon, NH, or to the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, 37 Elmwood Ave., Burlington, VT 05401

An online guest book can be found at cabotfh.com

RONALD WAYNE ADAMS, SERGEANT MAJOR, United States Army, Retired, Combat Veteran, Bronze Star Recipient.

Ronald Wayne Adams, of Fayetteville, NC. peacefully departed this earth on July 22, 2022. Ronald was born April 2, 1938, in Hanover, New Hampshire to the late Rodney Arthur Adams and Myrtie Inez Godda Adams. He is a native of Bridgewater, Vermont.

Ronald married the love of his life, Irene Rita Zimmermann, in Augsburg, Germany and they traveled the world together. He was a loyal and loving family man.

Sgt. Maj. Adams retired from the Army with honor in 1985. He received the LEGION of MERIT for over 30 years of outstanding service to our country.

His worldwide assignments included Basic Training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, Advanced Training and Jump School, 11^th AIRBORNE DIVISION, Fort Campbell, KY, B Battery, 88^th AAA Battalion, Munich, Germany, 11^th Military Police Det, Augsburg, Germany, Task Force 201, Beirut, LEBANON, Mortar Battery, 2/501^St ABG, and 82^nd Military Police Det, 82nd AIRBORNE DIVISION, Fort Bragg, NC, 118^th Military Police Company„ XVIII ABN CORPS & FORT BRAGG, Fort Bragg, NC, 6th Special Forces Group (ABN), Fort Bragg, N C,

COMBAT SERVICE with 1st Brigade, 101^st AIRBORNE DIVISION, Vietnam, Camp Zama, Japan,

Headquarters, 716 Military Police Battalion, Vietnam, Headquarters, 385^th Military Police Battalion

Kornwestheim, Germany, 42^nd Military Police Group (Customs), Heidelberg, Germany, PMO,

Headquarters, UNITED STATES ARMY EUROPE AND SEVENTH ARMY, Heidelberg, Germany, PMO,

Headquarters, UNITED NATIONS COMMAND and EIGHTH UNITED STATES ARMY, Seoul, Korea, 108th

Military Police Company, 503^rd Military Police Battalion, SGM, PMO, Fort Bragg, NC, SGM, S3, 16^th MP BDE, SGM, Community Life Program, Fort Bragg, NC.PMO, Headquarters, WESTERN AREA COMMAND, Fort Shafter, Hawaii. His last assignment was Director, Personnel Services Center, Fort Bragg, NC.

Ronald spent more than 11 years of service to our country on assignment overseas. His professionalism and determination to excel were demonstrated constantly throughout his military career. He was an honor graduate of three major military schools: Advanced Airborne School, 1959; Nuclear Biological and Chemical School, 1964; and Military Police Supervisors Course, 1966.

Sgt. Maj. Adams was the recipient of numerous awards, which included the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Good Conduct Medal (10 Awards), Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (2 Awards), National Defense Service Medal, NCO Professional Development Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Vietnam Service Medal with 3 Campaign Stars, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Master Parachute Badge, Special Forces Tab, Presidential Unit Commendation, Meritorious Unit Commendation and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm.

A devoted member of Trinity United Methodist Church, where he served on numerous church committees, was an Advanced Lay Speaker, and served as Chairman of the Administrative Council.

He served two years as President of Braxton Bragg Chapter, Association of the United Army. He was a Regional Vice President for Coleman American Moving Services for many years and served two years as the President of the North Carolina Movers Association. President of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter, 11^th Airborne Division Association. President of the Headquarters Chapter, Retired Military Police Association. North Carolina State President, Association of the United States Army, and VICE PRESIDENT. 3^rd REGION. AUSA.

He was a life member of the Bridgewater, Vermont Historical Society, 11^th Airborne Division Association, Special Forces Association, Disabled American Veterans. He was a member of American Legion, a member on the Board of Appeals on Buildings and Dwellings, City of Fayetteville, NC.

Mr. Adams is preceded in death by his wife, Irene. He is survived by son Michael and wife Shirley, son Gary and wife Cil. Three grandchildren, Kayla, Davis, and Dylan. One great-grandchild, Ellanese.

A graveside service will be held Thursday, July 28, at 10 am at Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery, 8220 Bragg Blvd.

A Memorial service will be held Thursday, July 28, at 12 pm at Trinity United Methodist Church, 6974 Raeford Rd. 28304

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Trinity United Methodist Church.

A Celebration of Life for Pamela Davies Clark is on August 14

Pamela Davies Clark passed away in Washington D.C. on March 21, 2022. A devoted friend, enthusiastic golfer, consummate host, proud mother, and beloved grandmother, she always treasured the time she spent with family and friends.

Pam was born in Batavia, New York to Mary Ellen (Doton) and Charles Davies. She was adored by her siblings Thom Davies, Don Davies (who predeceased her), and Cathy Blake and their families.

Although she lived in many places throughout her life, Vermont was the only place she truly called home. It was where she raised her children, built homes and businesses, and celebrated the rich connection to the place where generations of relatives contributed to the land and character of the state, especially throughout the Woodstock area. She was an active contributor to the communities where she lived, serving on the School Board in Shelburne and participating in Town Halls in Charlotte. She was a passionate advocate for maintaining open space and the beauty of Vermont.

In recent years Pam spent time in Florida where she developed a love of golf, painting, birdwatching, and winters without shoveling snow. She lived a rich, full life with an unfailingly positive outlook that propelled her through good times and hard times and was reflected in the joyful celebration of her 29^th birthday every year, even as her children far surpassed that milestone.

She is survived by many who loved her and miss her, including her children Heather Pierce of Washington DC, Greg Pierce of New York NY, Randal Pierce of Burlington VT, and their families. Her husband Stephen Clark predeceased her, and Pam had a special bond with her stepdaughter Tricia Clark. With cousins in the dozens, Pam took every opportunity she could to visit and connect with family. Her friendships were deep and lasting.

She forged lifelong relationships with the children that she got to know and with whom she shared her love of crafts, nature, and sparkly jewelry, welcoming all as family regardless of family tree. Her art and her handmade cards and her masterful baking lessons are documented in the photographs and memories of those she loved.

A celebration of her life with family and friends will be at the Doton Family Farm in Woodstock, at 202 Lakota Road, on Sunday, August 14^th at noon. All are welcome.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Stern Center for Language and Learning, 183 Talcott Rd #101, Williston, VT 05495.

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

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