Photos by Nanci Blog

It's that time of year when neighbors gather to vote on our town budget. The annual meeting will be held on Saturday, March 3 at the school in Ascutney. The school board presents the school budget at 10 a.m. then there will be a lunch break followed by the select board presenting the town budget at 12:30 p.m.. These meetings are mostly question and answer sessions but they will help you make your decision on Tuesday, March 6 when we vote by Australian ballot at Martin Memorial Hall from 10 a.m.-7 p.m.. The ballot contains the names of people running for town office, the budgets, and articles to raise funds for various things in and around town. Your town report is the key to this whole next couple of weeks. Some people read it cover to cover, others just skim it. But we should all have our copies ready on Saturday to figure out how we should fund our school and town for the next fiscal year. After this celebration of citizen government, who wants to cook dinner. Let the volunteer...

Sure signs of Spring: my neighbors are checking their sap lines, the wood pile is dangerously low, the Boston Red Sox are playing Spring Training games with the Minnesota Twins Friday and the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday and our Town Reports arrived last weekend. If you didn't receive your town report please contact the town office to get one 802-674-2626. Weathersfield select board news: The select board held a special meeting on Monday, Feb. 12 to discuss the logging taking place on Ascutney Basin Road. Willey Earthmoving Corp. is doing the logging there and has cause some damage. The board voted to allow the logging continue even though a permit was not obtained prior to the work start. The board granted an exception for Wiley Earthmoving with stipulations. More information about the select board and the town contact Town Manager, Ed Morris, at 802-674-2626 or townmanager@weathersfield.org. Weathersfield School news: Parent-Teacher Conference Day will be held on March 9...

On a beautiful winter Saturday, Montshire Museum hosted their annual "Igloo Build." Organizers believe this is their 30th year of building igloos. Bert Yankielun (above shaving the snow block) former Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory scientist and author of " How to Build An Igloo and Other Snow Shelters " was on hand for his 27th year instructing people how to build igloos. "I'm teaching third generations today" he said, "I show folks how to make friends with winter."  Dr. Y., as Bert is called, (his website is www.doctorwhy.com ) said the structure should be about the size of a small tent.  You can map is out in the ground by creating a "snow-angel." Cut the blocks of snow. And begin arranging them in a circle. You can then shave a ramp around your block circle and continue stacking the snow blocks. Fill in the gaps by packing the space with loose snow. More detail of igloo building can...

Do you have children ages 0-6 living in your household? Do you live in one of these Windsor county towns: Weathersfield, Windsor , West Windsor , or Hartland?  If yes, Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center invites you to take an online survey Ascutney Mountain Promise Community Survey: Kindergarten Readiness for All Families . Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center , the fiscal agent for a Promise Community grant from the state of Vermont is looking for families with children age 0-6 to take a survey about reading to and playing with children. They are seeking responses from parents, step-parents, foster parents, guardians, and grandparents or other relatives taking care of children. If young children live with you, they want to hear from you. The survey is short and should take about 5-7 minutes to complete. Please click here or paste this url into your browser: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AMPC15 . The survey will be open until March 16th . ...

Hey man, did you know The Machine played LOH last week? Earplugs were being offered at the box office before the show. That usually means it's going to be LOUD . And it was but it was great. And this old Floyd fan really kept thinking (of my old Floyd mates) "Wish You Were Here!" The Machine , billed as America's #1 Pink Floyd Show, played two sets Friday night at the Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, NH. This New York based band has been touring for 28 years giving fans of Pink Floyd an "authentic Floydian experience." For four people, they put out an amazing wall of sound. The band includes: founding The Machine members Joe Pascarell (guitar, vocals), Tahrah Cohen (drums), and long time stage mates Ryan Ball (bass, vocals) and Scott Chasolen (keys, vocals) Scott Chasolen blew me away on keys. He was spot on all night. (I may have to check out his solo stuff-he's that good.) Getting to hear "Breathe" (off The ...

EDITORIAL-Nancy Nutile-McMenemy, former member of the Library Board of Trustees. The Weathersfield Proctor library budget is up 14%. This is not an article to be voted on at town meeting, it is included in the overall town budget. In the past, the library budget was prepared by the library director and the board of trustees. This year, town manager Ed Morris came to the library trustees meeting in December with a budget. This budget included a 32.9% wage increase for the library director. It was conveyed to the trustees by the town manager that the library director, Mark Richardson, wanted the increased explained without emotion. It was later revealed to the full board of trustees that the town manager, the library director and the chair of the trustees, Rick Bates, had been discussing the increase without the knowledge of the full board of trustees. After a couple of special meetings and one regular trustee meeting, where a clean copy of the FY 2019 budget were re...

Town Meeting is Around the Corner Annual School Town Meeting Saturday, March 3 10:00 a.m. Annual Town Meeting Saturday, March 3 12:30 p.m. Both at Weathersfield School, Ascutney  Town Voting by Australian Ballot Tuesday, March 6 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Martin Memorial Hall, Ascutney A preview of the General Fund portion of the Town Budget. The town manager and the select board are asking the voters to approve an expenditure of $1,485,018 of which $1,057,805 shall be raise by taxes. Expenditures are going up but according to town manager Ed Morris the revenues (other than taxes) are being collected at a higher rate. SAPA-TV has produced an informational video, discussing the town, school and library budget. You can view it  online  or on your television. (SAPA-TV publishes their  schedule daily .) The town is covered beginning at 34 minutes. The board is looking to spend some money to increase efficiency of services provided to the taxpaye...

Town Meeting is Around the Corner Annual School Town Meeting Saturday, March 3 10:00 a.m. Annual Town Meeting Saturday, March 3 12:30 p.m. Both at Weathersfield School, Ascutney  Town Voting by Australian Ballot Tuesday, March 6 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Martin Memorial Hall, Ascutney The budgets for FY 2019 have been set. The details are off to the printers. Over the next few hours I will be previewing the proposed budgets for the school, the town and the library. Weathersfield School The annual school meeting will be held Saturday, March 3 at 10 a.m. at the school. The warning can be viewed and downloaded:  HERE   The school board is asking the voters to approve a budget of $5,630,601. The article states "It is estimated that this proposed budget, if approved, will result in education spending of $15,750.00 per equalized pupil. This projected spending per equalized pupil is 1.99% higher than the spending for the current year." The budget i...

February 14, 2018 Weathersfield, Vermont Happy Valentine's Day! I had quite a few adventures this past week. From music to winter survival to pie tasting. Check them out below... Music Scene Saw one of my favorite bands from back in my college days at Tupelo Music Hall in Derry, NH. Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes were scheduled to perform in November but the date was rescheduled for Feb. 9. We sat at Table 5 and had a front row seat for a very cool show. More photos: CLICK HERE On Sunday we saw Shelby Lynne perform with her sister Allison Moorer at Tupelo Music Hall in Derry, NH.. They are on the road promoting their CD "Not Dark Yet." More photos: CLICK HERE Newspaper Assignments Saturday I followed the local boy scouts around Paradise Park. I was covering their annual Klondike Derby for the Vermont Standard.  More photos: CLICK HERE After chasing the scouts around in Windsor I stopped by the newly op...

February 14, 2018 Ascutney, Vermont Pearl's Pies opened their doors on Saturday, February 10 in Ascutney. The pie, pizza and sandwich shop took over the space recently occupied by a convenience store and gas station on the corner of Routes 131 and 5. Owner Tom Burnahm comes from the information technology and financial services sector but has always loved baking pies. The store is named after his mother, Pearl. "I used to make pies as gifts for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so this is an expansion of that." His daughter challenged him to do something different in his semi-retirement and baking pies is what he chose to do. Focusing on fruit pies now, Burnham and crew plan to expand to meat pies and traditional English pies. "We're working up a corned beef and cabbage pie for St. Patrick's Day" he said. Pearl's Pies plans to use fresh and frozen local produce as their main ingredients. And they not only sell retail but also sell commercially to ...

February 7, 2018 Weathersfield, Vermont Not complaining but our little snow storm on Sunday turned into an eight inch dumping with sleet and rain. We were going to go to a Super Bowl Party but decided to hunker down and stay home. I'm glad we did. The ride home after the game would have been awful. But we have some new snow to play in and more expected later. Anything but those WAY below zero temperature will be welcomed. And speaking of the Super Bowl, congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles and their fans. Another great Super Bowl. This one we got to watch. Last year we were in Australia chasing Bruce Springsteen around Sydney and Brisbane so we missed the "Best Super Bowl Ev-Ah!" News You Can Use Weathersfield select board news: The select board was scheduled to meet on Monday. The town meeting warning for March 3 and March 6 is now posted online and around town. More informati...