Top Stories for Tuesday February 21, 2012

Growing Up With The Land: Insights And Reflections With Bill Scott
By Cookie Steponaitis
    “I was brought up on Norton Town Road in Addison in the heart of farm country,” recalled Bill Scott. “My Dad worked for Forest & Parks and we had enough land to have chickens, pigs, and my FFA Project, a dairy cow and two beef animals. At eight years old I worked on Alfred Vanier’s farm just up the road in the summer driving tractor on the hay loader and raking hay for 10 cents a load. When it rained I did odd jobs around the farm in the shop, cleaning up and cutting burdocks. I also helped with tractor driving, picking up corn bundles that were hauled back to the barn in the fall. The next year I earned $1 a day for my efforts.” Simply put, Bill Scott has never been separated from the land or the changes on it since he was a child in Addison County.
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Regional Swim Meet Concludes 2011-2012 Winter Swim Season
By Marcie Bolton
The Middlebury Aquatic Club competed in their last meet this past weekend February 10-12, at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center in White River Junction.  Swimmers ages 6 to 18 gathered and swam along with hundreds of other water lovers from all over New England. Many succeeded in swimming some of their best times in butterfly, back, breast and freestyle events from 25 yards to 1650 yards.   The 75 swimmers in the winter swim club started their season October 3, 2011 practicing five evenings a week over the past four months.

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FFA From Both Sides of the Table: Meeting Ariculture Teacher Bill VandeWeert
By Cookie Steponaitis
When Bill Vandeweert was a student at VUHS and a member of the FFA, long time vocational and agriculture teacher Harmon Boyce was used to the ribbing about “Farmin with Harmon”, because Mr. Boyce knew the program was so much more than that. So, did Bill Vandeweert. Even as a student, Bill choose FFA as a place to commit his time and to learn, because he valued the people, programs and even then knew his future was linked to the land.
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