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Shirley Is On Her 77th Sweater
photo provided Shirley Pominville |
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Tuesday November 29, 2011
By Marcie Bolton
I imagine Shirley Pominville ate quite a few peanut butter sandwiches driving to Vermont in the early 1940’s. She would make peanut butter sandwiches to sustain her while she, her mother, father and her brother, packed up their bags and drove the six hour journey north, which they made many, many weekends throughout a five year period. They came from Scotch Plains, New Jersey, all those weekends because Shirley’s dad, after spending his formative years in Vermont, wanted to return and strike out on his own to run his own farming business.
Driving down the main road in Middlebury sixty years ago, a number of the pedestrians strolling on the sidewalk waved to Shirley Grice (Pominville now) as she sat in the backseat of her family’s automobile peering through the glass at her soon-to-be home town. She felt as though Middlebury was welcoming her personally, and she was excited everyone seemed so friendly. Looking back today, she still believes the people of Middlebury are very friendly, but perhaps they were staring so and waving because it was unusual for cars with out of state license tags to go by.
Shirley met her husband, Richard Pominville, shortly after moving to Middlebury, and starting her junior year at Middlebury High School. She graduated in the class of 1949, and then married him June 25, 1953, after she had graduated from University of Vermont with a degree in elementary education. She secured a teaching job in Weybridge, Vermont, in September of 1953 and taught four grades. There was no running water in the one room, red, brick, school house where she taught. She carried water out every day to put in the crock pot. The following year the schoolhouse did get running water. Shirley was the physical education teacher, custodian, art teacher, music teacher, -she did it all. She asked me if I wanted to know how much she made back then and I said yes. “I made twenty-five hundred dollars a year. That was a lot of money. I would take my grain bags back and get ten cents a bag and each Friday I stopped where Ski House is now, that was the First National Grocery Store, and I would cash my six dollar a week check and get all my groceries. We even had a pint of ice cream every Friday as a treat.” Shirley was good at teaching, and it filled a need: she supported their start-up farming operation, which did not cover the mortgage payments at the beginning. Joel, Shirley’s oldest son, who was preparing to head to the barn to milk the cows, tells me his mom and dad did not have hot water for quite a while after they bought the farm. “They would heat water and take it to the milking parlor where they would bathe. Joel says. One of their first big purchases for the farm was a hot water heater. “We did not feel poor at all.” Shirley reminisces. Shirley and Richard bought the farm that had a tractor and 17 cows in 1953 for $21,000. “We had one hundred and one acres.” Word got out about this article I was writing and an old Pominville family friend and past Middlebury resident, Judy (Stringer) Pellerin brought in a yellowed, original Burlington Free Press article from February 17, 1966. The article sums up how the Pominville farm won Vermont’s Outstanding Young Farmer award and how the family was a big part of the community at large as well as the farming community. They gave tours of their farm, served on boards and spoke at agricultural fairs. Shirley continues to touch the lives of many. Shirley believes through connecting with her friends and the community, it keeps her vibrant and fills a deep need within her. Currently, Shirley still helps run the administrative part of the Quarry Road Farm, a dairy cattle and milk production company located in Middlebury. The business, mainly, is run by her son Joel. It is one of 600 farms from 21 states which sell certified organic milk to Horizon, a brand within White Wave Foods. Currently there are approximately 1,055 working dairy farms in Vermont, ninety-one percent less than the 10,637 farms in 1953 when Shirley and Richard Pominville bought theirs. Shirley lives on the same farm which they bought in 1953.
Today, in that farmhouse kitchen she serves up to 15 friends at a luncheon she has every month. She makes a big pot of soup, serves salad, homemade breads and then many types of desserts. I asked Shirley why she did not make it easier on herself and make it a potluck. She replied, “I am blessed I have many good friends. This is why I do it, so I can feed my friends. Isn’t it kind of fun to go somewhere and just eat and not have to worry about making anything? While I am working to clean the house, bake the breads and desserts and make the soups I ask myself why I am doing all this. After it is all over I realize it is fellowship, plain and simple, fellowship. My mission in life is to cook for people,” she finishes with a hearty laugh. If you look out her farmhouse kitchen window, as well as the barns, you will see gardens and birdfeeders. Shirley loves birds and takes great care to attract woodpeckers, blue jays, goldfinches and Baltimore orioles to her feeders. Surrounding the feeders, are her gardens which are a source of pride for Shirley. Not only does she continually work on them in her yard, she, along with some of her friends, keeps up many of the public flower displays in downtown Middlebury, perhaps as part of her civic duty. One area that is specifically hers is in the center of the 4-way intersection by the Sunshine preschool, is my favorite. Zinnia, snapdragons and so many other colorful shows reside there in the summer months. It is truly a work of art. To add to her list of hobbies, Shirley is very proud of her knitting. She is currently knitting her 77th sweater for kids all over the world with a program that began in 1996 though Guideposts magazine as a way to send hand-knit or crocheted sweaters to children in need. The program is now called Knit for Kids and the program has donated 500,000 hand knit sweaters. While her hobbies make her happy, Shirley is happiest when her entire family is well and healthy. Her favorite day is December 25th, not only because it is her birthday, but more so because it is Jesus’ birthday and she gets to have her family all around her when they all come to her home on the Christmas holiday. She has five children and many grandchildren and the farmhouse is bubbling and alive throughout the holiday season.
Shirley Pominville has been a vibrant member of the Middlebury community for close to 70 years. She believes giving back is her purpose in life. She is a terrific role model for her family and her friends, always giving and sharing.
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