Inside the Kingdom

INSIDE THE KINGDOM January 24, 2018 the Chronicle Section B – 16 Pages Condos, Zuckerman break for coffee in Coventry by Elizabeth Trail COVENTRY — If there’s one thing Coventry can do, it’s throw a party. On Saturday afternoon, most of the town’s officials, paid and elected, joined Secretary of State Jim Condos and Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman in Coventry’s community center gym for a voter information shindig planned by the town’s recreation director Martha Sylvester. “I had a lot of help from Deb and Amanda,” Ms. Sylvester said, referring to Town Clerk Deb Tanguay and administrator Amanda Carlson. “It was a team effort.” Whoever planned each detail, the freshly renovated community center gleamed. There were coffee and tea and cocoa, huge trays of doughnuts, and plates of home-baked cookies. Guests who wanted a place to sit could pull up a chair at a table, but most grabbed refreshments and mingled with the state and local politicians who were there ready to talk. Besides Mr. Condos, Mr. Zuckerman, and town officials, Vermont Senator Bobby Starr and Representative Gary Viens turned out to shake Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos (center) entertained Coventry residents and officials on Sunday hands and answer questions. And of course afternoon at a political information coffee planned by the town’s new recreation director Martha Sylvester. From left to right are select board member Scott Morley, board Chair and state Representative Mike Marcotte, Mr. Representative Mike Marcotte, who is also chair Condos, delinquent tax collector Kate Fletcher, and Sheila Morley. Photos by Elizabeth Trail of the select board, was there. There was also a voting booth, decked out in were voting on. floor, and Coventry now has spaces to host flags, set up as a reminder to people to register “I want to change that,” she said. almost any size gathering. to vote. The Coventry Community Center and town Selectman Scott Morley led a tour of the “I’ve already registered two voters,” Ms. offices look completely different today from how community center space, which in some ways is Sylvester said with excitement ten minutes into they looked a year ago. Upstairs, the warren of the physical expression of his three-year crusade the event. “My day is complete.” dark rooms where former Town Clerk and to overhaul Coventry’s town government. The idea behind the voter information day treasurer Cynthia Diaz once hid and fed stray The select board now has a key to the town was to foster “two-way transparency” in the cats is now a bright suite of office and meeting clerk’s upstairs storage space, which earned town, she said. rooms. some notoriety last year when Ms. Diaz refused At last year’s Town Meeting, she said, she The asbestos-laden tiles are gone from the the board access to the closet. realized that a lot of voters didn’t know their gym, replaced by gleaming wood-look flooring. When she finally turned over the key, late elected officials, or much about the issues they Add in the select board’s room on the ground last winter, the closet was nearly empty, save for some tattered decorations from Coventry Days past, and some old real estate records. Financial documents that auditor Jeff Graham believes were stored there at one time were nowhere to be found. Now the closet is full again, as town records found downstairs are sorted and labeled. “We’re looking into the laws on retention of records,” Mr. Morley said. “When we know what we need to keep and how long, we’re going to remodel the closet, put in modern shelving, and have everything organized so you can just walk to what you need and put your hands on it instantly.” The last items on the agenda are to turn the two small bathrooms into a single unisex room large enough to offer wheelchair access, and an elevator to make the upstairs accessible, Mr. Morley said. But beyond the physical transformation of the building, there’s a bigger change in the town offices. Town Clerk Deb Tanguay, Treasurer Adam Messier, Delinquent Tax Collector Kate Fletcher, and Town Administrator Amanda Carlson all exude energy and openness. They riff off each other’s references to old “Seinfeld” television episodes. “We work together really well as a team,” Ms. Fletcher said. “You have an awful lot of accountants in They say most parties end up in the kitchen and Saturday’s political meet and greet in Coventry was no here these days,” Mr. Condos said in his brief exception. On Sunday afternoon, Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (left) chatted with Representative and address to the crowd. “That’s a good thing.” Select Board Chair Mike Marcotte and Secretary of State Jim Condos in the doorway to the kitchen in Coventry’s newly renovated community center. (Continued on page 9B.) IN THIS WEEKLY SECTION, YOU’LL FIND: BIRTHS l WEDDINGS/ENGAGEMENTS l OBITUARIES l KINGDOM CALENDAR l CLASSIFIED ADS l RESTAURANTS & ENTERTAINMENT l REAL ESTATE & AUCTIONS l YOURS FROM THE PERIMETER l RUMINATIONS l AND MORE! Page 2B the Chronicle, January 24, 2018 Ruminations There are only two kinds of people… by Georgia Young There are only two kinds of people in the world, my youngest son and I used to say. Those who like nuts in their fudge and those who don’t. He was of the don’t persuasion, and I was in favor. He even went so far as to do an extended family survey at one point and discovered it split pretty evenly. The original, “There are only two kinds of people in the world,” was a line from an old Bill Murray movie to explain why he and his wife had split up. Though his line was: “There are only two kinds of people in the world. Those who like Neil Diamond and those who don’t.” His wife being in the Neil Diamond faction. He apparently didn’t think the split had anything to do with the fact that he was totally nuts! So we frequently divided the world into two kinds of people. For instance, there are only two kinds of people in the world. Those who like Brussels sprouts and those who don’t. The don’ts obviously take that one (sorry, Nathan). Or there are only two kinds of people in the world. Those who like kale (which used to be a garden weed) and those who don’t. You get the idea. A few weeks before Christmas my grandson Gabe was visiting and wanted to make some fudge for his family. There was no question that both batches would contain nuts. The question was whether to go with walnuts or pecans. Then when his sister Brook was here at the end of the year, she wanted to make fudge for our little New It’s never too late to make Christmas fudge. Here are a couple batches cooked up by nieces Zoë and Maia in mid- January. Photo by Zoë Young Year’s Eve party. But she decided to make some with nuts and some without. That worked to my 3/4 of a 7.5 oz. jar of Marshmallow Fluff butter chips. Stir until melted. Stir in the nuts advantage since it turned out that our guests, her 2 cups Reese’s peanut butter chips (That’s a (if you’re one of those kind of people). Pour into great-uncle and cousins (first cousins, once full bag, plus another 1/3 cup.) buttered, foil-lined 8” square pan. Chill until removed), all wanted without, leaving me with a 3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans firm. If you want to go half and half, put half of half batch of nutty fudge all to myself. I am still the fudge into a 9”x5” loaf pan. Stir nuts into the working on it. Combine the sugar, milk and butter in a other half and put into a second loaf pan. Either way, here is our favorite fudge recipe. medium saucepan. Bring to a full boil. Lower This is actually a variation on the Never Fail heat to medium to medium-high and boil for five Chocolate Fudge recipe that appears on the Ben’s Famous Peanut Butter Fudge minutes (make sure the heat is high enough to Marshmallow Fluff jars. We created it when Ben keep the mixture boiling), stirring constantly. was a kid and every peanut butter fudge recipe 1-1/2 cups sugar Add fluff. Stir over low heat until the fluff is we tried failed to solidify. And it has become a 2/3 cup evaporated milk melted. Remove from heat and add peanut family favorite, right into the next generation. 1/4 cup butter PROPOSED STATE RULES 24 Years in By law, public notice of proposed rules must be given by ACCEPTING business! sudoku NEW publication in newspapers of record. The purpose of these CUSTOMERS! notices is to give the public a chance to respond to the proposals. solution The public notices for administrative rules are now also available online at: https://secure.vermont.gov/SOS/rules/. The law requires an agency to hold a public hearing on a proposed rule, if requested to do so in writing by 25 persons or an association having at least 25 members. Transport & Home Delivery of To make special arrangements for individuals with disabilities or FUEL OIL • GASOLINE • DIESEL • KEROSENE special needs, please call or write the contact person listed below Burner Service Available as soon as possible. Phone: 802-744-2555 Toll free: 800-286-2750 • Fax: 802-744-2525 • E-mail: [email protected] To obtain further information concerning any scheduled P.O.

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