Former Northfield News Publisher, Jim Wilson, passed away after an active and accomplished community career. In many ways, 2009 was a turbulent year. A few of both the high and low watermarks that appeared locally in the News are remembered in the review of the year past.

It was a troubled year for the economy which began to bounce back by year’s end. It troubled some locally and affected others only martinally.

JANUARY

The new police station was ready, the police moved into the building and an open house was held for all to see the new facility in March. However, as the year wore on, the chief came under investigation but in the end was forgiven his transgressions and place back in office after a short time on suspension.

Vermont Governor, Jim Douglas, was on hand at Cabot Mills to help kick off the “Blue Socks for Kids” project that saw 10,000 pairs of top quality socks manufactured here in Northfield will find their way to needy Vermont youngsters.

Chief Shaw holds the plaque dedicating the new police station which now hangs in the outer reception area. The recession is now full blown across the nation. Locally, some businesses have been just holding their own while others have seen an upturn in sales. Rumors are that Bean Chevrolet may have to close if things don’t turn around. Mike Bean was asked about auto sales, at first he grew ashen, blurted out, “It’s been awful.” However, he remained hopeful and said that they were holding their own.

Bean has been owned by the same family in Northfield since 1950 and has seen the ups and downs in the economy before.

President Obama’s Inauguration Day was celebrated in Montpelier beginning with a live feed on the big screen at Montpelier’s City Hall Arts Center and in the evening, people gathered for a dessert potluck and community celebration.

The Bean Chevrolet lot was emptied out after GMAC came in and removed all of the cars. The business had been under the same family ownership since 1950, it was the victim of the recession and the downfall of General Motors which went bankrupt shortly after this occurred. “I’m digging out my ball gown and plan to celebrate this moment in history,” said Susan Ritz, one of the many volunteer organizers putting together the event.

James Wilson, 62, former publisher of the Northfield News passed away following brain cancer, first diagnosed in July 2008. A lifelong editor, photographer and journalist, Mr. Wilson worked for several Gannett newspapers before settling in Vermont at the Burlington Free Press in 1974. While in Burlington he rose from Chief Photographer in the newsroom to his eventual position of chief editor.

Members of the cast of Footloose, the Spring high school play brought down the house with their finale. On the early morning hours of Saturday January 10, four local businesses in Northfield became the victim to burglaries. This included the Village Pizza, Bicycle Express, China Star and Baroffio’s Garage. Each were forcibly entered.

Muriel F. Leonard, 89, passed away on January 29, 2009 at her home in Northfield. She had been married to the former President of the Northfield Savings Bank, Francis Leonard.

Northfield took part in a rally that took place throughout the state in hope to bring awareness of the seriousness of budget cuts that face low-income families and senior citizens. Those taking part in the rallies accused Governor Douglas of cutting programs without considering alternatives to balancing the budget. Christopher Curtis, Staff Attorney of Vermont Legal Aid played a major role in bringing the rally to Northfield.

The strings program for kids was pulled out of the school budget to save money to the chagrin of some who protested the cuts. FEBRUARY

The News has learned that a defense committee has been formed to assist Chief Shaw in his defense against the move by the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council to decertify the chief thus removing his ability to act as a police officer in Vermont.

“The defense is going to be very expensive,” said Chris Bradley of Northfield who is spearheading the movement. “We have already found a number of people who feel that the chief should not have to personally bear the cost of his defense to these charges,” he said.

The chief has been charged with failure to attend firearms training classes, one in 2004 and another in 2006. Also, he failed to attend first aid training classes during the years 2002 through 2008 according to a letter which was sent by the Vermont attorney general to the Town Manager two weeks ago.

The Northfield Fire Department made quick work extinguishing a car fire at North Main Service in late April. The board of Northfield Labor Day Observances, Inc. met at the Senior Center to read a statement prepared by Board president Marguerite Moore that stated that this year’s Labor Day Observances would be suspended and come back in 2010. However, later, due to an anonymous gift of $25,000, the observances were back on.

Erna Goodrich, a long-time Northfield resident and wife of Art Goodrich died at La Rosa Health Care Center in Tucson, Arizona. She was 99 years old.

A local man was severely burned when his apartment at Dogwood Glen caught fire. An investigation by the Vermont State Police and Division of Fire Safety concluded that the fire was most likely as a result of the failure to extinguish smoking material properly.

Northfield artists Phyllis Higgins and Phyllis Greenway toast the show held at the Gray building of the work of local artists in June The apartments have no sprinkler system according to Bill Lyon, former fire chief and superintendent of the water department, which might have spared the tenant from being so badly burned.

Lisa Haggett, 49, of Northfield lost her life in a head on collision with Kathleen Vanderbloom of Williamstown on Route 63.

Witnesses stated that Ms. Haggett’s sports utility slid due to icy road conditions, crossing the center line and crashing into Ms. Vanderbloom’s car, leaving both drivers trapped in their vehicles.

The likelihood of the Roxbury road crew being unionized was discussed at a Selectboard meeting. Later in the year, the union came to town even though it was for just 1 and 1/2 employees.

Louise Halstead left a trust that will benefit many entities in Northfield for years to come and assure that Labor Day festivities will continue. A Subaru loaded with five teenagers ran into the fence opposite Winter Street, apparently slidding on the ice. Police, fire truck and ambulance appeared at the scene but there were no major injuries.

A crime spree lasting over three months was stopped as a result of quick work by Northfield police with the help of State Police from the Royalton Barracks.

Thousands of dollars worth of jewelry and cash was stolen from homes around central Vermont but the culprits could not be found.

Northfield police tried to pull over a car on the interstate when an officer spotted a passenger in a car and believed him to be wanted on an arrest warrant.

The Northfield Historical Society’s summer show highlighted Vietnam war experiences of veterans from Northfield and graduates of Norwich University. In this picture, General Greenway, then a Captain holds the helmet that was pierced by a Viet Kong bullet. Instead of pulling over, the driver sped away, finally being stopped and forced into the southbound Randolph rest area by State Police from the Royalton barracks.

MARCH

Boy Scout Troop 759 held its annual winter campout at Scoutmaster Scott Morgan’s home in Northfield. A great time was had by all but no one had a better time than Little Bear, the Morgan’s new dog (rescued from the Central Vermont Humane Society).

Prior to the campout, the troop received a class from Norwich Cadet Ronald Kurtz, a member of the US Army’s Mountain and Cold Weather Rescue Team at the weekly troop meeting earlier in the month. This got all the scouts ready for the campout.

The Green Mountain Motor Heads held a car show on the Common in August where Hank Shed of Williamstown won best in show for his 1942 Chevy. Dr. Craig Sullivan, his son, Mathew and Ralph Indorf traveled to downtown Tegucigalpa, Honduras to help needy people who do not have adequate medical care.

This is the time of year when steam can be seen billowing from sugarhouses across Vermont. Only a few places in the world have the right climate for sugar maples, Vermont being the largest and most famous producer of maple syrup.

APRIL

The mythical southwestern town of Bomont has a problem. But the local teenagers don’t seem to realize it. The laconic, backwater community banned dancing five and a half years ago as the result of the deaths of four teenagers in an auto accident. The Northfield High School annual play was being readied for their production of Footloose.

Veterans Place opened its doors to its first residents in early September after a complete renovation of the former Mayo DeLary House on Vine Street. With a 453-339 vote a revised Northfield school budget passed but eliminated the popular strings program from the budget and also cut out a planned school snow plow.

Microcheck at the Falls has been in business here in Vermont for 21 years and signed an exciting contract to collaborate with the global company, Applied Biosystems, said Susan Sinclair, CEO.

For years, Paula Sambel has been providing help in finding families for homeless cats and some food for pet owners who occasionally find themselves unable to provide a meal for their pets. She has food and pet supplies on hand in her real estate office in the Mayo Building for those who can’t afford it.

After lawsuits and actions by the town and the state, Larry Drown tore down his building on Wall Street. MAY

Green Up Day came once again to Northfield and Roxbury with high school kids volunteering to clean up the banks of the Dog River, among other projects.

Norwich University this past week dedicated the central building in its Engineering, Math and Science Complex in honor of A.J. Bartoletto, Class of 1952, and his wife Anne.

Mr. Bartoletto is chairman and chief executive officer of Temperform Corporation, based in Novi, Michigan. He has volunteered for the university in a variety of capacities during the past three decades and has been a generous donor.

Kasia Starzec, Molly Clark, Allison Flood, Mallory Wright, Rachel Matheson, Kayla Striebe, Kelsey Langley, Erin Connor, Hannah Gleason and Maryada Defelice all won trophies in the Step Up To Dance tour sponsored by Olympic Miss Dance in regional finals in West Springfield, MA and Stratham, NH. The girls won six high golds and one platinum award at each of the two competitions.

The new second phase of watermain replacement got underway in October when the line was run under the Dog River. The installation was complete before the snow flew. It’s official, the town will continue to maintain one house roads for the immediate future.

A letter has been sent to all people owning property on one house roads informing them that the selectboard will not take any further action to stop maintaining single service roads.

This means that all class three roads with one house on them will be maintained and plowed at least for now and that all class four roads will be maintained.

Gold bars were handed out at Shapiro Field House last Saturday afternoon. Not the kind of gold bars at Fort Knox but the kind of gold bars that sit on the shoulders of young officers in the United States military forces. Ninety five members of Norwich’s graduating class of 2009 received their commissions as Officers in an impressive ceremony.

Frank Pecora announced his retirement as Assistant High School Principal North Main Street from Belknap Street to about Cumberland Farms will have extensive pavement work this summer, according to the joint highway committee.

The Trustees are pushing ahead quickly on a vote to complete the second phase of the water main replacement project so that Village voters can vote on the bonding at the annual Village meeting on June 2 at the high school auditorium.

Carol Curtis from the Blue Mountain school in Wells River has been engaged to become the new elementary school principal here in Northfield. She arrives this fall.

JUNE

The MacKenzie Church in Riverton which has been continuously holding Sunday services since 1781 closed to regular services for the first time.

Valedictorian Sean Fricke gave a rousing speech to about 500 that were assembled for the 159th graduation of Northfield High School last Saturday at the Shapiro Fieldhouse at Norwich. The school graduated 69 seniors who arrived in maroon and white cap and gown to the accompaniment of Bill Spear playing Pomp and Circumstance. Bill first played this march for his eighth grade class in 1944 and continues to give a resounding rendition on the keyboard.

The Sullivan Museum of Norwich University opened its summer exhibition. The exhibition is Titled “Inspired by Stories: Artists Reflect on the Historical Collection of the Sullivan Museum”. It features 18 juried Vermont artists who created a response art work from selected objects in the Museum’s permanent collection. Each display contains both the original object and the artist’s new work.

The Northfield Middle High School and the Greater Northfield Coalition Council (Drug Free Partnership) recently held Wellness Day at the high school. The day was designed to build students’ abilities to make healthy choices. Students were engaged in a variety of activities in order to learn to avoid alcohol, tobacco and other drugs and make healthier decisions for their physical and emotional health.

The Planning Commission held a hearing last Friday to answer questions and address concerns regarding the draft of the new municipal plan, and almost no one showed up, despite some high profile development projects that raised citizens’ concerns and awareness over the last year and a half.

At Williamstown’s last week’s selectboard meeting, the board decided to press ahead to obtain federal stimulus money to help build a new firehouse. It never came about when later in the year, the entire project was dumped.

Chief Shaw settled with the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council but this didn’t mean that his job in Northfield remained secure.

Under the terms of the settlement, the Chief stepped down for a period of three weeks as chief of police.

Following the expiration of the three week period, he will again become fully certified and will be entitled to resume his duty as Northfield’s Police Chief. However, the Selectboard had more to say.

By the settlement, the Chief is relieved of any charge of fraud and thus will not be barred from testifying in Washington County Court as may be required.

JULY

The Northfield Selectboard was to have met last night, without public input, to further review information regarding allegations that Police Chief Jeffrey Shaw falsified training records.

Chief of Police Jeffery Shaw will face an administrative hearing before the Board of Selectmen sometime after July 19 the board decided after coming out of executive session last week.

Northfield is lucky to have two rare theater curtains which belong to the Northfield Historical Society.

One has been hanging on the wall of the Community Room at the Brown Public Library for several years.

The other one had been in the basement of Kingston’s Funeral Home for many years and given to historical society recently.

Both curtains have been completely cleaned and restored by the Vermont Painted Theater Curtain project.

Louise Davis Halsted, 89, passed away at Central Vermont Medical Center from complications of pneumonia.

She led a full and active life to her last day, was completely engaged and was especially caring for others. Her service both in her time and giving to the community and beyond are well known and will not be forgotten.

She was born in Northfield on March 27, 1920, was the eldest of three daughters of John and Alethe Roberts Davis, was a graduate of Northfield High School in 1938 and the University of Vermont in 1942 with a degree in languages and secondary education.

For many years she has lived in her grandfather’s Queen Anne Victorian home at the top of Prospect Street in Northfield.

Someone attempted to hold up the South Village Mobil Convenience Store with a knife last Tuesday morning said police.

According to Officer Brian Hoar of the Northfield Police Department, he spoke with the clerk who was on duty at the time. The suspect was wearing dark clothing and a Halloween mask.

A hail storm hit across the area but was perhaps heaviest in Williamstown where golf ball size hail struck and the wind blew the roof off a barn.

A tax sale consisting of four parcels will take place on August 5 at 9:30 at the Roxbury town office. This is the first time that a tax sale has been held in Roxbury for some time.

Following a hearing held by the Northfield Selectboard in executive session last Wednesday night at the police station, the board announced that Chief Shaw would return to work on Thursday, July 30.

AUGUST

The Northfield Historical Society’s 2009 exhibit The Vietnam War: A Reflection opened on Saturday, August 15, 2009 with refreshments at the Paine House on South Main Street.

The exhibit highlights the Vietnam War experiences of veterans from Norwich University and the greater Northfield area.

The Williamstown Selectboard minus one created a fire storm at its last meeting when four board members asked Chris Peloquin to step down.

“I wasn’t put in that position by those four board members and I won’t be taken out of that position by those four board members,” Mr. Peloquin told David Delacore of the Times Argus last Monday.

It was Larry Hebert who read the letter to the board at their meeting on Monday, August 3 signed by four board members asking Mr. Peloquin to resign.

Northfield’s rock band Mike & The Ravens has placed 80 in the top 100 best albums list of 2008 by by Chuck Eddy, senior editor of Bill Board magazine.

In February of 2004, Louise Halsted set up a charitable trust naming, among others, the Town of Northfield as a beneficiary.

The beneficial interest of one per cent of the trust assets or income from those assets at the discretion of the trustee was left to assure that the annual Labor Day Celebration would be able to continue.

SEPTEMBER

Barbara Brayton, director of the Northfield Senior Center, has been chosen to be the Grand Marshall of this year’s Labor Day parade.

In addition to the regular events of the past, John Marcotte organized the first ever classic car and motorcycle show. It was a great success with 50 cars and 20 motorcycles on display in Kenyon’s and Chouinard’s parking lots.

A large crowd assembled on the west end of the Common for Northfield’s annual 9/11 remembrance Ceremony heard the sounds of bagpipes playing “Amazing Grace” emanating from the area of the fire station. Just moments later a small parade led by the Color Guards of the American Legion, the Legion Auxiliary, and Norwich University emerged under the large American flag that was elevated above the west entrance of the Common by two Northfield fire trucks. The body of the parade was made up of Cub Scouts, a detachment of Northfield firefighters, and a platoon of Norwich freshmen followed up by Northfields emergency vehicles with their lights flashing. The small but impressive group marched once around the common and formed a hollow square around the patio of the fountain.

The Veteran’s Place, at 220 Vine Street, held it’s first open house last Saturday and by all accounts it was a resounding success. Dozens of local residents and people from all over Central Vermont stopped by for a tour of the facilities and to learn about the goals of the organization.

Many will recall the terrible two car automobile crash that occurred on Route 12 on the line between Berlin and Northfield in July, 2008 where Kyrie Edson, 22, and her then one-month-old baby were passengers in one of the vehicles.

Both were pulled from the car and hospitalized with a long list of injuries the News reported at the time.

Last week, a Northfield Falls man was accused of criminal negligence for allegedly causing the head-on two-car crash.

Darrin M. Rogers, 20, pleaded innocent in Vermont District Court in Barre to careless and negligent operation of a motor vehicle.

OCTOBER Larry Drown the owner of the property and building at 11 Wall Street has removed the building from the property.

Mr. Drown told the News that the reason he was dismantling the building was due to Act 250 concerns.

The pedestrian bridge on the Norwich University campus that links the University's New dorm, South Hall, to the rest of the campus was dedicated to the class of 1959 last Friday afternoon who raised $12 million to increase the Norwich endowment with 92 per cent of the class participaing.

The 68 Red Cross employees and 30 volunteers that were on hand were busy from start to finish. “It was a great day in Northfield,” said rose Swift, the Red Cross organizer for the event.

“We had 430 donors through the door and 402 productive units,” she added. Not everyone who wants to give blood is able to give it at that time.

It’s almost Halloween again and as has been a tradition for many years, Comiskey Elementary School children paraded in costume from the school to the Common on Friday, October 30.

On the Common, students from Northfield Middle High School made a chain 350 links long. On Main Street, members of St. Mary’s and the Northfield United Church rang their church bell 350 times to alert people to the problem of climate change.

When visiting the Ladder 1 Grill at the old firehouse in Barre include a toast to the firefighters who have risked their lives and also to the spirits that are left behind.

The old firehouse, built in 1904, has a history of paranormal activity dating back fifty years. There are some that still talk about it, such as one firefighter who said that while sleeping in bed, he saw a man standing over him, a spirit. The firefighter said to the apparition, “Hey man, I am a fire fighter just like you.” The figure faded away.

NOVEMBER

The west phase of Northfield’s water project is proceeding on schedule. The project which includes: Depot Square, Wall Street, Pleasant Street, Union Street and Cross Street is about two weeks from completion. “When we started on September, 7 we had a project of about 4,000 feet of new 12 inch water mains to install.

Rev. Mike Rake and the congregation of Good News Baptist Church for the gift of their church building to New Life Community Church which had been meeting in the Community Room at the library.

Larry Drown allegedly ran down a flagger with his truck. The flagger was directing traffic around the water project installation on Wall and Water Street.

The 443 cadets of the Norwich Naval Battalion held the most successful food drive in their history at Norwich last month. In the 30 day event the cadets and their advisors collected over 2,000 non perishable food items for the local CERV food shelf.

DECEMBER

Christmas will be here sooner than you think and this year the Christmas Tree on the Common will be a real one that has been decorated with lights. The festivities began with caroling led by the Northfield Middle-High School Chorus and was followed by the arrival of Santa sponsored by Sorrell Maynard Post No. 63 of the American Legion.

For over 32 years, many passed the familiar face of Jim Martin while he stood by the rotating barber pole outside Martin’s Barber Shop as he nodded a greeting. Jim recently retired and turned the reins over to Randy Peace who is now operating as The Northfield Barber Shop.

Bill Croney and the Northfield News received an award by the Vermont Press Association for 2008 Sports Photo of the Year for his photo, Safe at Home. The photo won the third place award, at an awards luncheon at the Montpelier Capital Plaza hotel last week. Bill Croney has now won awards in radio, television and print media.

The residents of Mayo Manor are going to be the recipients of a highly unusual but very seasonable gift. Karen Boyce and the residents of Veterans Place have constructed a very detailed gingerbread house that they will present to Mayo Manor and the Mayo Nursing home.

The Holiday “house” is more gingerbread in name than in fact.

The house is a log cabin style and the “logs” are pretzels. But that’s not the only edible variation on the gingerbread theme.

Members of the Norwich University Drill Company won a number of awards in the recent 2009 Cornell University Invitational Drill Competition (CUIDC] which was held at the Barton Hall field house on the Cornell campus.