This Week in History (8/4/22 - 8/11/22)

10 years ago:
A year after Tropical Storm Irene flooded Wilmington Village, including the town’s municipal offices, the Wilmington Police Department, the town clerk, town manager, and other departments were ready to move back into their renovated spaces. For the previous year, town officials had been housed in a space at Shaw’s plaza formerly occupied by Rite-Aid Pharmacy.

15 years ago:
Rite-Aid sought an Act 250 permit for a new building at the corner of Route 100 and Country Club Road in Wilmington. Eight years earlier, Rite-Aid planners had proposed a similar building on the same site, but withdrew their application after the company announced financial problems. The plan called for demolition of a house on the site as well as the purchase of Diane and James Shipke’s adjoining property.
1836 Country Store owner Al Wurzberger told selectboard members that the village district’s design control regulations and costs associated with making zoning applications even for minor work, were encouraging property owners to forgo maintenance. He said many buildings in the district were suffering from disrepair thanks to the “oppressive laws.”

20 years ago:
Only five people showed up to a public meeting in Wilmington on the proposed Twin Valley joint school district. Wilmington and Whitingham school board members speculated as to whether the lack of participation was a signal of disinterest, or that voters didn’t need any more information.
After a thorough audit of Whitingham’s finances, Rod Sherman announced that the town’s deficit was just over $300,000, rather than the $500,000 that had been estimated earlier in the year.
A proposed skating rink in Dover was put on hold for lack of funding. Committee members were searching for “financial angels” that would donate up to $500,000 each to the project.

25 years ago:
Two teenagers were fined $267 apiece for killing a goose and three goslings. Local residents said the teenagers should be required to work with animals to learn the value of life. One resident said the two should be “tarred and feathered and floated around Spruce Lake (where the geese had been living).”
American Skiing Company was planning to spend $24 million at Mount Snow over the summer. Included in their plans were the Grand Summit Hotel and new lifts.
A group of Dover residents who had petitioned the selectboard for a new vote on the purchase of a ladder truck for the town were disappointed by a ruling from the secretary of state’s office. The petitioners called for a ballot with a new option, not to purchase any truck at all. But the secretary of state’s director of elections said that because the petition was to “reconsider” the earlier vote, no new option could be considered.

30 years ago:
Wilmington Selectboard members discussed problems with drug and alcohol activity at Buzzy Towne Park. According to police and selectboard members, older teenagers were supplying younger kids with alcohol and illegal substances after dark. Police Chief Tom Donelley called for an ordinance closing the park at 9 pm. The board warned a public informational meeting to discuss the matter with voters.
Deerfield Valley News writer Sarah Wolfe told the story of Wardsboro resident Mother White who, in 1807, was probably the last woman to be publicly whipped in Vermont. On the day of her punishment, she was tied to a post, stripped to the waist in front of a crowd, and whipped 39 times. Wolfe speculated that White’s punishment was “probably responsible in part” for a vote in the Vermont Legislature a few months later abolishing the whipping post and providing for the construction of a state prison in Windsor.

35 years ago:
Prospective buyers of Hogback Mountain Ski Area presented their plan for a four-season resort to the Marlboro Planning Commission and local residents. Under the proposal, the 800-acre tract would be transformed with the construction of vacation homes, a three-story hotel with convention facilities, an 18-hole golf course, an equestrian center, and health and fitness centers.

40 years ago:
Vermont Sen. Robert Stafford and Rep. James Jeffords, both Republicans, were given “F” grades by the conservative group Conservatives Against Liberal Legislation.

45 years ago:
A furor erupted over a state agency of transportation plan to straighten May Corner, a dangerous curve on Route 100. Under their plan, Olive May would lose her barn, located close to the road, and a ledge would be blasted in front of Edith Batchelder’s house to increase visibility. In all, the properties of six families would be affected by the project. May Corner was located a few hundred yards south of the intersection of Route 100 and Higley Hill Road.
Wilmington Town Clerk Earlene Fitch defied a Vermont law requiring town officers 68 years old or older to retire by July 1, 1977. Fitch was 70, and had served the town for 20 years. Selectboard members said they didn’t know what the legal ramifications of Fitch’s stand might be.

50 years ago:
Nearly five years after their commercial introduction, Turfskis still weren’t accepted as a summer training substitute for skiers, so a “Grass Ski Association” was created in Dover. The association promoted the use of Turfskis, a roller-bottomed short ski invented by former Mount Snow lift engineer Chuck Goodwin.
An “embattled” North Branch Fire District Prudential Committee reorganized, ousting Joe Lassiter as chair, to be replaced by Rod Williams. Lassiter became the committee’s technical liaison with the engineering firm on their plant project.