This Week in History January 15 - 21

10 years ago:
Despite the efforts of several local wildlife experts and local residents, an injured Canada goose remained stranded at Mount Snow’s Snow Lake. An injured wing kept the goose from leaving with the rest of its flock earlier in the fall, but the bird could still fly short distances to evade capture by would-be rescuers. Wildlife rehabilitators were concerned that the goose, which eats aquatic plants, could become frozen on the ice on the snowmaking pond. A Mount Snow employee built an A-frame goose shelter, but the bird declined to take up residence. Two employees at a local condominium complex regularly fed the goose a combination of hay and greens such as cabbage. They said the goose recognized their truck when they stopped and came waddling over to them, and pledged to keep up the regime until spring, or until the bird could be captured.
15 years ago:
Dover voters would vote on a switch to a town manager form of government after a selectboard member supported the idea. Board member Dwayne Coneeney told the board that, if they declined to include the question on the Town Meeting warning, he’d petition the question himself. Dover had a town manager form of government in the late 1960s. In 1977, then town manager John Roque was charged with embezzling town funds. In 1978, Dover voters defeated a Town Meeting article to continue with the town manager form of government.
Only four members of the public turned up at a Twin Valley Joint Middle High School budget informational meeting. The $5,175,375 budget was passed by Australian ballot the following week.
20 years ago:
Vermont Commissioner of Education Richard Cate and CFO Bill Talbot got an earful from local education officials at a meeting in Wilmington. Twin Valley School Board Chair Ed Metcalfe outlined steps his board had taken to control costs ranging from the creation of a joint school district to inviting outside experts on special education in to recommend strategies. Despite those and other steps, Metcalfe said, Whitingham was in the Act 68 “penalty box.” He suggested the state make Whitingham and Twin Valley the subject of a study.
25 years ago:
The Wilmington Education Fund, a nonprofit established to ease the tax burden of Act 60 on local property owners, got a check for $325,000 from USGen. The donation, the result of a tax settlement between USGen and the town, represented a savings of $650,000 to Wilmington taxpayers. Under Act 60’s funding formula, non-tax revenue, such as a donation from an education fund, was not subject to the infamous “shark pool."
Local officials were bracing for the ESPN Winter X Games. A year earlier, the huge crowds attending the games overwhelmed the valley, creating traffic jams that extended from the traffic light in Wilmington back as far as Higley Hill. This time, however, police had a plan to keep traffic moving, and ensure access for emergency vehicles.
Wilmington school officials got their first glimpse of options for upgrading the Wilmington High School facility.
30 years ago:
A move by some local business owners to close their establishments during midweek stirred controversy. Some business owners said there wasn’t enough business to justify keeping their stores open during midweek. Others said closing during midweek would only ensure that their businesses would never grow.
The Dover Selectboard granted a request from the Deerfield Valley Stump Jumpers snowmobile club for $3,000. Stump Jumpers club members said they were overwhelmed by the “explosive growth” of snowmobiling, and needed the money to continue grooming and maintaining trails in the valley. The board also opened up 28 town roads to use by snowmobiles.
35 years ago:
Dover Selectboard members reversed a decision to include an article asking voters to raise money to pave Handle Road, preferring to let property owners weigh in on the issue through a questionnaire.
Wilmington and Whitingham scheduled informational meetings regarding a proposal to merge the two towns’ high schools.
Halifax officials were presented with a petition to revisit a public referendum on a bond to finance the construction of an addition to the school. The original bond passed 139 to 19, but voters turned down a companion bond for constructing a new town clerk’s office at the school.
40 years ago:
Haystack was getting ready to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Lift ticket prices were rolled back to $6.50 for adults and $4.50 for children. Skiers sporting the oldest ski equipment or ski outfits would receive a special commemorative gift.
Police said improper tires and excessive speed were the cause of a string of accidents in the valley over a snowy weekend.
Dover Selectboard members were concerned about Upper Handle Trail, an unused section of Upper Handle Road. Snowmobilers using the trail had been vandalizing and trespassing on land adjacent to the old road. Board members considered discontinuing the road and deeding it to the property owner, but some nearby residents objected.
45 years ago:
“The Official I Hate Cats Book” by cartoonist Skip Morrow was on best seller lists around the nation. In an interview with The Deerfield Valley News, Morrow said he started to draw to ease the boredom of “lying around the beach” during the day when he was working as an entertainer on Cape Cod. “I also realized at the time that I probably was not going to sing the rest of my life and that I had best develop other talents.” Morrow is still singing, and still drawing.
55 years ago:
Ed Libby purchased Deerfield Valley Supply from Nick Harvey. Deerfield Valley Supply was founded in the 1890s to supply grain and farm necessities. Harvey bought the business in 1956. In 1958 Harvey added propane gas delivery to the business and in 1962 began selling fuel oil.
Mount Snow stockholders approved a merger with Davos Inc., putting Davos President Mark Fleishman in charge of the resort.