This Week in History January 29 - February 4

10 years ago:
Rep. Laura Sibilia, with the help of a group of students from Wardsboro School, championed a bill to make the Gilfeather turnip Vermont’s official state vegetable. The venerable vegetable was developed by Wardsboro farmer John Gilfeather in the early 1900s, and is known for its faintly sweet flavor and creamy texture that sets it apart from other turnips and rutabagas. The highly sought-after root vegetable is the star attraction at Wardsboro’s annual Gilfeather Turnip Festival, where visitors can sample everything from Gilfeather turnip soup to Gilfeather turnip soufflé.
15 years ago:
It was so cold in the valley that warm water thrown from a cup froze on contact with the air and fell as snow and ice crystals. Deerfield Valley News staff photographed the experiment in front of their offices.
Although Dover’s bicentennial celebration had ended months earlier, the bicentennial organizers buried a time capsule to be opened at the town’s 250th anniversary, or sestercentennial. The time capsule contains items from the bicentennial, including photos and Dover’s bicentennial coin, T-shirts, a DVD of the bicentennial parade, a copy of the bicentennial program published by The Deerfield Valley News, and other memorabilia. The location of the capsule was kept secret, to be revealed in the future by the sestercentennial committee.
20 years ago:
Developers of a private club at Haystack, 1 Cornell Way Inc., met with Wilmington Selectboard members to brief them on their construction plans for the members-only ski area. In the first phase, 20 townhouses were to be constructed, along with a new gatehouse at the bottom of the mountain, new base lodges, including a kid-focused base lodge to be called “The Zoo.” The Zoo would have an indoor/outdoor pool, a movie theater, an Internet cafe, billiards lounge, video parlor, pingpong tables, and a trendy restaurant for kids. Developers tapped local talent for the project including Robert Rubin and Dennis Glennon, former Mount Snow Vice President of Operations Scott Reeve, and Vermont Ski Areas Association President David Dillon.
25 years ago:
The state’s agency of transportation “indefinitely postponed” their Act 250 application process for a much-anticipated road reconstruction project on Route 9 West, from the “oxbow” to the bottom of Searsburg Mountain. The ANR expressed concern about stone fill that would be used in some areas, including in the water near the Deerfield River’s confluence with Harriman Reservoir. The project was plagued with starts, stops, delays, and changes.
30 years ago:
The Dover School Board included a technology position in the budget for the first time. Board members noted that the $12,000 part-time position wasn’t mandated, but would broaden technology instruction using the school’s new computer room. Overall, Dover’s budget was up by 8%.
Cranky business owners complained about state budget cuts that would affect business owners at a chamber luncheon with state and local leaders. At one point, a Deerfield Valley representative was hissed at when he reminded business owners that budget cuts would be painful for everyone – including the poor, the handicapped, and the blind.
35 years ago:
Only 40 people turned out for an informational meeting on a proposed merger of Wilmington and Whitingham schools. When one resident asked why she should vote for a merger “as a taxpayer,” a Wilmington School Board member answered “Because you’ll be no worse off than before financially, and as a citizen of the community you have a shot at giving our kids a better opportunity.”
Wardsboro voters submitted a petition asking voters to raise an additional $750 in salary for the town clerk. According to petitioners, the selectboard failed to grant the clerk “a richly deserved raise for her excellent work as town clerk and town treasurer.”
40 years ago:
Searsburg resident Tom Sucharzewski tagged a trout worth $10,000 at the second annual Harriman Reservoir Ice Fishing Derby. Whitingham resident Doug Bartlett pulled in a 3.2-pound trout worth $50 – the largest fish caught over the course of the weekend derby.
New England Telephone installed “the fastest, most modern telephone system in use today (1986)” in southern Vermont. The new computerized system was installed in a building on Route 8 in Londonderry, serving Dover and Wilmington. The new system offered services such as touch-tone dialing, call waiting, conference calls, and other modern communication services.
45 years ago:
The Fabulous Spi-Dells were appearing at The Lodge, Skip Morrow was at The Silo, and Tall Boy was playing at McCarron’s Shebeen.
The state department of education approved an increase in school lunch prices at Whitingham School. Hot lunch prices were raised to 50 cents for elementary students, 60 cents for junior and senior high school students, and $1 for adults.
The Deerfield Valley Health Center got a new state-of-the-art electrocardiograph. The machine was linked by a modem to a computer in Chicago which could provide detailed data and analysis to doctors.
55 years ago:
Wilmington resident Linc Haynes announced that he would open a plant that would manufacture simulated weathered barn boards at the former New England Plywood Box factory in Wilmington. Haynes said the operation would employ 20 to 30 workers at first, perhaps swelling to as many as 60 workers. The operation was to include a sawmill, drying kilns, processing machinery, and material handling equipment. Haynes purchased the former plywood box factory and 10 acres of land for $63,000.
Sue Andrea was one of six finalists in the Miss Winterfest 1971 competition at Mount Snow.