This Week in History November 13 - 19

10 years ago:
Local residents were concerned about silt run-off that was discoloring the water in Cold Brook, and flowing down the North Branch of the Deerfield River, and reported the sediment to the state’s watershed management division. But state officials said the silt was caused by stream remediation work that was being done on Cold Brook as part of Mount Snow’s West Lake Project. The work was repairing alterations made to Cold Brook when gravel was extracted decades before. The work would improve flood resiliency and long-term stream biology.
15 years ago:
The Mount Snow Valley Chamber of Commerce presented the Inge “Chicky” Rao Lifetime Achievement Award to Mary Lou Raymo. Raymo worked for the town of Dover for 30 years as auditor, assistant town clerk, treasurer, and in 1987, she was elected Dover Town Clerk. She retired as clerk and treasurer in 2007, but was later elected first constable and delinquent tax collector.
The nation was still in the midst of the 2008 real estate and lending crisis, and many areas were experiencing foreclosures and many recent buyers were “under water,” meaning their houses were worth far less than was owed. The Deerfield Valley and the state of Vermont remained somewhat isolated from the worst of the crisis. Vermont had the lowest foreclosure rate in the country. In the Deerfield Valley, three inns and a condominium development were seized by banks as a result of foreclosure, but local bank officials said the valley was poised to bounce back quickly.
20 years ago:
The Conservation Law Foundation fired off a letter opposing Wilmington and Whitingham’s proposal to build a new school on a property located near the border between the two towns. The letter, which was sent to Vermont Education Commissioner Richard Cate, was written on behalf of the “Vermont Smart Growth Coalition,” a group of 10 organizations opposed to “sprawl.”
A day after Dover School’s wind turbine went online for the first time, high winds shook the tower and threatened to damage the turbine or worse, collapse the tower. The tower was stabilized by tightening the guy wires.
25 years ago:
Election turnout was high around the Deerfield Valley, but valley voters chose a slate of losing candidates in national and statewide races. Locally, however, the valley sent Bob Rusten, of Halifax, back to the Vermont House for a third term, and Rick Hube, of Londonderry, defeated challenger John Moran, of Wardsboro, by a two-to-one margin. At the time, Londonderry, Wardsboro, and Dover were in the same district.
30 years ago:
Mount Snow promised a big comeback after a nearly snowless winter that meteorologists attributed to El Niño. Speaking at a Mount Snow “winter warmup,” SKI CEO Preston Leete Smith tried to quell concerns about the possibility that the company might be the subject of a buyout. For several months, rumors had circulated that several large companies were interested in buying SKI, Mount Snow’s parent company.
In his column, Dr. William Sargent noted that Medicare reforms passed by the Republican-led House were surprisingly similar to Clinton administration proposals they had defeated months earlier.
35 years ago:
Wilmington Selectboard members indicated an interest in building a recreation area at the Oxbow, near the site of the old LakeSide Restaurant, if the site were to be bypassed by proposed reconstruction of Route 9. But the town’s plans were on hold until the state and New England Power Company, who both claimed to own the land, worked out an agreement to transfer all claims to the town.
Whitingham High School student Jen Reynolds and Wilmington High School students Stacey Skwirut, Dawn Nieters, Damien Pusey, and Brian Bernard were named to the Vermont All-State Soccer Team.
40 years ago:
A Whitingham man pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault and reckless endangerment in a shotgun-shooting incident on Halloween night. According to witnesses, the incident occurred after youths threw eggs and smashed pumpkins in the center of Jacksonville, and after the shooter warned the youths to stay away from his property. Two youths were treated for shotgun pellet wounds at the Deerfield Valley Health Center.
In an unrelated incident, an outhouse was found on Route 100 in Wardsboro. The owner, a resident of Sheldon Hill, had no idea how his outhouse got to Route 100.
More than half of Haystack was covered with base-to-summit snowmaking thanks to a major expansion that included new snowmaking equipment, two new triple chairlifts, and six new trails.
45 years ago:
After three attempts, Deerfield Valley News reporter Kent Pierce finally found the legendary Green Mountain Giant, a large boulder in Whitingham reputed to be the largest in New England. Known as a “glacial erratic,” the boulder was deposited high at the crest of a ridge as the last of the glaciers melted at the end of the last ice age. Pierce noted that the boulder was once a common destination for Sunday picnickers, but (by 1980) had become overgrown with brambles and branches. Pierce urged people to climb the ridge to take a look at the boulder, but noted there was no urgency to do so. “Having sat out there for the last 100 centuries, it can be assumed that it will wait out your leisure.”
55 years ago:
Mount Snow tested their first snowmaking guns, developed by John Plausteiner. Snowmaking was so novel that locals and visitors gathered to watch the guns making the mountain’s first snow of the season – which soon melted.
Construction began on the new elementary school in Dover. In order to ensure that the building would be completed before the beginning of the next school year, contractors moved onto the site just a few hours after the contract was formally awarded. The firm, Loney Construction, was the same firm that built Deerfield Valley Elementary School, which had only recently been completed.