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PAGES 11-14
MAY 2, 2024
WILLISTON’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985
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‘We can’t rely on winter’ Welch comes to Catamount touting climate change bill BY JASON STARR Observer staff Sen. Peter Welch chose Williston’s Catamount Community Forest to rally support last week for climate change mitigation legislation he is promoting alongside a congresswoman from New Hampshire. Why Catamount? Its natural beauty and proximity to suburban Chittenden County were factors, as was Welch’s friendship with Catamount Outdoor Family Center (COFC) founder Jim McCullough, his former colleague in the Vermont Legislature. But more than that is Catamount’s position as a uniquely impacted
winter sports outfitter in the global warming age. COFC Executive Director John Atkinson spoke during Welch’s visit about the mild, muddy winter that was, highlighting what he expects will be a future of inconsistent cross country skiing on the publicly owned property. He described how continual rain and melt cycles left the center with bare, unskiable trails during portions of this past winter. The only packable snow, he lamented, came during spring storms. “We can’t really rely on winter as a source of revenue any longer,” Atkinson told the gathered crowd last Wednesday. “The chances are too big that we will fail if we keep hoping that it will support us going forward, and our trails, programs, camps and clinics will struggle because of that.
Catamount Outdoor Family Center Executive Director John Atkinson, left, speaks with Sen. Peter Welch, center, and Samuel Masters of Protect Our Winters during an event last Wednesday at the Catamount Community Forest in Williston. OBSERVER PHOTO BY AL FREY
Winter is no longer a promise for us. It’s a bonus at best. “The Catamount Outdoor Family Center is on the leading edge of warming for Vermont ski areas,” Atkinson continued. “We are one of the lowest elevation
centers in the state, and we’re further from the mountains and closer to Lake Champlain.” The center is preparing for a future more reliant on spring and summer mountain biking and trail-running operations.
Welch’s bill, the “Energizing Our Communities Act” that he is promoting with Rep. Annie Kuster of New Hampshire, is aimed at speeding the buildout of renewable energy transmission.
service program is currently gauging interest in the program with an online survey at www. cvsdvt.org. “It should be permanent so the district can do it every year and we can accomplish our main goal, which really is to make sure we can take care of people in the summer,” Wagner said. “We know that there are people who are having a tough time making ends meet, and the school meals really make a
difference in their families. The thought of not being able to help them out in the summer is tough for us, so we’re happy that we’ll be able to do that.” The district first stood up a summer meals program in 2020 with pandemic relief policies that waived income requirements for federal funding. There were multiple distribution sites throughout the five-town district, including at Williston see MEALS page 8
see WELCH page 5
Schools relaunch summer meals for all
BY JASON STARR Observer staff
The Champlain Valley School District is bringing back free summer meals for local children with a narrower version of the pandemic-era program that ended in 2022. Starting June 24 and continuing every Monday through Aug. 19, the district’s food service program will offer boxes with seven days’ worth of
breakfasts and lunches for free pickup by parents and children. There will be a morning pickup window, 7:30-9 a.m. and an afternoon pickup window, 2:30-4 p.m. Families are asked to order ahead of time on the district’s website for guaranteed availability, but there will be some walk-up availability as well. Meals will be distributed from the St. Jude’s Church parking lot on Route 116 in Hinesburg, according to CVSD
“(Federal) changes have made it possible for us to feed more people this summer.” Scott Wagner CVSD Food Service Director
Food Service Director Scott Wagner. The district’s food
Mother’s Day Brunch, 11:00AM-2:00PM Eggs Benedict, French Toast, Brunch Cocktails and More 160 Bank St, Burlington • farmhousetg.com