Full of wind
Dance of dragons
Vermont spared rain, but hurricane blows through
Rotary club races in Lake Champain rowing event
Page 3
Page 12
Volume 53 Number 33
Sweeney clinches Democratic House nomination
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #217 CONCORD, NH
POSTAL CUSTOMER
ECRWSSEDDM
shelburnenews.com
August 15, 2024
Seeing double
LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
Shawn Sweeney took home the gold in Tuesday night’s Democratic primary election for the Chittenden-7 House district, besting opponent and Shelburne Selectboard chair Michael Ashooh by just 24 votes in Shelburne. With roughly 21 percent of Shelburne’s registered voters showing up to vote, Sweeney moves on to the uncontested local November election with 299 of Shelburne’s votes. Ashooh was close behind with 275 votes. Including the votes in Saint George also represented in Chittenden-7, Sweeney beat Ashooh 338-295. Sweeney, a Shelburne resident in his first Statehouse bid, is upping his ranks from Shelburne’s planning commission to take over the House seat vacated by Rep. Jessica Brumsted, D-Shelburne. Sweeney has admitted that, while he doesn’t have years of political experience, his expertise as a business owner and a resident of Vermont makes him the prime candidate for the Statehouse seat. See SWEENEY on page 11
PHOTO BY MARK HANNA
Sometimes all that rain comes with a silver lining, or, in the case of this double rainbow over Sisters of Anarchy on Spear Street, a multi-colored lining.
Shelburne’s long lovers celebrate 75 years LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
The secret to lifelong love is a mystery to most. But for Donald and Mary Picard, who are celebrating 75 years together in November, the answer is simple, “You just do it.” The couple is spending their
days, now each at 97 years old, back in the place where a large part of their story began: in Shelburne. On a scorchingly hot, sunny August day, they were seated next to each other comfortably in an air-conditioned room at The Arbors, where they shared a bit of their story of love and a life spent in the Chittenden County town
— a place that was not always a bustling town on the Route 7 corridor. According to Donald Picard, Shelburne had a lot fewer people back in his day when he worked at the Shelburne Museum as an office manager. Now, he says Route 7 is filled with “mostly businesses rather than individual houses,” as
he remembers it almost 50 years ago. A painting of Shelburne from that time sits above the seating area in their room at the assisted living facility that shows Shelburne Road resembling much more of a village See PICARD on page 10
NOW SERVING BREAKFAST
Shelburne Road, S. Burlington Maple Tree Place, Williston
Egg Sandwiches, Breakfast Bowls & Pancake Bites
GetBlissBee.com
AVAILABLE 8:00-11:00 A.M. DAILY
@getblissbee