Charleston Bicentennial

Town's celebration should be a model, Governor says

Story and photos by Richard Creaser

Reprinted from the Barton Chronicle, July 16, 2003

CHARLESTON - Governor Jim Douglas hailed Charleston's Bicentennial event as a model for other towns during the celebration's closing ceremony on Saturday.

"Your commitment to celebrating your history reflects on who you are as a community and who we are as a state," said Governor Douglas.

From the town's inception as Navy in 1803 until now, it has weathered change and braced itself for the future.  Featured alongside the massive yard-sale tents were fund raising barbecues to benefit the Charleston Volunteer Fire Department, a display on the region's Abenaki tradition, and even a hand spinning and weaving display.

"Weaving takes some getting used to, but it is really an enjoyable way to pass time," said Barbara Levin of Hope Farm Sheep Dairy.

The techniques and tools are time-honored, but Ms. Levin is quick to point out a small concession to the present day.

"I doubt you'd find colors like these 200 years ago," she said pointing to skeins of wool colored burgundy, yellow and navy blue.  "Back then you would have used vegetable dyes, indigo and onion skins."

Everything about Saturday's events spoke of community, family and the sense that the Charleston identity is not only strong but has remained so for the last two centuries.

"Most families have been here for generations and generations," said Senator Jim Greenwood.  "There is such a family history here."

Proof of that family history was found in the number of floats dedicated to showing how Charleston's ancestors lived in the time of the community's founding by Abner Allyn.  One float featured the Fontaine family grinning and waving, while another featured a log cabin scene on one side of the float and a modern wallpapered living room scene on the other.

Harley Moulton, Sr. was born in 1906 and has lived through is fair share of Charleston's history.  On Saturday he was recognized and honored as the town's longest-lived citizen.

During the closing ceremonies, Peggy Gray, chairman of the Bicentennial Committee, honored Charleston's unofficial historian, Richard Colburn, Sr.  Mr. Colburn's first major project was documenting and cataloging the grave markers in the town's cemeteries,  she said.

"Nobody knows how many hours he's put into this," said Ms. Gray, "not even Richard himself.  No mere hobby can demand the amount of time and dedication he has put into this."

Mr. Colburn's recognition included a plaque and a CD boombox to "listen to some music during a rare break in your day," as Ms. Gray put it.

"That doesn't mean you can retire," she added afterwards.  "This is just a gift of thanks for what you've done so far."

The tight weave of the community fabric was even extended to the Governor when Ms. Gray presented him with a plant grown in the very soil identified as the original plot granted to Abner Allyn.

"Having the Governor himself come is an indication of the kind of community Vermont should be," said Senator Greenwood.

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Pictures 1-4 left to right:

Sherman Allen, Jr. reads to his "family" on a clever "Then and Now" float commemorating Charleston's 1803 founding and 2003 present.  Joining Mr. Allen from left to right are Megan Hosford, Anne Allen (seated center), Haley Allen (dark shawl), Kylee Ames (front center) and Jesse Keenan (back turned).  The reverse of the float had a contemporary living room representing the modern family.

Harley Moulton, Sr. was recognized as the town's longest-lived resident during Charleston's Bicentennial celebration on Saturday.  Mr. Moulton, born in 1906, is a member of one of the area's most recognizable families.

Sheila Tremblay and Sierra Tremblay (front) wore their 1800s finest as part of Charleston's Bicentennial event on Saturday.  Their bonnets proved to be just the thing to keep the sun off their faces.

Danielle Cotnoir was one of the members of the troupe from the North Country School of Dance to entertain the crowds at Charleston's Bicentennial celebration at the Charleston Elementary School gym on Saturday.  The afternoon recital featured a sock-hop medley that Danielle danced in.

Dam those beavers !

Story by Richard Creaser; photos by Steve Blake

Reprinted from the Barton Chronicle, July 16, 2003

MORGAN - The collapse of a beaver dam on Friday night that reduced a section of Route 111 to rubble is unlikely to be the last the town hears of beavers for a while.  Beverly and Michael Rondeau, owners of the land where the dam was located, visited the town selectmen on Monday to warn that a repeat performance is already building.

The biggest one gave out, but there's another one just behind it," warned Ms. Rondeau.  "We went up there on Saturday and they are already rebuilding the broken one."

An overgrown road leads from the Rondeau's driveway straight to the site of the beaver dam and the surrounding swampy land, said Mr. Rondeau.  A stream runds down that road, collecting into a small pond on the couple's property.

"That whole area is spring fed and if they rebuild, it's just going to happen again,"  he said.

"The beavers are already rebuilding the burst dam," said Ms. Rondeau.

Selectman Sam Curtis, Jr. asked if the couple had seen any indication that the second dam was in use.

"There were tracks in the mud and a big mud slide going into the lodge," replied Ms. Rondeau.

For several years, the Rondeaus have tried to get the state to come in and get rid of the beavers and the dams, said Mr. Rondeau.  The only option available to them is to become trappers themselves or hire trappers to ride the swamp of the animals.

"No one is going to spend six weeks up there to catch a couple of beavers, "said Mr. Rondeau.

"With the price of beaver pelts being what it is, I don't think it's really worth anyone's time anymore," agreed Selectman Richard Lafoe.

The Rondeaus have tolerated the presence of the beavers for years, enjoying the fact that the pond did attract some wildlife to their property.

"I think I'd just as soon not have so much wildlife that it takes out a million dollars worth of road," said Mr. Lafoe.  "I made a prediction years ago that the beavers would take over Vermont, and that seems to be starting."

The Rondeaus asked the town to help them get through to the appropriate state agencies to get some help taking care of the beaver problem.

"Most agencies obviously now the situation now, said Selectman Chairman Brian Gray."  Keep making noise, and we'll keep making noise."

Repairing the damaged portions of Route 111 will only be the start, said Ms. Rondeau.  The damage will be repeated if the state continues to ignore the beavers.

"They built up that dam and it broke in just four years," she said.  "As townspeople, we can't afford to have roads washed out every four years."

The damage to a major highway is not the end of the town's concerns.  The state Department of Health is closely monitoring water quality at Seymour Lake beach, said Mr. Curtis.  Bacterial counts, boosted by the ruse of water from the burst dam, have contaminated the public beach access to the lake.  Even with signs warning people to stay out of the water, swimmers are still using the beach, he said.

"I went down there and saw a woman and three kids and a bunch of others swimming around and signs all over," he said.

The warning from the Department of Health mainly covers the public beach, but other areas are also probably unsafe, said Mr. Curtis.

"When you looked out there on Saturday, there was blue water and brown water, and the brown water went out about 400 yards," he said.

The department will continue to monitor the water daily, and a public ban will remain in place until the water tests normally, he said.

Pressure on the Oxbow Road resulting from the closure of 111 is starting to take its toll.  Town road foreman Shawn Austin asked that something be done to keep truck traffic off of the road.

"The state was supposed to post something at 111 and 105 junction by the Derby store," said Mr. Lafoe.  "Both ends were supposed to be marked closed to through traffic.

Mr. Curtis himself stopped a flatbed carrying granite that was preparing to use the dirt road detour.  The truck probably would have exceeded weight limits on many other roads, he said.

"I made him turn off the truck and radio his company to tell them not to send anyone else through here," he told the selectmen.

Sending heavy trucks along Oxbow Road is hazardous on three accounts, said Mr. Austin.  The road was never designed for heavy traffic and is narrow with several sharp, blind corners.  A section of road along Seymour was hit by the floodwater.  Town crews patched it up, but sections still remain soft.  The road also contains an old granite slab culvert that may not hold up under constant, heavy use.

"It's held up pretty good all these years, but I'd really rather not stress it any more than we have to," he said.

Oxbow Road will require more maintenance, but that will have to wait until Route 111 is back in service, said Mr. Austin.

"It's kind of hard to work on that road with so much traffic on it," he said.  "There's just no room."

Representatives from the Agency of Transportation were invited to attend Monday night's meeting, said Mr. Gray.  The idea was to have a better idea of how long the repairs to Route 111 would take.

"I saw in the papers that they were saying two and a half weeks but it's not attributed to anyone, so I don't know where that come from," said Mr. Curtis.

"I talked to some of the guys at the site, and they though six weeks at least," said Mr. Lafoe.

"I would really like to get some idea of how long it will take," said Mr. Austin.

The town qualified and received a $13,519 grant from the Agency of Natural Resources to promote the town's aquatic nuisance control program.  The program consists of inspectors at the public boat access checking for zebra mussels and Eurasian milfoil on the hulls and engine mountings of boats.  It also includes payment for divers to scour the shores and lake beds for signs of the aquatic pests.

The selectmen will be inviting a candidate to interview for the position of town animal control officer.  Mr. Lafoe preferred that title because it would allow the officer to catch more than just dogs, he said.

"It might be a malnourished horse or a heifer that gets loose," he said.

Mr. Curtis recommended letting the officer set his own rates.  The town's responsibility should end with finding someone willing to enforce animal ordinances, he said.

The board also agreed that someone should be contracted to spruce up the outside of the town office.  The south side of the building facing the lake and Route 111 was looking particularly shabby, said Mr. Lafoe.

"I think it would be nice to have someone pressure wash the outside of the building and maybe touch up the trim," he said.

"You might not want to use a pressure washer," warned Mr. Curtis.  "The vinyl's been on there for 20-odd years and it might be kind of brittle."

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When a beaver dam broke on Morgan t 8:15 Friday night, the water rushed down onto Route 111 and washed out about a third of a mile of the road just above the public beach.  The rushing water cut a deep ravine on the side of the highway.  Near the top of this photo, in the center, Tiffany Crowe of Derby stands on what is left of Route 111 and looks into the ravine cut by the flood.  Many of the guardrails washed away as well.

Young boys play in the gorge cut out by rushing water of a beaver dam that burst and washed out a portion of Route 111 in Morgan Friday, July 11.  People were out in force Sunday to see and photograph the damage.  The people in the upper right walk on the still-paved remains of the road.  In the upper center of the photo even the roadbed is washed away to the extent it looks like a dry riverbed.  State Trooper Sean Selby says in a press release that nobody was injured and no homes were damaged in the washout.

One can see how much damage water can do if a large amount of it is set loose at once.  It left several overhangs of pavement that could be dangerous to anyone standing on them or underneath them.

This sign is an understatement after the section of Route 111 was destroyed Friday evening.  Light traffic is being diverted to Oxbow Lane, around the site of the washout on Route 111.  Truck traffic is closed on the highway.  That section of the road that was washed out is expected to be closed for an extended period, according to State Police.