This Week in History (12/2 - 12/9)
Former Valley News publisher Don Albano, left, chats with Bill Palumbo at a chamber of commerce event in the 1970s. He said he bought and sold the newspaper using contracts written on bar napkins. File photo
10 years ago:
Wilmington officials estimated damage to municipal infrastructure from flooding during Tropical Storm Irene at more than $2 million.
Wilmington residents urged the selectboard to include a “Riverwalk” along the Deerfield River as part of the town’s flood recovery plan. The concept for the Riverwalk had been proposed a decade earlier as a village trail that would end at a proposed “multi-modal” transportation hub on Mill Street, and the (then) proposed Hoot, Toot & Whistle trail.
15 years ago:
The Deerfield Valley News celebrated 40 years since it was founded by the staff of Mount Snow’s marketing department.
After John Moran beat incumbent representative Phil Bartlett by the slim margin of 12 votes, Bartlett requested a recount. The results of the recount confirmed Moran’s victory, and widened it to 12 votes. Perhaps ironically, Bartlett won his term in 2004 by 12 votes after a recount called by challenger Betty Bolognani, of Readsboro.
Despite warm temperatures that hampered snowmaking, Mount Snow opened on Thanksgiving Day. But after several warm, damp days, it had to shut down.
20 years ago:
Wilmington voters rejected a proposed school bond 484 to 188. Under Act 60, the proposed $9 million renovation and construction project would have cost Wilmington taxpayers an additional $8 million in contributions to the state education fund’s sharing pool, known locally as the “shark” pool. Some residents called on Wilmington School Board members to seek school consolidation with other towns.
25 years ago:
Wilmington resident Skip Morrow proposed a solution to traffic problems that plagued the village since the 1960s: move the town. Appearing before the Citizens’ Advisory Committee, which was investigating alternatives to a proposed bypass, Morrow outlined his plan to move the entire village (except for the school, fire department, and town garage) to a peninsula on Lake Whitingham. The CAC reacted enthusiastically, and urged the selectboard to support the addition of the proposal to the state’s environmental impact study.
30 years ago:
The Deerfield Valley News celebrated its 25th anniversary. In celebration of the historic anniversary, The Deerfield Valley News buried a time capsule. Some of the items in the time capsule included “Kenny the Whale” Whalebucks, a bound copy of “My Life in Readsboro” written by Readsboro School students, and a school photo from Deerfield Valley Elementary School. The time capsule was slated to be opened in 2016.
Former publisher Don Albano recounted how he purchased the newspaper from publisher Ed Pickett at a local watering hole one evening in 1977 with a check and a contract written on a bar napkin. When he sold the paper to current publisher Randy Capitani in 1991, Albano said he prepared another bar napkin contract.
40 years ago:
Rep. Bill Hamilton, of Wilmington, pushed for an end to the Vermont Public Service Board’s authority to mandate seasonal electric rates. At the time, utilities charged higher rates for winter usage, and lower rates in the summer. The PSB said the seasonal rates were an incentive for energy efficiency, Hamilton said they were an incentive for small businesses to close.
45 years ago:
Carousel Filmworks, a movie theater, opened in the former Fat City building in Wilmington. The theater featured classic movies at low prices. During the first two weeks of operation, Carousel Filmworks showed the Beatles movie “Help,” “Dr. Zhivago,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” and Woody Allen’s “Bananas,” all for prices of $1 or $2. For $1.50, kids could spend Saturday morning at the theater and watch cartoons and comedy classics.
Wilmington teachers charged the Wilmington School Board with unfair labor practices. Teachers were fighting for a base salary of $7,500, even though it would make them the lowest paid teachers in the area, according to union representative Bill Kunz.
50 years ago:
Mount Snow’s Rudi Wyrsch wowed ski industry insiders attending the New England Ski Show with a daring publicity stunt when he put on a pair of skis and rappelled from a window on the Sheraton Boston Hotel’s 18th floor. Wyrsch hadn’t cleared the stunt with hotel officials, however, and was greeted on the ground by worried security personnel and an irate hotel manager.
Dover students returned from Thanksgiving vacation to a brand-new school. Dover School, designed by architect Rod Williams, included two large open classrooms, a gymnasium, a kitchen/cafeteria, and individual conference rooms.
A battle over internally-illuminated signs was brewing in Wilmington. Planning commissioners wrote a sign ordinance that would have eliminated some internally-lit signs, and the selectboard changed it to eliminate all internally-lit signs.
