The New Planetarium Puts On a Great Light Show

There was a time when I was a little girl that it seemed a summer day would never end. Soon after we awoke, my brothers, sisters and I would hastily throw on clothes, gobble down a quick breakfast and scamper down the porch stairs to the outside, even before the dew would dry. We would be called for meals, and reluctantly head back to the house, but other than that, the five of us were always outside, as were all the other children of St. Johnsbury Center, until we received that last sad call to go to bed.

Our house in the Center, back then, had a backlot that we thought to be the size of Fenway Park, and we spent many a day playing kickball, baseball and the occasional Kick the Can until our little legs would get tired. When twilight arrived, we would lay down in the cool grass, the blades tickling the backs of our necks, awaiting the stars of the summer sky to put on a light show.

It is rare these days to find an experience that transforms you right back to your childhood, but heading to the planetarium at the Fairbanks Museum has always done that for me, especially now. Recently, the museum completely renovated its planetarium and adjacent gallery, and the effect is stunning.

As I climbed the very same stairs I did as a child, at the museum’s recent open house, I could already see differences. The walls had been painted the shades of the sky, with the upper tower windows now colored. When I arrived at the top, the Vinton Space Science Gallery now greeted me, with magnificent color photographs taken from the Hubble Space Telescope placed on the wall. The gallery, supported by a gift from St. Johnsbury residents Ruth and Drury Vinton, even highlights a 17.3-pound meteorite just acquired by the museum.

Entering the planetarium, about the only feature I recognized was the dome, constructed and lifted to the ceiling back in 1961 by Danville high school students and museum junior curators. I slipped into one of the newly upholstered chairs and realized, with credits to the Wizard of Oz, that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. Anyone who has ever sat through a planetarium show of old will attest that those old benches were a chiropractor’s best friend.

The newly renovated planetarium is named for Lyman Spitzer Jr., the astrophysicist who helped create the Hubble Space telescope, and there is little doubt this planetarium is a state-of-the-art facility. No worry about burned-out bulbs in the star machine anymore. The planetarium now features a high-tech, digital projection system, all contained in a single computer tablet, skillfully controlled by planetarium director Mark Breen. The Canady Family Charitable Trust, the family that Spitzer was a member of, made a generous gift towards the renovations, and it was nice to see how touched his daughter was that the planetarium is named in his honor.

Although I got a sneak peek at what this digital system offers, I cannot do this new show justice in this short column by trying to compare it to the old planetarium show. Suffice to say, it is a bit like going from a typewriter to a computer; it is that different. You would be robbing yourself of a wonderful childhood experience if you do not attend this new show with your children or grandchildren. The kids in attendance were mesmerized the night I was there, and so was I.

(Darcie McCann is the executive director of the Northeast Kingdom Chamber. She still cranes her neck to the heavens every night to check out the stars.)

Local legislators will update legislation and define their priorities and committee assignments at a legislative breakfast to be held Monday, April 30. The session will last from 8 to 9 a.m. at the St. Johnsbury House dining room, Main Street, St. Johnsbury.

The monthly programs provide area business people and residents a concise overview of the legislative session and issues affecting the region. Local legislators will be in attendance and present updates on their respective committees and relevant legislation.

The public is invited to attend and encouraged to ask questions at the breakfasts. The Northeast Kingdom Chamber organizes the legislative forums and will also provide a brief legislative report. The breakfasts are moderated by Gretchen Hammer.

The breakfasts are usually held the last Monday of each month, from 8 to 9 a.m. The date of the next legislative breakfast, tentatively scheduled for May 21, is dependent on when the legislature convenes for the year.

The legislative breakfast series is sponsored by the Northeast Kingdom Chamber, with sponsorship assistance from Community National Bank, Lyndon State College, MMIC, NVRH, Passumpsic Savings Bank and Union Bank. There is a small fee to attend the breakfast.

For more details, contact the NEK Chamber at 2000 Memorial Drive – Ste. 11, St. Johnsbury, VT 05819; call 802-748-3678; or e-mail at director@nekchamber.com.

ROBERT SWARTZ SELECTED NEK CHAMBER CITIZEN OF YEAR

A man who has devoted three decades of service to Catamount Arts and health education causes has been selected the Northeast Kingdom Chamber 2012 Citizen of the Year, one of the region’s most distinguished awards.

St. Johnsbury resident Robert “Bob” Swartz received the honor for his extensive commitment to Catamount, as well as a host of other organizations, including the Danville School Board, Green Mountain United Way, North Congregational Church, Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, Northern Counties Health Care and the Osher Lifelong Learning Lecture Series. Swartz has also served on a number of Town of St. Johnsbury boards, including the St. Johnsbury Design Control District Board, the St. Johnsbury Design Committee and town plan committee.

Swartz, born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., has had a tie to Vermont dating back to his childhood, noting his parents owned a camp on Lake Champlain during the war. Due to his father being a Presbyterian minister, the Swartz family moved to Morgantown, W. Va. when he was a boy, where his dad served as a student pastor at West Virginia University. Realizing the importance of a good education, his parents saved early for his schooling, allowing Swartz to attend Westtown School in West Chester, Pa., one of five generations of his family to attend the institution.

After graduating from Westtown, Swartz attended West Virginia University where he studied psychology and human resources before transferring to Earlham College in Richmond, Ind., where he graduated with an English degree. Following college, Swartz jumped at the opportunity to go to Oxford, England, where he taught at a preparatory school for a year prior to returning to the states to teach English and French at Oakwood School in Poughkeepsie. It was at Oakwood, not Oxford, where he met his English-borne wife, Pat.

Once married, the couple moved to the Northeast Kingdom for Swartz’s new job as an English teacher at St. Johnsbury Academy, a position he held for 27 years. While at the academy, Swartz helped to start the English as a Second Language Program, the International Club and was instrumental in establishing technical writing classes at the school.

Not content to immerse himself in his education duties alone, Swartz became very active on the Northern Counties Health Care Board and Catamount Arts. Swartz served as president of the Northern Counties board when the organization decided to merge with Caledonia Home Health Care in the 1980s.

“Bob is someone you can always count on for effective follow through when it comes to hard work or difficult and complicated challenges,” said NVRH’s Paul Bengston, a Citizen of the Year recipient in 2001, commenting on the many organizations Swartz has been involved in over the years. “He is someone who makes things happen and makes sure important ideas are shared and implemented.”

Swartz has never ventured far from an interest in the health-care field, serving as a corporator for NVRH for many years and working as the education resource coordinator for Northeastern Vermont Area Health Education Center since its start in 1997, whose main mission has been to attract and retain health-care professionals in rural areas.

“Bob Swartz’s community spirit embodies the true meaning of civic commitment and is an inspiration to all those fortunate enough to work with him,” said Margaret Trautz, an AHEC colleague. “Bob is a person of many gifts who has never hesitated to share them with his family and neighbors, his community and professional colleagues and with a multitude of community organizations.”

As strong as his devotion to health causes are, Swartz is perhaps best known for his many years of service on the Catamount Arts board, serving as a board member and president of the organization during its move to its new building on Eastern Avenue and the subsequent capital fund-raising campaign. Sixteen of his fellow Catamount Arts board members, in fact, endorsed his bid to become Citizen of the Year.

“His leadership is a labor of love for the community and an inspiration to us all,” said the board in its nomination packet. “No one can say ‘no’ to Bob. His enthusiasm for the project (the move) and Catamount’s mission and vision buoyed the board through countless campaign hurdles.”

In addition to his Catamount work, Swartz has also played a leadership role in the North Congregational Church, serving as a moderator, deacon, executive council member and the founding chair of the Archives Committee. He has been lauded for his “intelligence, thoroughness and collegial leadership,” said the Rev. Jay Sprout.

Whether it was his tenure on the Osher Steering Committee, time teaching at Springfield College or Community College of Vermont or his service on a multitude of town and civic boards, Swartz has been praised by all for his fairness, good humor, common sense, follow through and diligence to completing a task, no matter how difficult.

“I can think of no greater enthusiast for life in the Northeast Kingdom than Bob Swartz, and Bob is someone who acts on this enthusiasm and works hard to make our communities absolutely the best places to live,” said a friend.

Past Citizen of the Year recipients have included Doug Kitchel, H. Stanwood Brooks, Dr. Howard Farmer, George Young, Mildred H. Smith, Wesley Calderwood, Durward Ellis, Joseph Sherman, Rosalie Harris, Kay Ellis, R.J. (Pete) Brisson, William T. Costa Jr., Sterry R. Waterman, George M. Crosby, Ernie Begin, William Stowe, William P. Kennedy, G. Julian Butler, Howard K. Gieselman, Bernier L. Mayo, Donald Mullally, Alfreda (Freddie) King, Barbara McKay Smith, Dr. John H. Elliott, B.J. Murphy, Dr. John A. Stetson, Doug Drown, Dr. Frederick C. Silloway, the Rev. Mel Richardson, Brent W. Beck, Paul R. Bengtson, Joan Wollrath, Donald E. Bostic, Richard Lawrence, Dale Wells, Fred Laferriere, Reeve Lindbergh/Nat Tripp, Elwin Cross,  A. Richard Boera, Greg MacDonald and David Keenan.

Bob has been married to wife Pat for 46 years and is the father of three daughters, Rebecca Butcher, Rachel Smith and Anne Cornish. He is also the proud grandfather of six, Ben and Kate Butcher, Hayden and Nick Smith and Burke and Hannah Cornish.

The Northeast Kingdom Chamber Citizen of the Year Award is presented each year to a Northeast Kingdom resident who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and extensive community involvement beyond the candidate’s normal occupation. Local civic, social and town leaders comprise the committee that selects the recipient.

The Citizen of the Year dinner will be held on Friday, May 4, at 6 p.m., at the Academic & Student Activity Center, Lyndon State College, Lyndon Center. Friends and colleagues are encouraged to send congratulatory cards to the chamber so they can be included in a memory book for the award recipient.  

For more information on this event or to reserve a spot, contact the NEK Chamber at 2000 Memorial Drive-Ste. 11, St. Johnsbury, VT  05819; call 802-748-3678; or e-mail at nekinfo@nekchamber.com.

When I woke up the morning of March 26, little did I know that the Northeast Kingdom I knew would change forever. While driving to the chamber legislative breakfast, I heard on the radio that a woman had disappeared, but few details were known at that point. It was not until a shaken Kitty Toll, a legislator from Danville, announced to the crowd that Melissa Jenkins been abducted that it hit home, as it did to many that morning, that a family we knew and loved had been affected forever by a most sad and senseless tragedy.

In the days since Melissa Jenkins was slain, I have witnessed an outpouring of support from Vermonters, the nation and world that I have never seen the likes of before, even as a former newspaper reporter and editor. Media outlets throughout the world have all reported on how this wonderful woman, beloved mother, revered sister, daughter, relative, colleague and friend was taken from this earth so early, her little man left behind. Seasoned reporters, not known for emotion, broke up reporting this story, some wearing pink in her honor on the day of her memorial.

Even now, almost two weeks later, I cannot process a mind so sick that could commit a murder so heinous. As the crime details have been announced, I have personally struggled, as I know many of you have, on how we go on with the calm of our region so shattered. But as much as our entire region is grieving, the pain of her family must be unbearable, and we must protect them and maintain their privacy in the weeks and years to come.

My heart has swelled with pride to see how people have honored the memory of this incredible woman in the days since she was taken. Driving down Main Street last Friday, I was overcome with emotion, as many were, with the thousands of ribbons adorning the avenue. Everywhere we have turned in the past week, we have seen pink, whether it is on the backs of schoolchildren posing for a school picture, the ties of businessmen or the thousands of balloons, flying in the wind outside countless businesses throughout the Kingdom and state. 

The chamber feels a great sense of honor that we helped to establish the Melissa Jenkins Memorial Trust, which will directly benefit the son of Melissa Jenkins now and in the years to come. The chamber would like to extend its gratitude to attorney Edward Zuccaro and Richard Lyon, a CPA from A.M. Peisch, for serving as trustees of the trust, and the Passumpsic Savings Bank for hosting the account.This is the only trust fund that has been created for fund-raising and was established in cooperation with St. Johnsbury Academy, where Melissa worked, and Maple Grove Farms of Vermont, where her mother works. This is the sole trust fund that has been created for fund-raising and was established in cooperation with the Jenkins family; St. Johnsbury Academy, where Melissa worked, and Maple Grove Farms of Vermont, where her mother has worked for more than 40 years.

I would like to extend appreciation on their behalf for the many businesses and individuals that have offered their time, skills and money to put on events and efforts to benefit Ty through the fund. The outpouring of support has been nothing short of amazing.

I urge anyone affected by this terrible tragedy to read the beautiful piece, entitled “The New Normal,” written by St. Johnsbury Academy Headmaster Tom Lovett, delivered at Chapel this past Monday. You may go to www.stjacademy.org, and click on the “Headmasters Weekly Message: Our Academy.” It is a wonderfully crafted piece that may not only help people cope but heal after this unbelievably sad tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and all affected by Melissa’s death, as we celebrate the wonderful life of this extraordinary young woman.

(Darcie McCann is the executive director of the Northeast Kingdom Chamber.)

You would think after almost 17 years on the job that the Northeast Kingdom Chamber annual meeting would be routine by now. Not so. I still get butterflies each and every year, and I don’t think that is a bad thing. I have found the secret in running a well-organized event is to never let it become routine. I thought in today’s column I would give you a sense of what we do in the background to pull this large event off.

The most important item to put on the old to-do list is to not get sick, as I was last year, with a ferocious cold. I can say with some level of certainty it is not welcoming to have your chamber director sound like she is the love child of Darth Vader and Suzanne Pleshette at a meeting of such import. Potential sickness affecting the main characters of the meeting, the presidents and myself, is one of the major reasons we always script the event, from the pledge to the sendoff. More than once, when a president had a pesky case of the flu, one of us has had to step in for the other, but I am getting ahead of myself. There is much to do before we ever step to the podium.

The leaves have not yet fallen from the trees when the first tasks on the to-do list start in earnest, finding candidates for openings on the board of trustees. These individuals come from all sorts of businesses and corners of the Kingdom and must have a real sense of what we do as a chamber. Around the same time, our current board members discuss who might be a good speaker for the meeting. I commend the boards for their decision on Lt. Governor Phil Scott this year, as he was excellent, very folksy and had a great sense of humor. Once we book our guest speaker, we finalize the date, time and cost with Donna Wheeler, Lyndon State College’s wonderful director of Conference and Guest Relations. And then the real fun starts.

One of the best parts of this meeting is deciding which members receive honors, including our Kingdom Improvement Awards, Kingdom Recognition Awards and the other special accolades bestowed upon members. While the improvement award focuses on the aesthetic changes made at a business, the recognition honor marks an achievement at the member business that year.

If you have never been to one of our annual meetings, you would not know the pride I put into writing the pun-filled descriptions on the award certificates. Whether it is the  White Market renovation being a “Bona-fied success” or the WilloughVale Inn on Lake Willoughby “shorely” being one of the state’s most beautiful accommodations,  I don’t think I have done my job unless I hear a groan or two from the audience. You would be surprised how long it takes to write a bad pun.

We could not put on this meeting without the help of many, including our trustees, the college and Sharon Reihmer at Framing Format. We would also like to thank Pastor Rick Menard for delivering a most heartfelt invocation and the Stephen Huneck Gallery at Dog Mountain for its most fitting gift to our racecar-driving lieutenant governor, a dog and its owner on a tractor. It got a big chuckle out of Lt. Governor Scott.

We would also like to thank Kingdom Access and the Caledonian-Record for their excellent coverage of the meeting. Business Editor Leah Carey took some wonderful pictures of the event that are appearing in today’s paper, in fact. We thank one and all for all they did to make the event a success! Well, back to work I go; I have lots of thank you notes to write.

(Darcie McCann is the executive director of the Northeast Kingdom Chamber. She can’t wait until a dentist gets an award so she can write the headline “Dentist Gets Plaque.” )

I don’t want to exaggerate, but my to-do list is beginning to look like Santa’s naughty list … growing by the day. In addition to the myriad of pesky year-end projects that need to be done before the new year rings in, we have begun the tedious task of packing up boxes in eager anticipation of our move to the Green Mountain Mall the first week of January.

Having made four moves in the past eight years, I can speak from experience that moving is no picnic. It is with great relief I can announce the chamber has secured a long-term lease at the Green Mountain Mall and will be staying put for many years to come. The chamber is very appreciative for the efforts of mall owners Mark Healy and Bernard Healy for making us feel so welcome in our new home.

I shouldn’t get too far ahead of myself, however, as we have not even moved from our current space atop the St. Johnsbury Welcome Center. There is an odd rhythm to our work flow as of late here in the office. Our daily routine has been to push some paper, pack a box, do more paperwork, shread old documents and repeat the process all over again the next day.

Having to go through so many boxes in the past weeks has been somewhat therapeutic, as we all have to make some difficult decisions on what files to keep. I remember, with fondness, the car shows we used to be a part of in the late 1990s, and who can forget the Lake Memphremagog serpent issue early in the millennium. It touches my heart to see the delicate handwriting of Dorothy Collins on so many of our tourism reports. While many historical files have been kept, even more boxes have been shreaded.

Being a lean, mean moving machine is not a bad thing, but it certainly adds a new meaning to Santa’s familiar refrain of “Ho, ho, ho” this holiday season. (My apologies to the newspaper proofreader who endured a misspelling and pun in that last sentence.)

As we leave our offices in the historic railroad station, we extend to the Town of St. Johnsbury our very best wishes as it takes over the operation of the welcome center upon our departure. We will still retain a presence on the Welcome Center Advisory Board and will work with our partners to ensure this very important regional welcome center remains the integral cog in our economy as it has in the past.

If you would like to keep abreast of the updates of our office construction, please check out our progress on the Northeast Kingdom Chamber Facebook page. We are posting new pictures every day, and even Santa is getting in on the construction work. He was up on a scaffolding yesterday, helping to frame our windows.

We certainly hope that you will come visit us in our new offices once we move to the mall. We are a great resource for any information you may need on business, whether it is on our many chamber benefits, networking and promotional opportunities or assisting you in finding a service you might need. You can also check out our web site at www.nekchamber.com.

Well, as much as I hate to say it, I have to go. That to-do list isn’t getting shorter, and there is much to do in the remaining hours of this work day. The Northeast Kingdom Chamber would like to wish everyone a very happy holiday and thank all of you for the support we have received this past year. This coming year promises to be exciting for the chamber, as we head in an entirely new and exciting direction. Stay tuned!

(Darcie McCann is the executive director of the Northeast Kingdom Chamber and a former newspaper editor. She would like to know whose bright idea it was to spell misspell the way it is, as it is one of the most common misspelled words.)

The sun has not yet made an appearance, but I am up before the birds this chilly morn for a very important reason. While the rest of the world is pushing its first pile of papers on their desks, I will be slipping into a conference room chair in Montpelier, awaiting yet another interesting insurance meeting.

Some of you might think that what I just stated is an oxymoron, that there is no such thing as an “interesting insurance meeting.”Not so. With Vermont’s unique business climate and the recent sour economy, these chamber insurance meetings are among the most important meetings I attend as a chamber director.

As many of you know, just three major insurance players remain in the state, so securing a good deal for our chamber insurance plan for 2012 was nothing short of miraculous. I don’t have to tell you how much premiums have shot up in the past few years and how salaries have lagged in comparison, as you have lived through this phenomenon. Sure we all need health insurance, but isn’t it a rather cruel irony that have to pay an arm and leg for such services?

That is where those insurance meetings come back into play. I am one of just three chamber directors in the state who sits on a special board that meets bimonthly to discuss such premiums and how we can deliver lower rates to our chamber members. When it became apparent we could not accomplish that goal with our previous carrier, we changed to Blue Cross/Blue Shield Vermont, and the reaction thus far to the change has been very positive.

What we were able to accomplish with the Blues this past fall was pretty impressive; they offered no increase in rates from 2011 and offered a cap on premiums next year. In a time when double-digit increases are the norm, we have secured a plan that will increase no more than 10 percent over two years. How great is it that our businesses will actually be able to plan out their premiums for the next two years and have a great plan to boot?

What is nice, too, is that businesses who got off the plan in the past year used to have to wait 18 months to get back onto the program, but that regulation has been waived until the end of February. Chambers throughout the state, including our own, are experiencing a resurgence in members jumping back onto the plan, and that is good news, indeed, for our businesses and organizations.

After building up this health plan so, I would be remiss if I did not tell our business people where they can check out the program and rates to see if the plan makes sense for their companies. Folks can check out our web site, www.nekchamber.com, or contact me at 802-748-3678 or director@nekchamber.com for more information.

I cannot, in good conscience, admit that six-hour meetings on any topic are something I relish attending, but our chamber feels great satisfaction that we are part of the solution, not the problem, in improving the healthcare premium crisis in our state.

Well, the light has started coming in my kitchen window, the sign that I need to pack up my bookbag and head out the door to the big city. Please think of me as I wearily peruse mountainous claim reports this morning, as there is not enough tea in the aisles of Natural Provisions to make that tedious task interesting. I can, however, garner some satisfaction that these meetings really and truly help my members.

(Darcie McCann is the executive director of the Northeast Kingdom Chamber. She has been on this insurance committee almost the entire time she has been at the chamber and can spout obscure insurance facts at the drop of a hat.)

December 3, 2011

‘Get Smart’ Takes On a Whole New Meaning

There was a moment in time this past fall when the Earth shifted for me. While I have been long singing the praises of technology in our chamber, the point hit home at this year’s Business Celebration when emcee Maurice Chaloux read a presentation from an absent speaker off his I-Phone.

I was surprised to learn that in my home alone there are 10 different pieces of technology that connect to the internet, between laptops, game systems, tablet computers, hand-held devices and cell phones. My 87-year old father has become so reliant on the information I can quickly Google on my smart phone that there is nary a question I can’t answer, even dating back to personalities and news stories from his generation.

One of the recent applications that Welcome Center volunteer John Horvatich encouraged me to download on my phone was a translation feature. Now, I can translate and answer any question from any visitor from around the world at the touch of a finger, quite a helpful tool for a chamber. An 8-megapixel camera on my phone has made carrying my heavier camera to and from work almost unnecessary, allowing me to download photos to our Facebook page faster than it took me to type this sentence.

To give you the potential of these small, technological beasts, I have the chamber’s complete 28-page “Business Survival Tool Kit,” detailing our many chamber benefits, downloaded on my phone. That means in any given aisle of the White Market, I can speak intelligently on our phone plan or bulk-mail services. I’ll be honest here though; anything I can use to make myself look more intelligent is a big plus in my book.

I have never been a big believer in getting technology just for technology’s sake, buying every single gadget that hits the market, but I do believe in using such technology smarter. So far, this technology, allowing me to access the internet and my benefits and services that much faster, has resulted in me doing my job better. To give you a sense of how important such a focus is, consider the fact that 95 percent of the visiting public now uses some method of technology in making their travel plans.

Our push in the next five years is to offer all that we do in the office on our web site, everything, so we truly become the 24-7 chamber we have always sought to be. We, as chamber employees, may not be able to staff our offices at 2 in the morning when a pipe breaks, but our web site is there for you, as you blearily look for a plumber to save your basement.  The same goes for the German traveler considering a visit, checking out our attractions, restaurants and lodging while we all slumber.

We are already halfway to our quest, but there is so much more we want to put on our web site, www.nekchamber.com, in the months and years to come, whether it is all the information necessary to start and grow a business to an online restaurant menu guide for the Northeast Kingdom. We welcome your input and suggestions, as well as constructive criticism, on what you would like to include on this very important site.

Just so you know, in our quest to be the state’s most cutting-edge chamber, we will not lose the personal touch that is so important, whether it is keeping Don Mullally as the voice on our answering machine or heartily welcoming you to our new offices in the coming year. You are truly using a smart phone and technology wisely if you blend it with the personal touch and customer service that is so needed. 

(Darcie McCann is the executive director of the Northeast Kingdom Chamber. She just discovered the Charles Dickens “Great Expectations” book on her smart phone.)

NIGHT WORK

Water line and drainage installation will continue on Route 2 from Highland Drive towards the school Sunday night through Thursday night.

Crews will also be working on Route 2 near the school installing new sewer lines Sunday night through Thursday night.

 Motorists can expect alternating one-way traffic within the work zone.  Traffic control will be present to maintain traffic flow. 

DAY WORK

Crews may work on installing duct banks in the Village Green throughout the week.

BLASTING – Blasting and ledge removal will continue on Route 2 near the school throughout the week.

Blasting Schedule (Tentative):  Each day between the hours of 8 am and 2 pm crews plan to blast 3-4 times per day.  Exact blasting times within the hours of 8 am and 2pm are variable and may change each day.

Blasting Signals:  Crews will sound a horn as follows:

 Pre-Blast -    3 consecutive signals – 5 minute warning

                         2 consecutive signals – 1 minute warning

 Post Blast – 1 signal – all clear to enter the blast zone

Blasting Traffic Control – Traffic within the blasting area will be held for 5 minutes before the actual blast and then continue to be held post blast until the roadway is cleared of debris and rebuilt for safe passage.  Each blast will bring different results so the wait time after blasting is unknown at this time.  Traffic delays will likely exceed 10 minutes.

Contact Francine Perkins, Public Relations Officer, FRP Enterprises, LLC with any questions or concerns with regard to this project at 802-479-6994 or for a more up to date schedule visit www.roadworkupdates.com.

For a long time, I was the woman who had to be dragged into this millennium to embrace technology. Just as we bought our DVD, Blueray became the next best thing. I no sooner got an I-Pod when the I-Touch became the latest rage.  Let’s face it, I am a middle-aged woman who writes with fountain pens and still embraces the notion of penning hand-written thank you notes. I may not quite be a dinosaur but I am pretty close to being on the endangered list.

Thank goodness for our children, however, as they have a great way of making parents tackle technology, if only to keep in better touch with them. There were no cell phones in my youth, no satellite radio, no computers, and let’s not even talk about television. We had three channels; that was it.

It was not that many months ago that my children and I were at the Wireless Zone in St. Johnsbury, upgrading my daughter’s and son’s phones. Upon learning I had an upgrade possible, my children encouraged me to get a smart phone, a device offering internet access as well as telephone services.

Since getting my Droid Incredible in May, I have been quite surprised at how much I have used my phone, for business and personal use. When I was lost in Connecticut recently, the phone mapped me a route home. It updates me on Red Sox games and even has an application where I can use my phone as a flashlight. I would be lying if I didn’t say I have really enjoyed having the world at my fingertips.

At a recent chamber board meeting, Rabbit Hill Inn’s Brian Mulcahy talked about what this technology means for our chamber in the coming years. We are coming to a point, the proverbial fork in the road, when technology will replace bricks and mortar, brochures and our handy, dandy printed membership directory.

The time is coming, mark my word, when visitors will expect, actually demand, a virtual welcome center, where everything they receive from a building now will be found on the web, minus, of course, the restrooms.

Our chamber has already begun work on what this virtual center will look like, what we need to do to beef up our already fantastic web site to make this happen. Yes, we have a mobile web site, but do we need to start looking at establishing a chamber app for smart phones? The answer is an emphatic yes! We cannot be left in the dust; there is too much at stake.

More than 10 years ago, a very smart computer guru advised a gathering of chamber directors that absolutely everything we do within the structure of our organizations should be found on the web in the years to come. Back then, that very statement created quite a stir at our conference, but she was right on the money.

As this chamber goes forward, we will look at each and every technological upgrade that benefits our members and region in the years to come. While there still remains a place in the world for wonderful welcome center buildings, we must also acknowledge that the times are changing and we must not only be clear on what this technology means to our organization but be poised and ready for such times.

 (Darcie McCann is the executive director of the Northeast Kingdom Chamber. While she has yet to find an app for a restroom, she can, at least, find one on her smart phone.)