As Vermont reached an 80% vaccination rate, eligible residents of Bradford and surrounding communities are receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at a pace comparable to the rest of the state.
According to data from the Vermont Department of Health, Bradford’s vaccination rate was between 81 and 90%, as was the rate in Thetford. Fairlee’s vaccination rate was higher than 90%, and Chelsea’s vaccination rate was between 71 and 80%.
THETFORD CENTER—The one-lane covered bridge over the Ompompanoosuc River on Tucker Hill Road was temporarily closed for several hours midday on June 17.
But this time the closure was not due to damage caused by an oversized truck striking the wooden frame, an all-too common occurrence at the site.
Instead, a throng of neighbors, Thetford officials and other friends of the bridge gathered near its east end to install new signs on either end of the Sayre Bridge. Several short speeches and a ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the occasion once both signs were mounted in place.
BRADFORD—There is some disconnect about a Facebook group named Connecting Bradford as the social media hub came under fire during the selectboard meeting last week.
A brief discussion was prompted by a complaint the town offices received from a Bradford resident even though the page is not an official municipal website. Selectmen voted several years ago not to have an official Facebook page.
“It’s not an official site,” said administrative assistant Danielle Kingsbury. “That needs to be clear.”
Selectboard chair Ted Unkles agreed.
“I’ve also gotten a lot of flack,” he said.
NORTH HAVERHILL—This past year, the Grafton County Farm and Farm Stand, as with everything and everyone else, fell victim to COVID-19’s disruptive influence.
Passersby may have noticed that business is not as usual and wonder what is going on. The farm stand will not open in 2021, but that doesn’t mean the County Farm won’t be operating this year. It just means they will be doing things a little differently.
Since 2003, the Grafton County Farm has supplied produce to the Grafton County Nursing Home, the Department of Corrections, and to the public for sale at the farm stand. Local food pantries also benefitted from the farm’s potatoes and schools enjoyed pumpkins.
BRADFORD—After COVID-19 restrictions loosened, the Bradford Public Library re-opened to the public on May 4 after closing its doors in March 2020. But librarian Gail Trede wanted to hold a special event—something to bring families together that were otherwise isolated during the pandemic.
“It was hard to book any events due to Covid restrictions and I was looking for a summer party event after not doing anything for a year,” she said.
After some investigative work on the computer, she found Jeff Boyer and the Big Bubble Bonanza.
It’s been more than a year and a half since COVID-19 made its appearance and upended everybody’s lives. As Covid case numbers decline, restrictions loosen, and temperatures rise, local folks are gathering again with an extra dose of gratitude and joy. And maybe a little trepidation.
Those in the wedding industry basically lost an entire season thanks to Covid. Vermont wedding photographer Sally Carpenter said many couples postponed their nuptials.
“I had three [weddings] at one venue and that venue did not survive the pandemic [and] so they had to cancel all their weddings, very sad,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter said that June is still very slow with a few elopements. The big weddings are just starting to happen again, and that’s where the real money comes in.
BATH—It may have been sunny and hot outside instead of dark and cold, but Bath got its 2021 town meeting done.
Town meeting was held on the afternoon of June 5, pushed back from its traditional March date due to the pandemic. The location, however, remained unchanged with residents gathering in the Bath Village School cafetorium for Saturday’s session
Nearly three dozen residents breezed through a meeting warrant easily approving a new piece of equipment for the highway department in a paper ballot vote while tabling a proposal for bridge repairs on Dodge Road.
BRADFORD—Even as area high schools plan to hold in-person graduations ceremonies this year, not everything will look as it did in the past.
Graduation celebrations will thus vary from school to school as administrators and others make plans with guidance issued by Vermont and New Hampshire health and school officials.
In Vermont, officials anticipate that by July 4, there will be no limits on gatherings either indoors or outdoors. But until then, according to the Vermont Forward Plan, outdoor events are limited to 900 unvaccinated people plus any number of vaccinated individuals provided there is adequate spacing.
NEWBURY—The Vermont Department of Children and Families has no plans to house young adults at a proposed juvenile detention center in Newbury.
DCF Commissioner Sean Brown told legislators on June 3 that the Covered Bridges facility will not be taking in “emerging adults.”
The comments came during a session of the Vermont Legislature’s Joint Justice Oversight Committee on June where members were discussing Gov. Phil Scott’s recent veto of S.107, a bill that would allow defendants up to age 20 to avoid public disclosure for a long list of serious crimes in Vermont.
WAITS RIVER—What began as a library class research project, three 6th grade students took several steps further.
The project asked students to select one of many global issues to study: food insecurity; human trafficking; natural disasters; and others. Kobin Ellsworth, Aiden Otterman, and Gabbi Snider chose to research access to clean water.
Finding clean drinking water in Vermont is usually not a problem. But around the world, there are entire communities that cannot reliably access clean water, which, in turn, has a devastating effect on the health, nutrition, agriculture, and education within these communities.
As part of their study, the group learned about the Water Project, an initiative that provides access to safe water across subSaharan Africa. For the Water Project, much of its work means building and improving supply chains, learning from trends, and keeping the water flowing in communities to build trust and resilience.