This Week’s News
Names lost in Vermont, Part 36: Wideawake, Morris, Brooks, and Smart
Over twenty-five years ago, after reading one of Christian Wideawake’s by-lines from the Rutland Herald, I commented to George Valley, “I wonder if Wideawake is a Native American surname?” George, raised in a Francophone family, did not speak English until he went to school. He said, “I bet it was Leveillé.”
Brandon SB discusses housing, grants, and historic trees
The Brandon Selectboard convened for its regular meeting on Monday evening.
OV Football wins big in playoffs, moves to state semis
Isaac Whitney had a huge game, gaining 180 yards and scoring 4 touchdowns to lead the Otter Valley football team to a 46–14 playoff win over rival Mill River Saturday night under the new lights at Markowski Field.
Labor of love (and horseshoes): Brandon resident restores historic blacksmith shop
Back in the days of the horse & buggy, the blacksmith shop was central to daily life. Horses needed shoes. Buggies needed wheels and springs. And all sorts of other household goods were forged by hand at the local smithy.
Photos of the Week
Sports
OV field hockey beats Fair Haven, 7-0, to earn No. 4 seed in Division II playoffs
The Otter Valley field hockey team earned the No. 4 seed in Division II after a successful regular season that concluded late last week. The Otters will open their title quest on Friday.
Field hockey love
A couple of weeks ago, an out-of-town sports team came to Brandon to donate a day of free labor. Brandon’s economic development and recreation director Bill Moore welcomed the help and put the Castleton University field hockey team to work moving a big pile of woodchips at the Seminary Hill Park playground and painting picnic tables at Estabrook Park.
Cosmos, Otters embody sportsmanship
This past Saturday, the Otter Valley field hockey team met visiting Springfield in which both teams came out as winners by seeing close-up what good sportsmanship means.
OV wins State Championship!
The Otter Valley boys’ golf team dominated the field at the Manchester Country Club on Thursday, Oct. 10 to win the Division II championship by a 22-stroke margin.
Eagles pull away to topple OV in high scoring battle, 44-20
The Mount Abraham-Vergennes cooperative football team converted seven Otter Valley turnovers into 30 points on Saturday as the Division II Eagles won for the time this season, 44-20, at the visiting Otters’ expense.