This Week’s News
Names Lost in Vermont, Part 28: Gearwar
Thirty-five years ago, when Barry Gearwar appeared on my student rolls at Otter Valley Union High School, I encountered a surname I had never seen before. With good reason: the index for the 1900 census shows only one family group, for the entire country, with the Gearwar name living in Lamoille County.
Brandon SB discusses trucks, dams, and corporations
The Brandon Selectboard convened on Monday evening for its regular meeting.
Rene Sanchez takes the helm as RNESU Superintendent
It’s been a busy week for Rene Sanchez. On July 1, he took over as the new interim Superintendent at Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union, the district that includes Otter Valley Middle and High Schools, Lothrop Elementary in Pittsford, Neshobe Elementary in Brandon, Otter Creek Academy in Leicester, and the Barstow School in the town of Chittenden.
Photos of the Week
Sports
Otter Valley wins on Senior Night
The Otter women welcomed the Wasps of Woodstock to Senior Night at the “House of Noise” on Friday, February 11 before a raucous crowd.
Otter Valley defeats Hartford, 36–34
The Otter Valley girls basketball team defeated the visiting Hartford Hurricanes, 36-34, on Friday, January 28 at the “House of Noise” in Brandon.
OV, Proctor, Westside winter sports teams kick-off the season
The COVD-shortened winter of the 2020-21 high school sports season is behind us, and the teams at Otter Valley are happy about that. The pandemic forced the school’s basketball programs, like those elsewhere, to play abbreviated seasons, and wrestling was sidelined for the entire season.
OV girl’s basketball drops opener
In a hard-fought season opening game in which the teams traded game-changing runs, the host Middlebury Union girls’ basketball team put together the decisive surge to outlast Otter Valley, 35-28.
Six Otters named to Second Team All-Stars
After a successful season this fall, 10 members of the Otter Valley football team received postseason recognition from the Division III coaches.

