Memorial Day Honors those Who Gave It All

Photo courtesy of David Hearne

On Memorial Day in Ludlow, the traditional wreath was cast from the Walker Bridge into the Black River in honor of those who have given their lives in the service of the nation.

What's the Future of Area Schools?

(The following is an op-ed series open to anyone with an  opinion about the future of schools and education in the Black River area.  To submit an article simply send your name, telephone number, and article to [email protected] with "School Op-Ed" in the SUBJECT line.  Try to keep it under 600 words.)

by Ralph Pace

When we speak of the future of schools and education in the Black River area we usually are asking the question:  Should Black River High School continue to exist?

Yes, there are a number of subset questions and arguments:

• why do we have four elementary schools, CTES, LES, Plymouth, and Mt Holly, operating in such close proximity to one another?
• does Mt Holly really want to stay in the Rutland Windsor Supervisory Union (RWSU)?
• doesn't it make more sense for Cavendish students to be part of RWSU?
• Black River High School represents the "heart and soul" of Ludlow
• other school districts and unions don't appear to be eager to discuss any form of consolidation
• "local control" of education is a myth

But the core of the discussion always seems to get back to that single question: Should Black River High School (BRHS) continue to exist?

And, in a very real sense, that is the most appropriate question to be asking.  For once a decision is made - and supported - by the community as to the future of BRHS, the other concerns listed above, where local decisions impact the course of events, will begin to fall in place by the inertia of the BRHS decision.

It will be noted that no reference has been made to the effect property taxes have on this question.  Like it or not, the likelihood of Act60/68 being altered or rescinded is so remote as to make the taxation question irrelevant to the discussion.  Area tax payers, particularly in Ludlow, have made their feelings on the subject abundantly clear to the Legislature.  The Legislature, in its turn, has made it abundantly clear that it doesn't share these feelings.

BRHS's future should be the result of an honest discussion of when is "too little, too much."  The appeal to local emotions, while understandable, is not a sound basis for developing public policy.

If, as current projections indicate, the cost-per-pupil will surpass $20,000 due to the declining student population, the cost of maintaining an adequate faculty to provide a sound and complete public school education, along with the desperately necessary renovations to the school plant, will rise dramatically.  This basic cost of education will be further impacted by the continuing decline in the area's residential population that forms the main tax base to underwrite public school financing.

What then can be done to improve this situation?

The options are few and hardly attractive:

1. Approve a bond issue in the range of $10 to 20 million to bebuild BRHS and seek to consolidate overhead expenses associated with the both BRHS AND Ludlow Elementary such as merging the administration of both schools under one principal
2. Close BRHS and tuition out students to Green Mountain - realizing that this may prompt Mt Holly to withdraw from RWSU - and negotiate with abutting school districts to form a new faculty and administrative structure
3. Do nothing which will, within five years, probably make the cost of operating BRHS (and other area schools, for that matter) so prohibitively high that the residential tax base cannot meet the costs

We are rapidly approaching the point where all our desires to maintain BRHS as a reflection of the community's history, tradition, and core values will be overwhelmed by the sheer cost. 

The future quality education that our youth deserves is in the balance.

So why not have a public referendum where the three options are presented to the voters so that a real public policy process on the future of public school education in the Black River area may begin?  This is not a matter to be left to school boards or select boards; it requires the input of all area residents.

Garden Club Dresses Up Mini Park

Members of the Ludlow Garden Club combined their efforts to perform a very much appreciated "Spring Cleaning" in the Ludlow mini-park at the corner of Main and Depot.   Enduring the smoke and dust created by the nearby Main Street paving project, the ladies returned the park to its pristine condition.  This has been an annual project of the Garden Club for a number of years.

As one source noted, "You won’t find these members gathering in print dresses and flowered hats to chatter about mulch and prettification – our Ludlow Garden Club members are out and about with rakes and shovels and are easily identified by their bright green aprons."

“The Ludlow Garden Club is an incredible resource for the beautification of the Village of Ludlow,” commented Municipal Manager, Frank Heald.  “If you are passing by and see the Garden Club members sprucing up the Village, please be sure to give them a wave or “toot” as a thank you for all that they do.”

Members of the Ludlow Garden Club paused for a moment for this photograph of them.  From left to right, they are Dianne Krupp, Patsy Kuntz, Barbara Whittaker, Rita Higgins, Nancy Sears, Joann Milza, Marilyn Dunwoody, and Janet Pace.  Not pictured are Kay O'Hare and Alice Nitka. 

Area News Headlines Through May 25

Gill Home loses vote for property tax exemption

On May 17, the voters of Ludlow denied a petition-based request from the Gill Odd Fellows Home for a 10 year property tax exemption.  The vote was 111 for, 138 against.  At a public hearing on May 5, no Gill Home representative showed up to defend the requested exemption.  This was the third vote sought by Gill Home in 2007 on the question.  The first vote at Ludlow Town meeting resulted in a 142-142 tie while the same request was defeated more soundly in a Village vote.

According to the 2005 reappraisal "Green Book", the Gill Home had a Grand List value of $2,382,300.  Using the 2006 tax rate (village and town), this would translate into a 2006-2007 tax of $41,214.

Because the requested exemption was not sanctioned by Vermont Statute, that amount would still have to be included in the Ludlow Grand List tax base.

Cavendish Selectboard Allows "Alternative" Memorial Day Event to Continue

The "no-named" ad-hoc organization  of Cavendish citizens who had been approved to hold a May 28 Memorial Day event on the Proctorsville Green were challenged by the American Legion as to the appropriateness of the event at the recent Cavendish Selectboard meeting.  The Board, which had previously approved the event, declined to reverse its action even after a lengthy debate between the Legion and event sponsors over whether the proposed event was really a "war protest".

Ludlow Historic District Named to National Register of Historic Places

The National Park Service of the U.S. Dept of the Interior, responsible for the National Register of Historic Places, announced that the Main Street area of Ludlow Village had been named to the National Register of Historic Places.  The district, from Walker Bridge to Andover Street follows Main Street and includes several building on Depot Street.  The naming to the Register is the first step Ludlow is taking in seeking a "Downtown Designation" from the State.

Ludlow Town Hall Restoration Committee Honored

Preservation Trust of Vermont (PTV) honored the Ludlow Town Hall Restoration Committee for its work in renovating the town hall at its recent session in Montpelier.  Speaking for the committee, Town Manager Frank Heald cited the wisdom of the town voters in approving a major bond issue for the restoration and the work of volunteers in supporting the project. 

Shown on the left are Ralph Pace, Chair of the Restoration Committee and Frank Heald, Ludlow Town Manager, displaying the PTV award.

Route 103 Work Continues in Ludlow Village

Pike Industries is continuing its resurfacing work on Rte 103 in Ludlow Village.  It is scheduled to be completed in mid-July.  According the Town Manager Frank Heald, the work will also include the installation of permanent cross-walk markings in key crossing areas in the Village. 

The markings will be an oxide material, orange in color, that will be of the same thickness as the new pavement cover.

Gill Home loses vote for property tax exemption

On May 17, the voters of Ludlow denied a petition-based request from the Gill Odd Fellows Home for a 10 year property tax exemption.  The vote was 111 for, 138 against.  At a public hearing on May 5, no Gill Home representative showed up to defend the requested exemption.  This was the third vote sought by Gill Home in 2007 on the question.  The first vote at Ludlow Town meeting resulted in a 142-142 tie while the same request was defeated more soundly in a Village vote.

According to the 2005 reappraisal "Green Book", the Gill Home had a Grand List value of $2,382,300.  Using the 2006 tax rate (village and town), this would translate into a 2006-2007 tax of $41,214.

Because the requested exemption was not sanctioned by Vermont Statute, that amount would still have to be included in the Ludlow Grand List tax base.

Cavendish Selectboard Allows "Alternative" Memorial Day Event to Continue

The "no-named" ad-hoc organization  of Cavendish citizens who had been approved to hold a May 28 Memorial Day event on the Proctorsville Green were challenged by the American Legion as to the appropriateness of the event at the recent Cavendish Selectboard meeting.  The Board, which had previously approved the event, declined to reverse its action even after a lengthy debate between the Legion and event sponsors over whether the proposed event was really a "war protest".

Ludlow Historic District Named to National Register of Historic Places

The National Park Service of the U.S. Dept of the Interior, responsible for the National Register of Historic Places, announced that the Main Street area of Ludlow Village had been named to the National Register of Historic Places.  The district, from Walker Bridge to Andover Street follows Main Street and includes several building on Depot Street.  The naming to the Register is the first step Ludlow is taking in seeking a "Downtown Designation" from the State.

Ludlow Town Hall Restoration Committee Honored

Preservation Trust of Vermont (PTV) honored the Ludlow Town Hall Restoration Committee for its work in renovating the town hall at its recent session in Montpelier.  Speaking for the committee, Town Manager Frank Heald cited the wisdom of the town voters in approving a major bond issue for the restoration and the work of volunteers in supporting the project. 

Shown on the left are Ralph Pace, Chair of the Restoration Committee and Frank Heald, Ludlow Town Manager, displaying the PTV award.

Route 103 Work Continues in Ludlow Village

Pike Industries is continuing its resurfacing work on Rte 103 in Ludlow Village.  It is scheduled to be completed in mid-July.  According the Town Manager Frank Heald, the work will also include the installation of permanent cross-walk markings in key crossing areas in the Village. 

The markings will be an oxide material, orange in color, that will be of the same thickness as the new pavement cover.

Elderhostel Visit to Antiquities of Turkey and Greece

   

by Ralph Pace

Above is the Temple of Aphrodite at Aphrodisias in Turkey. This was one of the many marvelous sites we enjoyed during our three week April tour of Turkey, selected Aegean islands, and mainland Greece as part of an Elderhostel tour.

A large number of photographs of the entire journey through the antiquities of pre-Hellenic cultures, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires we were exposed to in this educational and fun tour are available  at http://elderhostel2007.shutterfly.com/.

To me, the best part of the journey was seeing the ruins of Ephesus and Delos along with the Mycenae ruins on the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. Below is a photo of the Treasury of Atreus. If you recall your Homer, this was the alleged site where Agamemnon reigned and the Trojan War all began.

Our journey in turkey centered around Istanbul - a most fascinating city as it easily mixes the ancient buildings and ruins of Greco-Roman origin as well as those from the Byzantine and Ottoman periods (including the clumsy work of the so-called Crusaders) with very modern buildings. Traffic in Istanbul makes New York look like a drive in the park. The majesty of the Hagia Sophia (Temple of Wisdom built by Justinian in the 6th century AD) along with the "Blue Mosque" are awe-inspiring (allegedly the Statue of Liberty could fit inside the Hagia Sophia).

Ephesus and Aphrodisias are essentially Roman cities that display the engineering greatness of the Romans as well as their pragmatism.

We traveled to the Aegean Islands of Samos, Patmos (where John the Divine wrote Revelations), Mykonos, Delos, Naxos, and Syros on the Aegean Princess, a 110 foot, motorized catamaran. The Princess was a lot of fun until it hit heavy seas. Then a number of the 23 people on the tour suddenly spent a lot of time in their cabins. Our final journey to Athens was aboard a high speed ferry that was as elegant as it was fast (traveled about 39 nautical miles/hour).

In Greece, we stayed at a lovely hotel in downtown Athens and toured the Acropolis, the ancient agora (marketplace) and numerous other historic sites.

The day we spent on the Peloponnese was a personal highlight in that it introduced us to the Mycenae culture that preceded that of the Greeks. We traveled this world of ancient wonder with our friends from Canada, John and Joan Brownlie. This was their first Elderhostel.

A most fascinating part of this trek was the realization of how different religions dealt with the buildings and, more significantly, the art work within them of those they conquered.  The Arabs, due to their shunning of icons, simply plastered over the Christian art work.  This meant, in effect, that they preserved that art work so that, as has happened in Hagia Sophia, the huge Christian church in Istanbul built in the 6th century AD, as the plaster is removed, the original art work is still intact.

The Christians, on the other hand, apparently believing that either Pagan or Islamic art work was "the work of the devil", simply obliterated the art work or, in the case of statues, "beheaded" them or added the sign of the cross to them.  One of the English professors of archeology, A. C. S. Saunders of Koc University in Turkey, who discussed the matter with the Elderhostel group posed the thesis that "the Christians were afraid that their tenets could not survive the presence of Pagan art work, so they simply destroyed it."

The journey was also a reminded that many of the so-called "modern" innovations of "civilized" society were not really so modern.  Ephesus, Delos, and a host of other visited sites demonstrated that indoor plumbing, public restrooms, city water supply systems, hot water showers and baths, and high rise apartments were common place in these ancient sites. 

All was not simply educational, however. The chemistry of the folks involved in this Elderhostel was perhaps the best we have ever experienced in our history with Elderhostel. We had a great time mixing with everyone, enjoying the food (too much of it), and enjoying each other's company. The company of expert historians, especially Sami in Turkey, made the event even more special.

All in all, it was the best Elderhostel we've participated in to date. It was long - and sometimes demanding. (The Romans, unfortunately, did not invent escalators.)  But it was a fantastic journey back into the past to realize the genius of those people and, perhaps, deflate our own collective egos a bit.