Spring productions at OVUHS

Otter Valley Union High School in Brandon, VT, presents Thank You For Flushing My Head In The Toilet and other rarely used expressions & Snapshot, 7:30 p.m., Thursday, May 2, and Friday, May 3. Admission is $5.

Whiting Census of 1800

I pieced together the few pages of the U.S. Census of 1800 that were related to Whiting. They are shown below.

The U.S. Census of 1790 showed about 247 residents in the Town of Whiting (I believe the official count was 249, but I could not find the other two people in the document). Over the following ten years, the population grew considerably. The 1800 Census shows a total of 404 residents in the town (roughly what the population is now). For comparison, in 1800 the neighboring Town of Leicester had a population of 522 (less than current population), while Cornwall had 1,163 (close to current) and Shoreham had 1,447 (more than current).

There were many youngsters in Whiting in 1800 - 77 boys under age ten (19% of the population), 58 girls under age ten (14.3%), 36 girls between ten and sixteen (8.9%) and 28 boys between ten and sixteen (6.9%). The total number of minors was 199, accounting for just under half of the total number of residents. There were relatively few older adults - just 22 men and 23 women aged forty-five and over. These comprised about 11% of the total population. Just one resident of the town was designated as not "white."

FYI - Whiting's age-group statistics looked very different for the 2000 U.S. Census (the most recent for which already-crunched numbers are available). At that time, children under 16 accounted for just 17.4% of the town population (somewhat lower than the state and national percentage), and adults 45 and older accounted for about 37% (about the same as the state figure but higher than the national figure). The largest age block was adults 25-44, with 31.6% of the population falling into that category (a bit higher than state and national figures).

The final column in the 1800 census contains no information for Whiting or for any other town in the State of Vermont. That column was used to track the number of slaves in each household. Slavery was always prohibited in Vermont.

Otter Valley Boys Lacrosse

Our two sons are now involved in the lacrosse program at Otter Valley Union High School, so don't be too surprised to see some lacrosse coverage here from time to time. The first scheduled game of the varsity season was postponed from this morning (April 13) to the afternoon of May 2. Here's what the season schedule looks like:

Sat	04/13/2013	Randolph	H	11:00 *
Mon	04/15/2013	Vergennes	H	4:00
Mon	04/15/2013	JV hosts Vergennes	H	5:30
Fri	04/19/2013	@ Brattleboro	A	7:00
Thur	04/25/2013	Woodstock	H	4:30
Sat	04/27/2013	MAU	H	11:00
Mon	04/29/2013	@ Vergennes	A	4:00
Mon	04/29/2013	JV @ Vergennes	A	5:30
Thur	05/02/2013	Randolph	H	4:30
Wed	05/08/2013	Hartford	H	4:30
Sat	05/11/2013	@ Burr & Burton	A	11:00
Mon	05/13/2013	@ Mt Abraham	A	4:00
Thur	05/16/2013	Burr & Burton	H	4:30
Fri	05/24/2013	Rutland	H	4:30
Fri	05/24/2013	JV hosts Rutland	H	6:00
Sat	05/25/2013	@ St. Johnsbury (Oxbow)	A	1:00
Sat	05/25/2013	JV @ St. Johnsbury	A	2:30
Wed	05/29/2013	Green Mtn Valley School	H	4:30
Fri	05/31/2013	@ Hartford	A	4:30

Home games are shown in Bold, JV games are shown in Italics.

* 4/13 game postponed to 5/2

Possible pipeline paths provoke public protest

Two of five potential routes for a 24-mile Vermont Gas natural gas pipeline project pass through the Town of Whiting. Those two routes would also take the pipeline south from Middlebury through Salisbury and Leicester, and then west through Whiting, Orwell and Shoreham, on its way to an underwater crossing of Lake Champlain to the International Paper mill at Ticonderoga, NY.

According to a grading system used by project planners, those two routes affecting Whiting are among the more expensive being considered, though they would put Vermont Gas in a favorable position for expansion southward to Rutland.

Three less expensive options would send the pipeline immediately west from Middlebury, crossing through the center of Cornwall and the northern portion of Shoreham. While those options appear to face significant community opposition, two of the three trans-Cornwall routes have highly favorable rankings in terms of construction, permitting process and cost and a somewhat favorable rating for connection to Rutland. Those options have informally been designated as the "most feasible scenarios."

According to a story by John Flowers in the Addison County Independent, the routes under consideration would be part of Phase 2 of a Vermont Gas expansion into Addison County. Phase 1, a 41-mile pipeline from Colchester to Middlebury, is current under review by the  Vermont Public Service Board.

The prospect of access to natural gas (Vermont Gas appears to be planning to service Shoreham village and may add service to the center of Cornwall), has not increased the attractiveness of the project to local residents. Cornwall residents along Routes 30 and 74 have placed lawn signs opposing the pipeline routes.

Vermont Gas officials have been meeting with a multi-town planning group.

Library friends group meets Thursday, April 11

The second organizational meeting of the Friends of the Whiting Free Library is scheduled for 7 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday, April 11) at the Town Hall. On the agenda is a discussion of organization bylaws.
A half-dozen interested residents turned out for the initial meeting two weeks ago.
A report on that meeting can be found here: Friends group organizes (March 29, 2013)

Health Dept. conducts EEE blood tests

The Vermont Department of Health seeks volunteers in Whiting, Brandon and Sudbury for a blood-testing study into the life-threatening mosquito-borne disease called Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE). In the study, blood samples from area residents will be checked for antibodies produced through contact with the EEE virus. Health officials hope to gain a better understanding of the community's exposure to the virus. (See press release.)

EEE appears to be transmitted from bird populations to mammals, such as horses and humans, through the activity of the culiseta melanura mosquito and possibly other mosquitoes. There are few reliable statistics for the human exposure to the virus. Only a handful of people, who exhibit extreme symptoms, are known to infected each year. It is believed that many others are exposed to the virus but suffer slight or no noticeable symptoms. 

Last year, when EEE was detected in mosquito testing in swampy areas of Whiting, two area residents died from EEE. Equine livestock is typically vaccinated against the disease. There is no vaccination for humans.

Three clinics are scheduled in the area to draw small blood samples from volunteer adults:

• April 23, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Brandon Senior Center, 1591 Forest Dale Road.
• May 14, noon to 7 p.m., Sudbury Town Hall.
• May 29, noon to 7 p.m., Whiting Town Hall.

Volunteers must be age 12 and older and must have lived at their current residence in one of the three towns since June 1, 2012. No advance sign-up is required. All results will be kept confidential. Participants will remain anonymous and will not be notified if EEE virus antibodies, indicative of exposure to the virus, are found. No other testing will be performed on the blood samples.

Related stories:

EEE, mosquito-control meetings this week (Nov. 25, 2012)

State officials visit for discussion of EEE, mosquitoes (Nov. 16, 2012)

Mosquito control, EEE meetings in area (Nov. 9, 2012)

More aerial mosquito-spraying tonight (Sept. 7, 2012)

Mosquito spraying tonight (Sept. 6, 2012)

Dick Breen, 87, educator, of Brandon (Sept. 5, 2012)

Aerial mosquito spraying map released (Sept. 5, 2012)

One dead of EEE, mosquito spraying to begin (Sept. 5, 2012)

Mosquito-spraying discussion in Brandon (Sept. 3, 2012)

Two area residents hospitalized with EEE (Sept. 2, 2012)

West Nile virus found locally (Aug. 25, 2012)