Otter boys to face Woodstock in semis

The Otter Valley boys varsity basketball team advanced to the Vermont Division II playoffs semifinal round with Saturday's quarterfinal win over visiting Vergennes. 

The Otters play next on the big stage of Barre Auditorium, Monday, March 2, at 8:15 p.m. Their opponent will be the undefeated Wasps of Woodstock.

Otters fans can purchase a limited number of tickets for the event. Fourteen balcony seats ($8 each) and 350 general admission seats ($7 adult, $4 students and seniors) are available. Tickets will be on sale at the activity director's office in Otter Valley Union High School in Brandon from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday (just before the final performances of Walking Stick Theatre One-Act Plays) and from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Tickets also will be available during the school day on Monday. Purchasers are asked to bring cash for their tickets.

The battle between Otter Valley and Vergennes began at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Brandon. OV Principal Jim Avery tweeted updates from the game. He noted that the Commodores were up by 19-14 at the half and by 29-28 with just six minutes left in the game. At 3:30 p.m., Principal Avery tweeted the come-from-behind Otter victory: "48-39 We are going to the Aud!!!! Great effort by both teams. So much to be proud of. #OVpride #classygamefrombothteams"

Otter Valley (16-6) last faced Woodstock (21-0) on Feb. 11. That game did not go well for the visiting Otters, who lost by a score 64-36, though it featured senior forward John Winslow's 1,000th career point. 

Annual Town Meeting is March 3

Town Meeting Day is March 3, 2015. Whiting's Annual School Meeting will open at 7:15 p.m. at the Whiting Town Hall, with the Annual Town Meeting following immediately afterward. Budget proposals for the school district and the town will be presented and voted on.

Meeting attendees also will elect a Select Board member, Lister, Auditor and Library Trustee for three-year terms, as well as a Collector of Delinquent Taxes, Road Commissioner, First and Second Constable, Town Juror and Town Agent.

The school meeting will consider a $664,735 spending plan for the Whiting Town School District. Voters approved $612,360 (including a floor amendment addition of $26,800 for a pre-kindergarten program) for the schools at the 2014 meeting. So the current plan would include a spending increase of $52,375 or 8.55%. This is the second-highest percentage jump for any town in the Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union. Only the Town of Goshen would see its spending increase by a greater percentage, 28.9%. (The average spending increase for union towns would be 1.48%.)

The resulting homestead education tax rate for Whiting would be 1.50, an increase of 12.9% over the current 1.3281. The owner of a homestead property valued at $200,000, for example, would see education taxes rise $343.80 this year, from a level of $2,656.20 to $3,000.00, under the proposed spending plan. No town in the union district would experience a higher percentage increase or a higher tax rate. (The Town of Pittsford's tax rate would also be 1.50, after a jump of just 5.24%.)

The town meeting will consider a $300,252 proposed spending plan for the town, of which $179,321 would come from taxes. Last year's meeting approved a $290,591 budget with $158,026.21 from taxes. The budget proposal contains a $9,661 or 3.32% spending increase and an increase of $21,294.79 or 13.47% in the amount to come from taxes.

Also on the agenda for the town meeting is a proposal for the town to appropriate funds for the creation of a wall or plaque acknowledging the military veterans of Whiting.

Otters basketball enters postseason

The fourth-ranked Otter Valley High School boys basketball team (14-6) hosts the No. 13 Harwood Union High School Highlanders (4-16) in a Division II postseason "playdown" tonight. Doors open for the event at 6:20 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults and $4 for students and senior citizens. 

John Winslow
(Addison Independent 2014)

The Otters are led by senior forward John Winslow (2014 Addison Independent Player of the Year), who has surpassed the 1,000-point mark in his high school hoops career.

The Otters-Highlanders winner will likely move on to face No. 5 Vergennes (13-7), expected victor of a playdown against 6-14 Hartford.

The division's top regular season team, 20-0 Woodstock, seems likely to advance at least to the semifinals at Barre Auditorium on March 2. The Otters may meet the Woodstock Wasps there, if they can manage two postseason wins.

UPDATE (Feb. 26, 2015): MOVING ON - The Otters defeated Harwood in the play-down game by a score of 45-27 and advance to face Vergennes in a quarterfinal game at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28. Vergennes came out on top, 68-53, in its play-down against Hartford.

The winner of the Otter Valley-Vergennes matchup will move on to a March 2 semifinal game at Barre Auditorium. The opponent will be the winner of Friday's quarterfinal game between top-ranked Woodstock (20-0) and eighth-ranked Mill River (10-11). Mill River advanced to the quarterfinal round after a 62-55 play-down win against Milton.

Otter Valley and Vergennes did not play each other this season. Otter Valley faced Woodstock on Feb. 11. The game did not go well for the visiting Otters, who lost by a score 64-36, though it featured John Winslow's 1,000th career point.

OVUHS presents one-act plays

Otter Valley Union High School's Walking Stick Theatre, 2997 Franklin Street, Brandon, VT, will present a collection of five one-act plays on Feb. 27 and 28 (7 p.m.) and March 1 (2 p.m.), 2015. Admission at the door is $7 for adults and $6 for students and seniors.

Column of light

A column of sunlight rises over the Green Mountains at dawn on Feb. 1, 2015. Viewed from Whiting.