2022 in photos
Jan. 3, 2023 | By Waterbury RoundaboutBefore we get too far into 2023, here’s look back on scenes from 2022 mostly through photographer Gordon Miller’s lens along with other contributors last year.
January
From ice fishing on the Waterbury Reservoir to skiing and skijoring at Dac Rowe Park to a frozen dam at Bolton Falls on the Winooski River, January offered much ice and snow with a little fire at the annual Christmas tree bonfire and skating party. Photos by Gordon Miller.
February
Waterbury Winterfest returned from a pandemic hiatus with outdoor events. Antique snowmobiles took over Farr’s Field for a day. Thatcher Brook Primary School’s name change to Brookside was made official with a new sign laid over the old. Photos by Gordon Miller. Click to enlarge.
March - a.k.a. Mud Season
March brought an epic Mud Season all over Vermont. Gravel roads in Waterbury and Duxbury were no exception. Road crews scrambled to make back roads passable and keep up with Mother Nature’s inevitable melting. Photos below by Alyssa Mullan, Jeb Wallace-Brodeur, James Jennings, Tim Griffin and Gordon Miller.
The ballot was full with candidates for local offices for the Town Meeting Day elections. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
The Waterbury Select Board in March decided to keep the new inclusion banner up indefinitely. The banner was created and first hung in December 2021. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
April
Inching toward springtime, more events continued to return. Winterfest’s postponed Wassailing event took place outdoors at the Pro Pig Brewery. The Easter Bunny showed up for a parade and egg hunt with help from the Rotary Club. And mid-April snow showers bring late April flowers. Photos by Gordon Miller. Click to enlarge.
May
Finally - springtime. Green Up Day happens as Vermont literally greens up and people (and even animals) switch favorite activities. Waterbury Ambulance Service announces plans and launches fundraising to build a new station next year. And like tulips popping up, contractors appeared downtown to painstakingly take down overhead wires as part of the Main Street refurbishment project. Photos by Gordon Miller.
Waterbury Ambulance Executive Director Mark Podgwaite and Administrator Maggie Burke inside the packed-tight Guptil Road station. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
The new ambulance station location on the former Sayah farm from above Rt. 100. Photo by Gordon Miller
A Consolidated Communications worker removes cables from a utility pole on Main Street. Photo by Gordon Miller
June
Masks gone, graduation celebrations at Harwood, Crossett Brook and Brookside stayed outside with sunny skies and plenty of room for crowds. Not Quite Independence Day capped off the month with its first full slate of activities since 2019: the Green Mountain Mile Fun Run, parade, block party and fireworks.
Harwood Union High School’s Class of 2022 had a picture-perfect day for its graduation on June 11. Top photos by Gordon Miller; cap toss by Michaela Milligan.
Crossett Brook Middle School held its second eighth grade graduation celebration outdoors on an equally perfect June afternoon. Photos by Gordon Miller.
July
Waterbury ArtsFest turned it up a notch in 2022 moving to Pilgrim Park where it spread out on the lawn with vendors and a performance area. Stowe Street got a facelift and a temporary new name - Shepeluk Way - in honor of Municipal Manager Bill Shepeluk ahead of his Dec. 31 retirement after more than 34 years in his job. Brigid Nease, superintendent at Harwood Unified Union School District, also stepped down at the end of June and the district welcomed her successor Mike Leichliter who hit the ground running, meeting folks at parades and farmers markets before school started.
Summertime means outdoor concerts too — in Rusty Parker Park, in the Stowe Street Alley and, did you catch the Community Band in Waterbury Center?
Meanwhile on Main Street, utility line work ended with just one lone wire left to be removed in 2023 when poles along several downtown blocks will also be taken out.
Books in the news
Waterbury loves books. In 2022, we tracked a slew of tiny libraries across many neighborhoods; several dozen people contributed to a Waterbury Historical Society book project documenting the first two decades of the 21st century; a local author set her first novel in Waterbury and it became a townwide book group read. And when two drag queens were invited to read stories at Bridgeside Books, about 100 kids and grownups turned out to listen. It’s no surprise the nonprofit Children’s Literacy Foundation is based here and it broke ground in 2022 on a headquarters on Rt. 100 in Waterbury Center.
August
Summer rolls on with the 65th annual Vermont Antique and Classic Car Meet coming to town. The classic vehicles were on display at Farr’s Field and downtown for a parade and block party. Wheels of another sort hit a milestone in August with the finale for Wheels Around Waterbury summer bike camp. Founder Jason “Mr. B.” Bahner signed off after 20 years leading hundreds of kids from training wheels to technical climbs on the Perry Hill trails.
And before school got back in session, MakerSphere rallied some talented students to transform two otherwise unremarkable traffic-signal electrical boxes on Main Street into works of public art. Burlington artist Julio Desmont coached the student teams who completed the projects in one day apiece.
By late August, it was back to school. In person. No masks. Photo by Gordon Miller
September
Back to school and a nip in the air signals foliage season is around the corner. But first the Rotary’s annual Hunt for Sunzilla sunflower (and zucchini) contest. Many in the crowd at Rusty Parker Park also stopped by the Waterbury Ambulance Service booth for their COVID-19 booster shots and visited with neighbors while they waited. Local tots got to socialize — some for the first time attending a Children’s Room Barn Dance at Beard’s Barn in Waterbury Center. The event took a break during the pandemic and returned with music, snacks, ponies and hayrides.
October
Lost and found
Since 2006, Donald Messier’s whereabouts have been a mystery. In October, the underwater search team Adventures With Purpose made a second visit to Vermont and had success finding the missing Waterbury man’s pickup truck in the Winooski River near the Duxbury Community Garden. Although no human remains were confirmed when the vehicle was recovered, searchers believe they solved the case. At left, an Adventures diver brings up the license plate from Messier’s truck. Photo by Gordon Miller
Fulfilling the dream of ‘Jack’s Alley’
Plans are coming together for a facelift for the alley on Stowe Street. Engraved bricks were sold to raise funds and designs made their way through permitting. Work in 2023 will turn it into a pleasant park-like spot with art where people gather or just linger. Such was the dream that former Stowe Street Emporium owner, Waterbury public servant and volunteer Jack Carter had for the space before he passed away in 2021. Photo by Gordon Miller
Although the general election was on the horizon for early November, a local vote captivated many in Waterbury. Many tuned in to debate whether to sell the lot at 51 South Main Street as a site for affordable apartments. By late October, the Edward Farrar Utility District had its biggest voter turnout ever when nearly 300 people cast ballots overwhelmingly in support of having Downstreet Housing & Community Development take those next steps.
Meanwhile, Vermont’s U.S. Senators came to visit. On his farewell tour ahead of his recent retirement from a 34-year career in the Senate, Sen. Patrick Leahy visited Crossett Brook Middle School to celebrate the school’s role in the growing national Farm to School program. He lunched with students, checked out their special projects, signed autographs and met chickens up close. He later returned to Rusty Parker Park in downtown Waterbury for a celebration of his career and his years of winning federal support directed to first responders and countless community development initiatives around Vermont.
Sen. Patrick Leahy and his wife, Marcelle, inspect a student project at Crossett Brook Middle School. Photo by Gordon Miller
Marcelle and Sen. Patrick Leahy listen to speakers at Rusty Parker Park in Waterbury. Photo by Gordon Miller
Classes were canceled for part of the day at Harwood Union High School when on his own visit home for a few days, Vermont’s junior U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders stopped by for a special town hall-style assembly. His guest was Finland’s Ambassador to the United States Mikko Hautala who entertained numerous questions from students and left with some Harwood swag.
Sen. Bernie Sanders and Finnish Ambassador to the U.S. Mikko Hautala on stage at Harwood Union High School. Photo by Gordon Miller
Business highlights
Transitions
Waterbury's Municipal Manager Bill Shepeluk and Town Clerk Carla Larwence stepped down in 2022. Shepeluk logged more than 34 years in the community's top administrative position while Lawrence spent a total of 19 years at the town offices as assistant clerk and later the elected positions of clerk and treasurer. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Waterbury's wastewater treatment plant receives the federal Environmental Protection Agency's PISCES award. L to R: Vermont’s Secretary of Natural Resources Julie Moore, Howard P. "Skip" Flanders, chair of the Edward Farrar Utility District Board of Commissioners, and the plant's Chief Operator Peter Krolczyk who retired in 2022. Photo by Gordon Miller
NOVEMBER
More than 100 Duxbury residents gathered for a rare November town meeting and voted to switch to all Australian ballot voting at the next March Town Meeting. Photo by Gordon Miller
In its quest to have a home for the town’s historical artifacts, the Duxbury Historical Society acquired the South Duxbury Church and Sunshine Hall across the street from Harwood Union Middle/High School on Vermont Route 100. File photo by Gordon Miller
December
The 13th annual River of Light lantern parade made “Marvelous Magic” the first Saturday in December. Photo by Gordon Miller
Eric Friedman lights Waterbury’s first ever menorah in Rusty Parker Park. Photo by Gordon Miller
Mother Nature kept everyone on their toes with alternating rain and snow, mild and cold but managed a white Christmas. Photo by Gordon Miller
Vermont Reindeer Farm reindeer have discovered Waterbury on their holiday travels. Photo by Gordon Miller
Waterbury Rotary returned Santa to the park for the first time since 2019, delighting youngsters and their families. Photo by Gordon Miller
In Memorium
Some noteworthy passings in the community in 2022 included EMT educator and Waterbury Ambulance Service Executive Director Mark Podgwaite and Sam Miller who was active in statewide Democratic Party politics and forest conservation efforts.
Rolland Lafayette was known to many for wearing many hats — educator, coach, business owner and volunteer.
From the mountains of Italy to Vermont, to Central and South America, Africa and Asia, physician, feminist and activist Emma Ottolenghi was a pioneer and tireless advocate for abortion rights and provider of reproductive health care to countless women around the world.
And longtime investment adviser, avid conversationalist, and eternal optimist, John Sherman counseled and was a friend to many.
Mark Podgwaite
1961 - 2022
Sam Miller
1930 - 2022
Emma Ottolenghi
1935 - 2022
Rolland Lafayette
1928 - 2022
John Sherman
1958 - 2022