Cavendish Update 3/11/11 News/Events/Business Directory

The 3/11/11 Cavendish Update Contains the Following:
1. Cavendish Related News
2. Cavendish Business Directory
3. Cavendish Semiquincentennial: Nettie Stephens PHD
4. Cavendish Events 3/11/11-3/18/11

1. Cavendish Related News:
VT Snow Geese Season Begins: March 11 marks the start of Vermont's hunting season for snow geese. The hunt began three years ago as a way to try and control the population. There are an estimated 1 million snow geese in North America, up from about 100,000 in the 1970s. Vermont, however, is seeing fewer snow geese than in decades past. That's because the birds have shifted their migration patterns west as they head north from the mid-Atlantic to Canada. Eight eastern states now have spring snow geese hunts, including Vermont and New York. Vermont's season ends April 22. WCAX

NRC Clears VT Yankee for License Extension: Federal regulators say the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon is fit to be open for another 20 years. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has voted to extend the license after rejecting an objection filed by an anti-nuclear group. WCAX

VT Wins $1.4 M in Settlement with Astrazeneca: Vermont will receive $1.4 million as part of a major settlement with AstraZeneca for promoting its anti-psychotic drug Seroquel for unapproved uses. AstraZeneca has agreed to pay a total of $68 million to 37 states. It's the largest payment ever for a consumer protection settlement involving a drug company. WCAX

VT Watches for Potential Flooding: The National Weather Service has issues a statewide flood watch in effect until at least Saturday. Right now there is no flooding, but the big fear is if it warms up too fast and if heavy rain is part of the mix, river ice will break up and then jam downstream forcing water over its banks. Officials are warning Vermonters to be prepared and use common sense. Burlington Free Press

VT Unemployment Rate Down: Vermont's unemployment rate is dropping again. The jobless rate for January was 5.7 percent-- down one-tenth of 1 percent from the December figure and a full point below this time last year. The national unemployment rate is also falling, but is still at 9 percent. Around the state, unemployment ranges from a high of 9.9 percent in Newport to a low of 4.1 percent in the Waitsfield-Warren area. WCAX

Skippy Peanut Butter, Sold in NH, Recalled: Unilever United States, Inc. announced on March 4, a limited recall of Skippy® Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter Spread and Skippy® Reduced Fat Super Chunk Peanut Butter Spread, because it may be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Affected products were sold in NH. FMI: http://www.peanutbutter.com/Recall.html

Free Okemo Valley App: The Okemo Valley Chamber of Commerce has recently launched a free Okemo Valley App. You can obtain it from the app store using keywords okemococ or search Okemo Valley. This is available for iphones, ipads, ipod touches, and droids. Get up to the minute specials, dining, lodging, services, shopping and directions. Towns included: Andover, Cavendish, Chester, Ludlow, Mt. Holly, Plymouth and Weston.

2. Cavendish Business Directory
The Directory is currently being updated for a 250th Anniversary edition. If you are a year round resident and own a business, or you have a business located in Cavendish/Proctorsville, and are not currently listed in the Cavendish Business Directory, please send information to margoc@tds.net Please provide the business name, contact information and website. If you would like a copy of the 2010 directory, please e-mail margoc@tds.net

3. Cavendish Semiquincentennial: Nettie Stephens PHD
These posts are made possible by the Cavendish Historical Society and are archived at the CHS Blog. March posts relate to the history of Cavendish women in honor of National Women’s History Month.

Nettie Stevens was born in Cavendish in 1861. The child of working-class parents, Stevens was raised during a time when women's educational opportunities were limited. In spite of this, Stevens ultimately received a PH.D. from Byrn Mawr and was given an assistantship by the Carnegie Institute. In 1905, her work on sex determination was published. Investigating mealworms, she found female cells contained 20 chromosomes, but male cells contained 19 large chromosomes and one very small one. She showed that the X body paired with a 20th, much smaller chromosome in meiosis. She proposed that these two chromosomes be called X and Y, and explained that females contained two X chromosomes. Some believe her position in the field of genetics has largely been ignored because the credit for the discovery of X and Y chromosomes and their role in determining gender is instead generally given Edmund B. Wilson, who had read Stephens’ manuscript on chromosomal patterns before publishing his own theory, and T. H. Morgan, the biologist with whom Wilson shared the Nobel Prize for the discovery. Stevens died in 1912. Women in Technology News, Fall, 1994, Vol. 11, No. 1

4. Cavendish Events 3/11/11-3/18/11
March 12 (Saturday): Open house at Black River Good Neighbor’s new location 37 B Main Street, 11 pm Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.
• Needle Felted Pin or Magnet workshop at Six Loose Ladies on the Proctorsville Green, 2-4 pm. Instructor Jen Leak. Ages 10 and up. FMI

March 13 (Sunday): Accordionist Brent Buswell will delight people of all ages in a live performance at the Cavendish Baptist Church, located at 2258 Main Street at 7 pm. Light refreshments will be served at the end of the concert. Brent Buswell enjoys playing a wide variety of music, including: jazz, polkas, Scandinavian, marches, Christian, and American standards. He especially enjoys playing the music of great composers such as Pietro Frosini, Charles Magnante, Pietro Deiro, and many others. This is a free concert, but donations are appreciated. FMI: 226-7131.

March 14 (Monday): Select Board Meeting, 6:30 pm. This event is taped by LPC-TV www.lpctv.org and can be watched on Comcast cable channels or at the website

March 15 (Tuesday): Bone Builders Class at the Cavendish Baptist-- Class from 10:15-11:45. FMI: Linda at Green Mountain RSVP & Volunteer Center of Windsor County at (802) 885-2083, or Anne Oakes or Andrew Ohotnicky at (802)228-5236, or Dot Ramsdell at (802)226-7870

March 17 (Thursday): Top of the Morning to ya! Happy St. Patrick’s Day
• Bone Builders Class at the Cavendish Baptist-- Class from 10:15-11:45. FMI: Linda at Green Mountain RSVP & Volunteer Center of Windsor County at (802) 885-2083, or Anne Oakes or Andrew Ohotnicky at (802)228-5236, or Dot Ramsdell at (802)226-7870
• Sit & Knit" at the Six Loose Ladies yarn shop, Pollard Building, Proctorsville Green, 2:00 -9:00 PM. Open to knitters, spinners, crocheters, hookers. Free. FMI: 226-7373
• Cavendish Historical Society Board Meeting, 3 pm at the Cavendish Library
• Community Luncheon at St. James Church in Proctorsville, 11:30 am. The menu will include Irish (beef) stew and biscuits, a green tossed salad, and Brenda's traditional Irish Soda Bread. We'll top it all off with a nice hearty carrot cake with a cup or two of coffee, hot tea, or a fruit drink. A suggested donation of $3.00 for seniors or $4.50 for those under 60 years of age will help defray the cost of this event.