The Weekly Record – April 6, 2026
Empty Bowls Dinner fundraiser, several items on the proposed artificial turf field, time for peas, and more.
Concern Growing Over Artificial Turf Field
In a Special Report published on Sunday, The Record looked at the growing controversy over a proposed privately funded, $5.5 million artificial turf field at CVU. Hinesburg opponents are concerned about contamination of the water supply and student health and safety. Proponents say it will be a huge asset for the school and for athletic teams who are sometimes unable to play games at home because of poor drainage on CVU’s grass fields. For the first time, there will be two public meetings this week for each side to air their points of view: Wednesday at CVU library at 6 p.m. (group proposing field and its experts) and Friday at Carpenter-Carse Library at 7 p.m. (panel of experts discuss problems with artifical turf fields.) Read the full article here.
3rd Annual CVU Empty Bowls Dinner
The 3rd Annual CVU Empty Bowls dinner is this Thursday, April 9. Buy your tickets before they sell out! Full article, and link to buy tickets, here.
Good Times Café Owners Announce Closing of Hinesburg Location
Maryam and Travis Counter, the owners of the Good Times Café, have announced on their Instagram page that they will be closing their Hinesburg location and focusing on their South Burlington location. Read the full article, and their statement, here.
New outdoors column
We are pleased to announce that today marks the beginning of a new column in The Record: Outdoors by Philip Werner. The column will be appearing the first Monday of the month (though he’ll post extras from time to time). Philip lives in Hinesburg and is a member of the board of the Green Mountain Club. Philip is the founder of SectionHiker.com, a website about hiking and backpacking, now in its 19th year. He’s hiked and backpacked over 10,000 miles in the U.S. and U.K. This month’s column is about the cabin fever of a fisherman – and what to do about it.
And speaking of columns …
It’s time to plant the peas!
Our gardening columnist(s) today remind us that April is the best time to get your garden started and outline all the variety of peas you can choose. This column will appear twice a month, the first and third Mondays. Julie Rubaud, owner of Red Wagon Plants (opening this Friday), is the primary writer but this week is joined by co-worker Kat Consler.
Obituary: Stanley ‘Red’ Brinkman
Stanley “Red” Brinkman, 84, passed away peacefully at his home in Hinesburg Saturday, March 28, following a struggle with pneumonia. Read the full obituary here.
The Peck Family Legacy Lives on at Hinesburg Community School
HCS students are taking to the stage with brand-new lighting and curtains purchased with help from an enduring local philanthropic fund that began back in 1934. Read more about this nearly century-old gift here.
Selectboard Reassured about FEMA Money
Town Manager Todd Odit says federal disaster relief money will be coming, just a question of when. Read the full selectboard meeting roundup here.
Hospitals Need to Trim Administration Fat
Bill Schubart’s latest commentary focuses on how state agencies and the Legislature could push hospital corporations to lower costs. He cites cases of “egregious administrative bloat” such as University of Vermont Medical Center’s 60 vice-presidents earning between $300,000 and $600,000 annually. Read the full commentary here.
Word of the Week
By Cathy Ryan
Our Word of the Week this time is “jackanapes,” which means an impertinent, impudent, or conceited fellow; or a saucy or mischievous child. The word has an interesting background, starting with an insulting nickname given to William de la Pole, the Duke of Suffolk. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary webpage for jackanapes goes into a lot of detail and even has a short audio podcast about the word.
I came upon this word while reading “Murder on the Orient Express” by Agatha Christie. The sentence was, “And that,” his manner seemed to say, “is one for you, you interfering little jackanapes.”
“Murder on the Orient Express” is not yet in the public domain, but several other Agatha Christie novels are, which you can download from StandardEbooks.com. There is also a copy of “Murder on the Orient Express” at Carpenter Carse Library, and last we checked, the online catalog says it’s available!
Never assume someone has already read a certain book (or seen the movie) – don’t be a jackanapes and give away spoilers! Note that “jackanapes” is singular – don’t remove the “s” if you decide to use this creative insult.
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Upcoming
Tuesday, April 7
Development Review Board Meeting, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Agenda here. In person at Town Hall and also via Zoom. (Meeting ID: 844 8156 5757 Password: 123456)
Wednesday, April 8
Planning Commission Meeting, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Town Hall, lower-level conference room and via Zoom.
The Community Field Project, the group working to bring an artificial turf field to CVU, is holding a meeting at 6 p.m. at the CVU library.
Thursday, April 9
3rd Annual CVU Empty Bowls Dinner, 6-8 p.m. at CVU. More info here.
Affordable Housing Committee Meeting, 7-9 p.m.
Town Forest Committee Meeting, 7-9 p.m.
Friday, April 10
CVU High School Theatre: One Act Plays, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. More info here.
“Artificial Turf – the Facts.” Panel presentation, sponsored by Responsible Growth Hinesburg, 7-8:30 p.m., Carpenter Carse Library Community Room. Presentations from experts followed by a general discussion.
Sunday, April 11
Presentation on the lives of beavers and strategies for living with them harmoniously, 2-4 p.m. at the Hinesburg Town Hall. More info here.
Does the library still have singing events, with Rik Palieri ❓✌️🤠The Silver 🥈 Street Seranaders are tuning their 🎸 guitars, 🪕 banjos, and violin 🎻 fiddles ‼️👌👹♀️👋😇