The Weekly Record – Dec. 22, 2025
Giving thanks
As we fly into the holidays, we want to express our thanks for a momentous year at The Record. For those who don’t know, my name is Geoffrey Gevalt. I’ve been writing these little Monday notes to you since May. I’m glad to be here.
I give thanks to Mary Jo Brace, Cathy Ryan and Laurie Wedge who are the backbone of this news organization, and I’m mighty glad to be working with them, too. Thanks, to the Record board: Dotty Schnure, Ginny Roberts, Richard Watt and Tom Giroux, who’ve rolled up their sleeves to do all sorts of things to make the transition from print to web possible.
And thanks to you, our community, our audience for supporting our effort to this new platform, this new way of delivering news to you.
Because can’t do it without you. We thank you for reading, for reacting. We thank, too, those who’ve helped. Yes, we ended the print edition but we still have costs – and less ad revenue – to do what we do. If you haven’t given, we hope you will consider it. We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit so your gift is tax deductible. Just click the button below for more information. I give you thanks in advance.
We’re excited about what lies ahead as we provide you with timely, interesting and accurate news, information you need to be more connected to this wonderful community. Your voice matters. We’d like to hear from you. And we’d love your help. We are looking for people to write stories or take pictures or cover town events – everything from CVU sports to town government meetings to portraits of people in town. If you are interested, contact me by email.
Happy Holidays!
And now the news …
We been dogged in trying to keep you informed about the FY2027 budgets. Information fuels engagement. We will keep on top of things. If you want to see what we’ve written so far, click this tag: Budget27 and you’ll see everything on our website.
In January you’ll get the chance to speak out. At 6 p.m. on Jan. 7 and Jan. 21 in the Town Hall (and via zoom), the selectboard will discuss the budget and hear how you feel. At 6 p.m. on Jan. 16 in the CVU library the CVSD board will discuss the budget and its tax implications, with final approval and warning one week later, same time, same place. Here were some developments in the budgets last week:
Town Manager Todd Odit outlined to selectboard members a couple of possible compromises for the fire and town clerk/treasurer budget and suggested two items be put on the ballot for the police budget. Several board members expressed concern about the police and fire budgets. A local option tax was discussed. Full story.
CVSD got some bad news from the state – lower anticipated rates of reimbursement. The administration is trying to figure out the impact of the news. Full story.
Carpenter-Carse Library director Jill Andersen told The Record that the library is vacating the space it rents out so that it can expand the Community Room and create private small meeting rooms and study areas. Full Story.
Town Clerk/Treasurer Heather Roberts explained to The Record why she needs another staff person to handle the growing duties – and the increase of residents expected next year. Full story.
All budget stories can be read by clicking this link.
From all this coverage, we learned that our political and school leaders want to hear from you. So do we. Write us a Letter to the Editor. Or send an audio memo. (Send it to editor@hinesburgrecord.org. We’ll publish them as long as they’re respectful. And you know what we mean: no name-calling, no B.S., no nasty.)
Our thanks to this week’s sponsor, Hart & Mead Energy. If you support them, you support us.
A digital holiday card for you
Musician/artist John Penoyar created a digital story with his art and his music in a wonderful rendition of O Little Town of Bethlehem. Worth hearing, watching, even if you don’t subscribe to the story.
And listen to some holiday music
Sunday, Dec. 14, was a busy day, so you may not have been able to go to the annual Hinesburg Artist Series Holiday concert. It was fantastic. And we can attest to that because we’ve been hard at work editing a playable audio version of the concert for your enjoyment. (Along with a short snippet as a video.) Follow this link, play the audio and listen to the amazing musical talent in Hinesburg and surrounding towns. You will be glad you did. Concert audio, click here.
In case you missed it …
Lantman’s still a family tradition a century later
For over 100 years Lantman’s Market has been run by three generations of Lantmans and the third generation of Busiers. Full story of Lantman’s history.
You know that wave of building you keep hearing about?
It is coming. Construction of hundreds of new housing units will get underway this spring after a long, winding process through the town and state for four major developments. Haystack Crossing has begun. Recently the Development Review Board gave final approval – with conditions – for 174 additional units in downtown Hinesburg. Full Story.
Leonard Duffy’s art honored
Hinesburg resident Leonard Duffy has been hard at work on a side hobby – art. And this fall his art was praised in a juried competition. Congrats, Len. Check it out.
Coming in January …
The seventh and eighth graders at Hinesburg Community School worked hard this fall on a project called Community Stories, where pairs of students went out and interviewed a community member, took their picture and wrote a story about them. A gaggle of teachers was involved along with The Record’s recent page designer – Jamie Proctor-Brassard – who guided the students on how to take good photographs. They did. Beginning in mid-January, The Record will publish one of these stories a day on hinesburgrecord.org for 50 days. Don’t miss them!
Upcoming
Not much.
Thursday
Christmas.