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Honored
BURLINGTON, Vt --- Deanna Vaida a resident of Danielson, was honored at Champlain College’s annual awards dinner for the Division of Communication and Creative Media. Vaida, a senior majoring in Game Art & Animation received the Emergent Media Center Game Art & Animation Award. The annual dinner, which took place at the Champlain College Gymnasium recognized outstanding students and their achievements throughout the Division of Communication and Creative Media.

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Stay healthy
at the fair
BROOKLYN - The Northeast District Department of Health (NDDH) is ready for another busy fair season and offers fairgoers simple advice to enjoy the Brooklyn and Woodstock Fairs in a safe and healthy manner.
“Frequent hand washing and proper food handling are two of the best ways to insure a healthy fair experience,” commented NDDH Registered Sanitarian Maureen Marcoux. “The fairs have a long standing tradition of providing fairgoers with plenty of fun, festivities, agricultural and animal exhibits, and food. NDDH partners with fair management to assure that fairgoers have every chance to avoid illness.”
This year, five NDDH sanitarians will cover plenty of acreage at both fairs, inspecting over 60 food sites at the Brooklyn Fair and over 110 sites at the Woodstock Fair. Food vendors and their employees are also required to have a Food Awareness and Safety Class (FAST) certificate and may participate in a FAST Class sponsored by NDDH at both fairs.
“NDDH inspects all food vendors at the fairs to assure compliance with the public health code,” said Sue Starkey, NDDH Director of Health. “A temporary food event that brings hundreds of thousands of people to an area within a short time frame poses a number of challenges. We all have a responsibility for our own health and safety. Fairgoers must realize that they become food handlers when they purchase a food product. They too, should handle food properly so they reduce their risk of food borne illness.”
In addition to food safety, NDDH encourages frequent hand washing or the use of hand sanitizers if hand washing facilities are unavailable. A 2005 grant allowed NDDH to purchase fifteen hand-sanitizing dispensers – all of which continue to be used at various locations throughout both fairs.
“The combination of thousands of people, food, animals and limited hand-washing facilities at the fairs creates a higher risk for the potential of bacterial and viral infection,” said Starkey. “These infections can occur through food borne illness or by interaction with farm animals. By making these hand-sanitizing stations available and increasing awareness of proper hand washing techniques, we hope to reduce the risk of illness for fairgoers.”
NDDH also produces laminated posters outlining proper hand-washing and food handling techniques that are displayed in restroom facilities, animal exhibit areas, and on food vendor booths.
“We’re relying on fairgoers to practice a simple childhood message that we all learned early on,” said Linda Colangelo, NDDH Education and Communications Coordinator. “Wash your hands before eating or after going to the bathroom. We’ve expanded this message at the fairs to include this practice after going on rides, playing games, and visiting animal exhibits. Food and drink should not be brought into the barns and parents should not allow small children to put their hands or other objects (such as pacifiers) in their mouths while visiting with animals. Fun at the fair starts with these simple health tips.”

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Greetings. The recipe below is made with teff flour. Teff comes from a grass which is native to Ethiopia, and in recent years is being grown in the USA, as well. The seed is tiny, and can be either white or dark –I used the dark variety here. Teff is high in fiber, protein, and calcium, and is a good source of many other minerals and vitamins. It contains all eight essential amino acids, and is gluten-free. So far, I have only found it natural-foods type stores.
Teff Flour Hermits
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger  ½ cup molasses
¼ cup brown sugar  ¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract  ½ cup butter
1½ cups teff flour  ½ cup flour (or rice flour)
1½  teaspoons baking soda  ¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon  1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground dry mustard  ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ cup raisins  ½ cup chopped walnuts
Adjust oven rack to upper third of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine fresh ginger, molasses, brown sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl. In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Swirl the pan, allowing the butter to turn golden brown. Whisk butter into ginger/molasses mixture. Set aside. Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Stir butter mixture into dry ingredients. Portion out dough into approximately 1-inch balls. (Refrigerate briefly if dough does not hold its shape.)  Place portions on parchment-covered cookie sheets and flatten to ½-inch thick. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Allow cookies to rest on cookie sheets for a minute and remove entire sheet of parchment to wire rack and allow cookies to cool completely. Makes about 2 dozen 3-inch cookies.

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PUTNAM — The Town of Putnam Water Pollution Control Authority has stopped treating water at its Treatment Plant on the Little River due to an agreement with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Consent Order issued to the Town in 2011.
The use of the Little River for producing potable water is contingent on the amount of water available during the months of July through October, according to Public Works Director Jerry Beausoleil. The river level gauge is read daily and once the level reaches the low limit, the plant must stop producing drinking water.
A sufficient amount of water to supply customers will come from the Town Well Field and the Inter Connect with Connecticut Water, Enough water is being produced by the two sources to supply customers, but the amount of water available is extremely close to the amount consumed daily, Although the Town has new wells, they have not been permitted for use by the State DEEP.
Considerable rainfall will be needed to allow the Town to treat water again from the Little River. Beausoleil asks that the public take conservation measures to use water for only essential use and to also conserve water by limiting the amount used for these purposes. Voluntary use of water for watering lawns, washing cars and other non- essential uses is requested by the department.