Vermont seeking comment about Hud Programs: Each year the State of Vermont - Agency of Commerce and Community Development, Agency of Human Services and Vermont Housing and Conservation Board receives funding for HUD programs through the Consolidated Plan or Annual Plan update process which identifies priorities based on needs from the housing needs assessment, market analysis, citizen and stakeholder input.  At the end of the program year the state is required to report on the performance outcomes outlined from those plans in their Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER).  They have completed the FY22 Program Year DRAFT CAPER which includes the outcomes for the following programs: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME) Housing Trust Fund (HTF) Emergency Solutions Grant Program (ESG); and Community Development Block Grant CARES Act (CDBG-CV) Emergency Solutions Grant Program CARES Act (ESG-CV).   As a representative for a unit of general local government, please share the attached notice with your local residents including minorities,The state is seeking comments by September 27, 2023.

TEST TW WEATHER

‘Hunt’ing down history, Part 6

By Barbara Emery Moseley

NOTE: This series chronicles the generations of Vernon’s Hunt family, all related to Jonathan Hunt of “Governor Hunt Road” fame. If you’ve missed any installments in this series, you can catch up here!

No doubt Jonathan Hunt, early on, had built a rough, cabin-like dwelling on his many riverside acres in Vernon. It was likely that it became attached , on the east side, to other sheds and barns. That was a practical New England style that allowed settlers access to their stored firewood and provisions, and to attend to the farm animals in all kinds of weather. His bride, however, would expect a more comfortable home.

Jonathan had the means to hire a master builder. Also, there was close access to a sawmill built several years earlier by his father. It was located on Lower Salmon Brook, near today’s Post Office Plaza (George’s Mill).

The home’s construction plan is post-and-beam, with a huge central chimney. Its oddities are a very tiny entrance hallway, and a cramped staircase leading to second floor bedchambers, and then up to an open attic as big as the house.

The craftsman’s superior skills are apparent in the paneled walls throughout the “mansion.” In that time of giant white pines, Hunt had access to trees that would produce boards of enormous width, entirely free of knots. The most elaborate panelling is in the drawing room, to the left of the front entrance, where the fireplace mantel is framed by modified Ionic columns. To the right of the entrance is an elaborately paneled dining room, as are the two large upstairs bedchambers.

A large kitchen spans the back of the house, with its interior wall dominated by the huge brick fireplace and its baking oven. A small room is partitioned off on the north kitchen wall, probably used as the “birthing room.” In those days, women were confined to bed about two weeks after childbirth, the “birthing room” provided warmth and the ability to oversee daily household activity.

Next month will introduce the bride-to-be, Levinah Swan. Her family background includes a “burning at the stake,” goldsmithing, music written in the sand, and flocks of blackbirds kept as pets—maybe even a “mad hatter.”