The
Cavendish Historical Society’s (CHS) Annual Plant sale has been moved to
Memorial Day weekend, and will take place on May 25 (Saturday). Due to the fire
at Town Garage, the Museum lost its water, which was a challenge at last year’s
sale in July. The change in date also takes
advantage of the “planting weekend.” The sale will be from 9-2 on the Museum
grounds.
Expect to
find hosta and many of your favorite perennials along with container gardens
for tomato plants, herbs and new this year- “salad in a bucket.” By popular
request, we do have mock orange along with a variety of annuals. For more information, go to the CHS Blog 2019 Plant Sale page.
REMEMBERING DR. BONT
It is with incredible sadness we
note the passing of Dr. Eugene Merlin Bont, a great friend of the CHS, who died
on April 13 at the age of 88.
Born on
Mother’s Day in 1930 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Gene was one of four children. He
worked from the time he was nine years old – first, delivering flowers- and
then, from age 11, for Bont & Sons, his father and grandfather’s roofing
company.
Dr. Bont married Phyllis Flint, in 1951, having known her
since they were 4. He graduated from Hope College in Holland, Michigan and from
Northwestern University School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, in 1956. He completed
his residency at Fletcher Allen Medical Center in Burlington.
Gene loved
to tell the story of how he came to Cavendish.
Prior to his arrival, the physician serving
the town died. Two fatal car accidents occurred and Cavendish found they could
not rely on Ludlow for medical coverage. Community leaders meet with the
University of Vermont Medical School and were advised to equip a medical office
and then recruit a physician. Kenwood Mills, who purchased Gay Brothers Mills
and its holdings in 1951, donated the stone building to help form the new Black
River Health Center (BRHC).
On his
first visit, they drove him along the Cavendish Reading Road and Dr. Bont was
sold. As much as he wanted to live there, he settled on the large white house
that overlooked Cavendish Village and was built by Olin Gay. Here, he and
Phyllis raised seven children, provided foster care and entertained many of the
neighborhood kids.
In 1970, having read about a new Physician Assistant (PA)
program at Duke University, Dr. Bont recruited two students from the program. These were the very first PAs in the nation to
work in clinical practice. Dr. Bont, Phyllis Bont, a nurse, along with others,
worked with the VT Medical Society, the VT State Legislature and Springfield
Hospital to design a program that would allow PAs to work at an unprecedented
level of independence in a community setting and to get the Vermont Physician
Assistant Practice Act, and a corresponding Act for Nurse Practitioners (NPs),
created and passed. Using the second Act, Phyllis. Bont later joined Dr. Bont’s
medical practice as one of the first NPs in the state of Vermont.
Dr. Bont became an associate professor at Yale University,
which drew medical students into the BRHC on their family practice rotation and
allowed Dr. Bont to travel around the U.S. explaining how rural physicians
could use these two types of providers in their practices. There are now
115,547 Certified PAs and 270,000 licensed NPs who practice in ways designed
under Dr. Bont’s leadership.
As if running the BRHC and providing primary care to Cavendish and the surrounding area wasn’t enough, he also served on the Duttonsville School Board. Through his leadership, in 1967, he helped to craft a union high school district (Green Mountain Union High School) for grades 7-12 that consisted of the towns of Cavendish, Andover, Chester and Duttonsville. The latter school would be merged in 1972 with the Proctorsville School, creating the Cavendish Town Elementary School (CTES).
In 1988, Dr. Bont not only received the Physician of the Year Award from the Vermont Medical Society but he left Cavendish for Albany Medical Center’s Department of Family Medicine. Here he would not only continue to practice but he became a professor of medicine, training students and residents, as well as helping to chart new directions in Family Medicine.
Upon retiring in 2000, Dr. Bont returned to Cavendish full time. Shortly thereafter, his combined love of children and education, led him to become a member of the CTES board, often serving as chair, until the board was dissolved in June 2018. In recent years, he was also on the GMUHS Board.
Loving the outdoors, it was no surprise that he became a
Master Gardener in retirement.
He was a runner and hiker and at 80 years of age, he
participated in the CHS’s hike over Hawks Mountain to look for the fabled
cannon. Other passions included singing
in the Grace Congregational United
Church of Christ in Rutland, fishing, birding, and stamp collector.
In 2015, he received the George F. Leland Award, which
recognizes an individual who exemplifies the highest ideals of community health
care.
Dr. Bont is survived by his wife Phyllis, six children and
numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren.
CAVENDISH’S SCHOOLS: Part I
From 1795 to present day, there have
been a total of 13 public schools in Cavendish. Students were assigned to the
school closest to where they lived, and in general, their homes were located
within a mile of their schoolhouse.
John Snarksi painted a series of Cavendish
schools, These pictures have recently been rehung in the hallway of the last
remaining school, Cavendish Town Elementary School (CTES).
CHS is running a series on the
Cavendish VT Facebook page about the various
school’s Snarski has painted. Consequently, we’re able to add various responses
as we learn more history with each posting.
Cavendish
Academy was organized in 1792 and was one of the first academies in
the state. The Academy, on the corner of High St and Main street, was built in
1812 and ceased to function in the late 1850s. It was used as a drill hall
during the Civil War, and has served as a store as well for various businesses.
District
5 Wheeler School Prior to the school being built in
1861 on Twenty Mile School, at the intersection of Chapman Rd, a schoolhouse,
called the “Wigwam,” was on the corner. According to Sara Stowell, This school was situated right
in the corner of the hay field in front of our house, known as the Riford
House, but that wasn’t there until 1912. When the Wheeler School was built,
Colonel Wheeler deeded the building and an acre or two to the school district.
The building and land were to be returned to the farm if the school ceased
operation, which it did, I believe in 1954 or 55. [The school closed in
1955.] It went back to the Fancy’s who owned the farm at the time. My parents
bought the farm in 1964 and around 1973 sold the schoolhouse to the Al Phil
Carloni who renovated it. His children still own it. In response to John Snarski’s question
about whether the building still looked the same, Sara wrote, the Carloni’s added a
door for egress between the Western windows, much to my mother Jennifer’s
chagrin lol, since we look it from our front porch, but it is still identical.
The outhouses now make up a storage shed and the inside was renovated but kept
simple and lovely. They put in a loft for sleeping. It’s gorgeous still.
District
7: Fittonsville School (Spring Mill): This school
was built to accommodate the children whose families came to work at the Fitton
Mill (Spring Mills). The mill was built in1867 and it burned in 1875. The
school, Cavendish Gulf Rd, is a private
residence. John Snarksi writes, “I used to deliver the Grit weekly news paper to Rob Manley, a mill
worker who lived in this building, which had been converted to his home. The
railroad tracks run right behind this place. That school may have been a busy
place during the Fittonsville days, but one time, when I did some research of old
town records for a Historical Society presentation after painting these pics, I
discovered that there was a big influx of students, many not speaking English.
This was in the 1880's, a few years after the Fitton mill had burned. They must
have been the children of workers who walked over the bridge to the mill that
preceded the Mack Molding plant now. I didn't go digging deeper, and from what
I can tell, there are still some real stories to tell about this old-time
schools.
District
7 Duttonsville School : Duttonsville School building,
was used as a school from 1862 to 1971, and today is the home of Dan Churchill.
and his business, Commercial Radio. The current building replaced a stone
one-room schoolhouse, which was sold as a family dwelling and remained on the
property until the flood of 1927.
In 1880, Benjamin White, born in
Cavendish and prospered as an East India merchant in Boston, left a trust of
$4,000 to be invested and the income used by Duttonsville School, in whatever
way the trustee thought best.
In 1901, the Duttonsville School
district was separated from the other town districts by a special act of the
Vermont Legislature. Voters in this district were not entitled to vote on items
relating to other school districts. In 1922, the two-room schoolhouse
became overcrowded and it was expanded to be a three-room schoolhouse.
The flood of 1927 caused heavy
damage in the Black River Valley, particularly Cavendish. Redfield Proctor,
former Vermont governor, offered $10,000 to restore the schoolhouse. Olin Gay,
Chairman of the School Board, proposed using this gift to move the school to a
new location. He also proposed that the town raise an additional $5,000 by
taxes to put in an auditorium basement, modernize the heating system and install
toilets. The school building was moved on big rollers by oxen and horses
several hundred feet back to a safer location. It had much better facilities
than before the flood.
A Vermont Standard School
until 1928, thanks to the renovations after the flood, Duttonsville was
upgraded to a “Superior School,” a status it retained until closing in 1971.
This was a unique feature, as few schools in the state met the criteria to be
graded as “Superior.”
Starting
in 1953, the Town began the process of voting on consolidation of the schools in
Cavendish and Proctorsville, which did not take place until 1972. Dan Churchill
estimates that 1,080 students have been educated in the building that he purchased
in 1972 and moved into in 1973.
District
12 Rumke School: The Rumke School is located on the
Greenbush Rd., off Tarbell Hill. In 1875, the school superintendent noted that
this was such a small school that the parents should consider sending their
children to another district. The school still stands on what is the Leonards'
property. The "chalkboard," made of wood painted with a combination
of house paint and unsanded grout, is at the CHS, along with other items from
the schoolhouse. The school was closed in 1923.
BECOME A MEMBER, RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP, DONATE
If you have not joined the Cavendish Historical Society,
need to renew your membership, and/or would like to be a volunteer, please
complete the form below and sending a check, payable to CHS, to CHS, PO Box
472, Cavendish, VT 05142. All contributions are tax deductible.
Name: _______________________________________
Address:
_______________________________________________
Phone Number: _____________________ E-Mail:
____________________________
Membership Level
__ Individual Member $10 __ Senior Member 65+ $5 __ Sustaining Member $500
__ Household Member $15 ___ Contributing Member $250
Volunteer
___ I would be interested in serving, as a volunteer
.I would be interested in serving on the following committee(s):__ Program
Planning __ Fundraising __ Building (Museum)
__Archives
_ Budget –– Cemetery __ Carmine Guica Young Historians
Donations are always welcome and can
be designated as follows:
__ For general purposes __ Young Historians __Publications
__ Archaeological Activities _ Museum & Archival __ Special Events
__ Rankin Fund __
Williams Fund __ Solzhenitsyn Project
__ Other (please specify) __ Cemetery Restoration __ Preservation Projects
