Inside Seven Days

Seven Days has won dozens of awards for its journalism — including the coveted, best-of “general excellence” honor from the New England Newspaper and Press Association. But on June 19, 2019, the Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation celebrated the free, independent newsweekly for a different reason: its business leadership. GBIC gave the C. Harry Behney award, its most prestigious honor, to Seven Days’ five owner-publishers: Paula Routly, Pamela Polston, Cathy Resmer, Colby Roberts and Don Eggert.

Given each year since 1995 in honor of past GBIC president C. Harry Behney, the recognition singles out Vermont leaders “for their significant contributions to advancing the economic wellbeing of the people of our community and promoting a climate that enhances the economic vitality of the state of Vermont." Seven Days is the first media company to receive the award; past honorees have included governors, senators and philanthropists.

In his remarks, GBIC president Frank Cioffi recognized the five Seven Days publishers “for their vision and commitment in advancing innovation and entrepreneurship through the creation and ongoing promotion of the Vermont Tech Jam.” Since 2008, the career fair and expo has showcased the state’s tech companies to attract professionals and college students who might otherwise look for tech jobs outside the state; this year's event takes place Thursday, October 17, at the Champlain Valley Expo in Essex Junction.
Cioffi also praised Seven Days for “thoughtful and inspiring leadership in shining light on the opiate epidemic facing our region and state” — a reference to the paper’s yearlong “Hooked” series reporting on Vermont’s opioid crisis. Calling it a “catalyst to help Vermonters come together as a community to find meaningful ways to address the challenges of addiction,” Cioffi credited the paper with “forging positive social and economic change for Vermonters.”

Accepting the award during GBIC’s annual meeting at Echo, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain on the Burlington Waterfront, publisher and co-editor Paula Routly said to the audience: “A lot of communities have lost their local newspapers. It’s hard to imagine the impact until it’s too late. The best papers provide a kind of gathering place. A common culture. They’re the glue that brings and holds us together. This honor feels like a rare acknowledgment of that.”

When Seven Days launched Vermont Restaurant Week 10 years ago, the goal was to celebrate Vermont’s vibrant food scene, drive traffic to local businesses and help our neighbors in need. At least one measure of the event’s success set a record this year: a $25,344.03 donation to the Vermont Foodbank. Over the past decade, Restaurant Week has generated a total of $147,395.36 for the Vermont nonprofit. Vermont Federal Credit Union is the presenting sponsor of Restaurant Week.

“We are so grateful to Seven Days and Vermont Federal Credit Union for organizing this event, to all of the restaurants who participated, and to all of the individuals who dined during the 10th annual Vermont Restaurant Week,” said John Sayles, CEO of the Vermont Foodbank. “The Vermont Foodbank believes everyone in Vermont plays a role in solving hunger, and this generous gift is an example of how our friends, neighbors and businesses come together to ensure that everyone in Vermont has access to healthy food every day.”
“It's a tremendous feeling knowing that, as the presenting sponsor of Vermont Restaurant Week, we have been a part of growing an event that builds financially strong communities, promotes Vermont’s thriving food industry, and has also provided nearly $150,000 to the Vermont Foodbank over the past 10 years,” said Jean Giard, president and CEO of Vermont Federal Credit Union.

Many sources contributed to the total donation. Proceeds from the Sweet Start Smackdown, a dessert competition featuring local pastry chefs, benefitted the foodbank. Donations also came from a panel discussion at ArtsRiot; from Pints & Poses, a yoga class for digestion at Burlington Beer Company’s Taproom; from the Sensory Social, a cider and cheese pairing at CO Cellars; Culinary Trivia Night at Nectar’s; event raffles; and a portion of sponsorship dollars.
City Market/Onion River Co-op, one of the festival’s sponsors, gave the Vermont Foodbank 40 percent of its two stores’ Rally for Change donations during the month of April. The program encourages customers to round up their total at the register and donate the difference.

Finally, restaurants were encouraged to donate $1 to the foodbank from every meal sold during Restaurant Week. Embracing that initiative were 3 Squares Café, August First Bakery & Café, the Bearded Frog, the Bench, Bistro de Margot, Bleu Northeast Seafood, Bluebird Barbecue, Burlington Beer Company, Charlie B’s Pub & Restaurant at Stoweflake, Cork Wine Bar & Market, the Daily Planet, ¡Duino! (Duende), East West Café, Fire & Ice Restaurant, Hazel, J. Morgan's Steakhouse, Junction at the Essex, Vermont’s Culinary Resort & Spa, Juniper, Kismet, Michael's on the Hill, Misery Loves Co., Ruben James, the Scale, Three Brothers Pizza & Grill, Three Penny Taproom, Tres Amigos, Vermont Pub & Brewery and the Windjammer Restaurant.

More than 100 restaurants across the state participated in Vermont Restaurant Week this year. Each location offered special, prix-fixe meals during the event, which ran from April 26 to May 5.

In addition to Vermont Federal Credit Union and City Market, this year’s sponsors were Vermont Creamery, Burlington Beer Company, WhistlePig Whiskey, Shacksbury Cider and the Essex, Vermont’s Culinary Resort & Spa, with media support from WCAX, WNCS the Point, Front Porch Forum and the Vermont Department of Tourism & Marketing.

Vermont has garnered a national reputation for its award-winning specialty food and drink products and inventive, locally focused cuisine. For the last decade, Seven Days’ Vermont Restaurant Week has celebrated the state’s chefs, farmers, producers and others food-service professionals that have helped put the Green Mountain State on the map. The event has also raised $95,375.32 and counting for the Vermont Foodbank, the festival’s beneficiary. Seven Days is excited to announce the details of the 10th annual event presented by Vermont Federal Credit Union.

For 10 days, April 26 to May 5, 104 restaurants from Brattleboro to St. Albans will offer special prix-fixe dinners at three price points — $20, $30 or $40 per person. Lunch, brunch and breakfast specials at select locations will also be available. The diversity in cuisine and participating restaurants will whet the appetites of diners across the state. The full list of menus can be found at vermontrestaurantweek.com.

This year’s special foodie events include:

• The Sweet Start Smackdown: Dessert comes first at this Restaurant Week-eve kick-off battle, in which local pastry chefs from every corner of the state compete and foodies feast. Scores from celebrity judges and votes from attendees decide the winner of Vermont Restaurant Week’s Signature Sweet. Thursday, April 25, 7-9 p.m., Higher Ground in South Burlington.
• Cooking With WhistlePig: Students learn how to prepare a three-course meal featuring WhistlePig Whiskey from a Cook Academy chef at the Essex Culinary Resort & Spa. Friday, April 26, Wednesday, May 1, Friday, May 3, and Saturday, May 4, 5-8 p.m. in Essex.
• Pints & Poses Yoga: Join Corey Grenier for an all-levels foodie flow in the brewery. This hourlong vinyasa-style class will focus on digestion, detoxification and mindful eating. End your practice with a pint or a flight. Sunday, April 28, 11 a.m. to noon, Burlington Beer Company in Williston.
• Culinary Trivia Night: Feed your brain with foodie trivia and compete for delicious prizes at this rowdy event emceed by Top Hat Entertainment. The grand prize is a $500 gift card to Hen of the Wood. Monday, April 29, 6-9 p.m., Nectar’s in Burlington.
• The Sensory Social: Cider and cheese? Yes, please! Join Shacksbury Cider and Vermont Creamery for a fruitful and fraîche guided tasting that will make your senses sing. Tuesday, April 30, 5:30-7 p.m., CO Cellars in Burlington.
• The Dish — The Wild World of Fermentation: Hear from brewers, farmers, chefs and business owners about their experiences with fermented products while exploring reputed health benefits, opportunities for preservation of local food, and whether this food trend is here to stay. Wednesday, May 1, 5:30-7 p.m., ArtsRiot in Burlington.

Look for more information about events, participating restaurants and how to donate to the Vermont Foodbank at vermontrestaurantweek.com.

Vermont Restaurant Week is presented by Vermont Federal Credit Union and sponsored by Vermont Creamery, Burlington Beer Company, WhistlePig, City Market/Onion River Co-op, Shacksbury Cider and the Essex, Vermont’s Culinary Resort & Spa. Additional support is provided by Vermont Tourism, WNCS the Point, WCAX and Front Porch Forum.

More than 70 Vermont students who completed the 2018 Good Citizen Challenge gathered at the Statehouse in Montpelier on March 27 to be recognized for their accomplishment.

The Challenge invited K-12 students to earn points by doing a variety of activities related to civics, history, advocacy and media literacy — all crucial elements of being an informed citizen. These activities included attending city council meetings, picking up litter, reading local news articles, writing a letter to an elected official and naming the five freedoms specified in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Seven Days and Kids VT organized the initiative, with support from the Vermont Community Foundation. Its goal? To incentivize youth to educate themselves about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, using their communities as a classroom. Students finished the Challenge by earning 251 points, the number of towns in Vermont.

The Statehouse event was part of their reward. The Good Citizens met with Governor Phil Scott in his ceremonial office and posed for a group photo.

“I think it’s important for all of us to get involved and be good citizens, be public servants,” said the two-term Republican. And anyone can run for office, he said. “I certainly didn’t envision myself being in the position I am today when I was your age, not by a long shot.”
Speaker of the House Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero) also addressed the group.
Representative Peter Conlon (D-Cornwall) introduced the students from the  House chamber floor; legislators gave them a round of applause. Afterward, each student received a medal, a T-shirt, a sticker and a pocket-sized U.S. Constitution, donated by Phoenix Books.
Seven Days Deputy Publisher Cathy Resmer congratulated the Good Citizens. “You have just as much right to be in this building as anyone else here,” she told the students in the Cedar Creek Room. “I hope that’s something you’ll take away from your experience today. This might be your first time here, but I hope it won’t be your last.”

Find more information and sign up to receive updates about the 2019 Good Citizen Challenge at goodcitizenvt.com. The Statehouse event is the subject of the April 4 episode of Eva Sollberger’s “Stuck in Vermont” web video series. Find it at sevendaysvt.com.
Other Challenge partners included: Front Porch Forum, the Young Writers’ Project, Vermont State Parks and Historic Sites, GameTheory, Phoenix Books and the Winooski Peace Initiative.

Here is a list of students who completed the Good Citizen Challenge, organized by town:

Barre:
Tyler Graves

Burlington:
Bella Olinger and Sam Reilly

Cabot:
Alan Moody

Charlotte:
Henry Bushey and Lila Bushey

Clarendon:
Ethan Bishop

Colchester:
Chris Palagonia and Ben Palagonia

East Montpelier:
Harvey Neddo, Joseph Neddo and Arthur Neddo

Essex:
Jack Dragoo

Essex Junction:
Isaac Dodge and Sawyer Kless

Jericho:
Henry Swisher

Manchester Center:
Lindsey Treat

Middlebury:
Henry Weston

Milton:
Hannah Smiley

Montpelier:
Thea Boyles, Teagan Brennan, Zoe Keuhl, Lily Meyer, Anna Newara, Somerset Pierce and Lachlan Pierce

Moretown:
Grace Heller

Morristown:
Hazel Longe

Morrisville:
Mabel Huard

Quechee:
Michael Leavitt

Rutland:
Jackson Kitts

Salisbury:
Riley Amerio, Thomas Bishop, Sophia Boise, Channing Brush, Meredith Cameron, Kayla Charbonneau, Keenan Chicoine, Ethan Delorme, Owen Flanagan, Josie Gaiotti, Chris Gile, Natalie Gillette, Vance Larocque
Jameson Maguire, Addison Moats, Emma Morrissey, Luke Nuceder, Yankee Rheaume, Sutton Rubright, Mercedes Sheldrick, Pela Slater, Makyliah Tellier
Tyreese Tucker, Gabe Velez, Cody Warner, Ada Weaber, Matt Whelan, Mykayla White and Holly Whitney

Shelburne:
Grace Warrington and Peter Warrington

South Burlington:
Rosalynn Manalo

St. Albans:
Ethan Oszurek and Sophia Oszurek

St. Johnsbury:
Phyler Holt

Stowe:
Lada Salida, Noah Vandenburg and Evangeline Vandenburg

Underhill:
Aly Dorman

Waterbury Center:
Janelle Hoskins

West Burke:
Ella Switser and Lucas Switser

West Rutland:
Miles Robbison

Winooski:
Graham Resmer, Ivy Resmer and Alia Ross

Award-winning journalist Courtney Lamdin is joining the Seven Days news team as a reporter covering the city of Burlington. The native Vermonter has been working at local newspapers since she graduated with a B.A. in journalism from Saint Michael’s College in 2009. She grew a cub reporting gig at the Milton Independent into a six-year stint as editor of the community weekly, then served as executive editor of that publication, plus the Colchester Sun and the Essex Reporter, for three more years. She is currently news editor of the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus.

On Monday, the national trade publication Editor & Publisher featured Lamdin in its “25 Under 35” list of next-generation newspaper leaders.

Seven Days, Vermont’s free, independent newsweekly, won 11 first-place awards in this year’s New England Better Newspaper Competition — including for general excellence and top honors for health, crime, government, arts and entertainment reporting, political columnist, infographic, personality profile and niche publication. The paper also won eight second-place and six third-place awards — 25 total.

The contest is organized by the New England Newspaper & Press Association; winners were announced at NENPA’s annual convention this past weekend in Boston.

NENPA members submitted more than 3,000 entries, split among five categories: daily newspapers with circulation up to 25,000; daily newspapers with circulation more than 25,000; weekly newspapers with circulation up to 6,000; weekly newspapers with circulation more than 6,000; and specialty publications. Seven Days — which circulates 36,000 copies every Wednesday — competed against numerous other large, New England weeklies.

Here’s what judges had to say about Seven Days’ 11 first-place awards:

• General Excellence. “An alternative weekly that is exceptional! Seven Days is well-written throughout. The reporting is thorough and extensive. The layout is clean and advertising support is impressive.”
• Local Personality Profile, “Former Wall Street Maverick Sandy Lewis Is an Adirondack Agitator,” by James Bandler. “A delightful and deliciously irreverent profile… And the quotes – Wow!”
• Health Reporting, “Committed: A Son's Mental Illness, a Father's Fight,” by Katie Jickling. “This piece exhibited a great deal of compassion… and showed readers the depth and scope of an important public policy problem without drowning us with statistics or policy.”
• Government Reporting, “State of Need: How Vermont Tried and Failed to Cut Child Poverty in Half,” by Paul Heintz.
• Crime and Court Reporting, “'Til Death Do Us Part: Maidstone's Grisly Murder-Suicide Was Domestic Violence,” by Mark Davis. ”Article reads well. Interviews are solid, the lead-in is intriguing and the ending is strong.”
• Arts and Entertainment Reporting, “Reuben Jackson's Mysterious Friend Is a Facebook Hit,” by Dan Bolles. “A fascinating, charming, whimsical story.”
• Best Infographic, “Analysis: How Gun Votes Divided the Vermont House,” by Andrea Suozzo. “A textbook example of using data to tell a story.”
• Political Columnist, “Tradin' Paint” and “Into the Arena,” by John Walters. “John Walters takes political junkies into the middle of the action.”
• Two first place awards in the entertainment and feature video categories for two episodes of “Stuck in Vermont”: “A_Dog Day” and “Countryman Peony Farm” by senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger and multimedia journalist James Buck. “A high-quality production. A+.”
• Niche Publication, What’s Good: A Seven Days Field Guide to Burlington. “This is absolutely a guide I would use and find helpful if I were in the area.”

Seven Days received second-place honors for best overall website, its investigative reporting series on the nonprofit sector, Give and Take, and for Kids VT, Seven Days’ monthly parenting magazine. Alicia Freese won second place for her education reporting on Saint Michael’s College and health reporting on inmates and addiction. Molly Walsh received second place for her human interest feature on Ryan McLaren, who experienced a life-altering ski accident. Eva Sollberger brought home a second-place award for her video on the “March for our Lives” in Vermont’s capital. Lastly, Kym Balthazar came in second place for her cover illustration on the March 21, 2018, issue.

Burlington-based weekly Seven Days has launched a yearlong reporting project chronicling the opioid epidemic in Vermont and efforts to address it. The designated writer of “Hooked: Stories and Solutions From Vermont’s Opioid Crisis” is Kate O’Neill, who has personal experience with the crisis: Her sister, Burlington mom Madelyn Linsenmeir, died last October after years battling addiction.

O’Neill described her sister’s struggles in a heartbreaking obituary published locally in Seven Days. It spread quickly on social media, shared by national reporters and celebrities — even Ivanka Trump. Millions of people worldwide read it, and more than 1,000 left online comments describing their own experiences with addiction.

Seven Days newspaper won 18 awards Thursday at the Vermont Press Association’s annual meeting in Montpelier. Those included six first-place prizes and the prestigious Mavis Doyle Award, which went to staff writer Alicia Freese.

The paper swept the “Best State Story” category. First place went to the entire Seven Days news team for its five-week “Give and Take” series, which examined Vermont’s nonprofit economy. Staff writer Taylor Dobbs, political editor Paul Heintz and political columnist John Walters jointly took the second-place prize for their coverage of a pitched battle over the state’s gun laws. Third place in the category went to Heintz for a story documenting the decline of Vermont’s dairy industry.

Vermont’s independent newsweekly, Seven Days, has hired three experienced writers to join its editorial staff.

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Kevin McCallum, who shared in the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news, will join Seven Days’ Statehouse bureau in January. The veteran journalist spent 13 years as a business and then city hall reporter for the Press Democrat of Santa Rosa, California. There, he was part of a team that won the Pulitzer for its coverage of the wildfires that devastated Sonoma County in October 2017. McCallum spent the past several months driving his family east in an RV in hopes of resettling in his native New England.

Social Sentinel, a Burlington-based company that identifies threatening content on social media, was among the winners of the 2018 Tech Jam awards, presented last Friday at the 12th Vermont Tech Jam. The prizes,  given annually by the Vermont Technology Alliance, BTV Ignite and Seven Days, recognize leaders in the state's tech ecosystem.

Social Sentinel won the Innovation award. Burlington Code Academy, a 12-week coding bootcamp, won the Startup award after triumphing in the  LaunchVT competition in the spring. Maureen McElaney, founder of the Burlington Chapter of Girl Develop It, is the area's top tech ambassador.

Each received a statuette of the Tech Jam mascot, handcrafted by clay artist John Brickels.

Also honored from the podium were the winners of BTV Ignite's first Reverse Pitch award, who each received a $10,000 grant to pursue their work. The prizes went to Code Shepherd, a teaching platform that brings subject matter experts, teachers and students together via a live video chat, and Learning Portals, which uses augmented and virtual reality technologies to let learners join classrooms and other experiences remotely — in the case of extended illnesses, for example.