Of Bethel Roads
And Costanzo

Last night I attended the Bethel selectboard meeting. I was there to turn over the work I had done over the past three months helping John Dutton research so-called ancient roads in Bethel. Mr. Dutton has been researching Bethel's rights-of-passage since the 1950's and I, along with Mary Pavone, worked as volunteer scribes to gather the information onto data forms for each road. 

Early in the process I realized that Mr. Dutton was sharing pieces of Bethel history as well as information on specific roads and on roads in general, so I began taking notes at each session. The result is a 20-page "Bethel Roads Diary" that answers questions like What is the correct name for what we call Gilead Brook?, Why is Christian Hill not a hill?, and Why is the eastern boundary of Bethel not parallel to the western boundary?

The Roads Diary will be available on the www.bethelvermont.com website. Whether you are interested in the ancient roads issue, are considering serving on the Roads Committee that the Town Manager is seeking to put together, or you are just interested in the history of Bethel, you will find something of interest in this Diary. 

But I had originally asked to attend the selectboard meeting because I knew Chris Costanzo would be there and would include some of this information in his article about the meeting, as he has done every two weeks for about five years—long enough for us to become accustomed to his in-depth and balanced coverage of the governance of our town, not to mention all the events he covered and informed us about. 

I don't think we have begun to realize how the fabric of our community has been injured by losing Chris. Also injured is the revitalization of Bethel that many of us have been working toward in many ways, including the central Town Hall, but the core of which is in each of our hearts where we feel we can take part and can make a difference in the revitalization of our community.  

The website can supply some of our information, especially if we contribute to it (use the News section) and if we check it regularly. The selectboard Minutes are published under Municipal, and I have asked Town Manager Dell Cloud to also include the agendas of the upcoming meetings so interested people can attend. 

We are all going to have to make more of an effort to gather and share news in Bethel. Let's strive to be as balanced and informative as the standard that Chris Costanzo set for us. Let's use the loss of Chris' work as an incentive to be a little more responsible ourselves.

Victoria Weber

Bethel