Poster mock-up:

I created a poster which used neither black or white, just color. No, the event isn't real (that's why I included the June 31 date), but the organization is.

Make sure to click on the poster when viewing. Some detail is lost at the smaller size.

Magazine cover mock-up:

Celebrate Lake Champlain's Quadricentennial

I designed the cover of this special advertising section commemorating the Quadricentennial of Samuel de Champlain's exploration. It was included in June 2009 issues of The Essex Reporter, The Colchester Sun, The Milton Independent and The St. Albans Messenger.

Derby Dames debut

Fast and furious, Derby Dames wow sold-out crowd

By WENDY HATOUM
The Essex Reporter (February 12, 2009)

In fishnets and face paint, helmets and knee pads, the Green Mountain Derby Dames delighted the crowd Saturday night in a fast-paced bout against the ByTown Blackhearts of Ottawa.

Five hundred cheering fans filled the venue at the Champlain Valley Exposition for the popular roller derby spectacle that sold out the day before. The music was loud (many in the audience wore earplugs), and the crowd cheered, shook cowbells, and “oohed” and “awed” as players took some hard spills on the concrete floor.

Along with the fast skating, the players’ attire added to the drama. The women had their skating names screened across their backs: Bruise Control, Queen Defeat-ya, The Silencer and Zelda Savage, to name a few.

For many people in attendance, Saturday’s bout was their first introduction to roller derby. Ron Manganiello of South Burlington said he wanted to see the women in action because he had seen the Derby Dames at the Vermont City Marathon last year supporting a team member who was running in the race. “They had a lot of good energy. They looked like a fun, wild bunch of women. I thought it would be fun to come out,” said Manganiello, who heads Bike Recycle Vermont.

It was Carol Speranza’s first roller derby bout as well. Her daughter has been training with the team, though she wasn’t skating that evening. “It’s pretty rough and a little scary,” said Speranza of Essex Junction.

Though the Dames certainly have a bit of a hard edge to them, the crowd was similar to what you’d find at a Lake Monsters’ game, albeit with fewer children in attendance. It ranged from seniors, no doubt some being parents of the Dames, to couples with babies in tow. Brandee Hayes was there with her husband and infant son. “We came out to support Kristin,” explained Hayes, of her co-worker at IBM, Kristin Ackerson.

Ackerson, an electrical engineer by day, takes on the persona of Star Slayer when she skates. The Colchester resident said she got into roller derby last March.

“I’ve always been a jock. I wakeboard, snowboard, and competed as a gymnast growing up,” she said. Ackerson trains with her teammates three nights a week, for two to three hours a session. She is vice-president of the skater-owned team and is one of the team’s jammers – or scorers.

The Derby Dames play by Women’s Flat Track Derby Association rules with 14 players, and five skaters on the track. Points are scored when the jammer (denoted by the star on her helmet) passes the other team’s blockers or pivot, scoring one point for each player passed. Pushing and shoving are part of the game, but blatant aggression, “holding, grabbing, shoving, punching, chair-throwing...” will result in a player receiving major or minor penalties or getting sent to the penalty box.

During much of the bout the Blackhearts led by 20 points, but the Derby Dames battled back, narrowing the lead to within two points, with only seconds left on the board. Despite the supportive crowd yelling and some aggressive skating by the jammers, the Dames lost, with the final score of 131 to 136. Regardless, the crowd was cheering their hometown team, as they circled the loop after the bout.

The Derby Dames’ next bout is scheduled for March 14 at the CV Exposition. Tickets are available though the Flynn Regional Box Office at 802-86-Flynn or http://www.flynntix.org/.

Photo captions: The Green Mountain Derby Dames line up at the start of their first bout, held at the Champlain Valley Exposition last weekend. PHOTO BY AMY BRADFORD

Kristin Ackerson (above), an IBM engineer, known as Star Slayer on the team, is a jammer for the Derby Dames. Jammers score points by passing other players. PHOTO BY WENDY HATOUM

Wiemann Lamphere Architects

Architects create environmental showcase

Colchester

building promotes

sustainability

By WENDY HATOUM

The Colchester Sun (March 11, 2010)

When you walk into a recently constructed building, your senses can often be overwhelmed by the building materials used to create it— that telltale “new” smell. If you were to tour the new office building of Wiemann Lamphere Architects, located on Hercules Drive in Colchester, you would be greeted by air that smells clean and fresh, though the building has only been inhabited since December. The good air quality was by design, as were many other environmentally friendly features. Vice presidents (and brothers) David Roy and Steve Roy led the design team, which focused on not only air quality, but sustainability and energy efficiency. They wanted the building to showcase the latest “green” features, so the firm’s clients could get a hands-on look at what is available on the marketplace.

Steve Roy said the building was even more energy efficient than originally estimated: “We anticipated it coming in at two-thirds of a typical building. It’s actually coming in at 80 percent of (our estimate).” Besides fresh air, the team wanted to incorporate lots of natural light and natural materials into the building’s design. Daylight sensors read the amount of light filtering into the building and adjust the amount of artificial light automatically.

The floors in the main work area are made of polished concrete with stone aggregate from Hinesburg. Counters are made from Marmoleum, a material made from a combination of linseed oil and wood dust. “It’s not a new product,” explained David, “but it is gaining wider use.”

When walking through the main work area, you might first notice the ventilation system — long blue tubes of fabric, clearly visible in the ceiling above the building’s main work area. These ‘duct socks’ inflate when pressurized air is moved through them. This type of ventilation system offers the advantage of using less metal, and it can be cleared of dust by simply being thrown in a washing machine.

Some of the building’s most impressive features are hidden away. If you take a peek at the mechanicals for the 10,600-square- foot building, you’d notice two boilers that are sized similarly to something for a 2,500-square-foot home. (Weimann Lamphere is only occupying 5,000 square feet of the building and plans to lease the other half.) Despite the 35-degree temperature outside the building, neither boiler was running.

Controlled by computer, the building was being heated by an air- to-air exchange system, which takes heat from outside (even on a cold day) as it also circulates fresh air inside the building. “It’s the reverse of an air conditioning coil,” David said, explaining that in the summer the system can be switched to cooling.

The walls are 16 inches thick, have an R-value of 34-35 and are filled with cellulose insulation. Steve Roy explained that the insulation is essentially 80 percent recycled newspaper.

Other features include carpets with recycled content, paint with low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and water saving toilets. Printing rooms are sealed to contain particulates and enhance air quality.

The building’s roof has reflective surfaces to reduce the amount of cooling needed in summer months. Steve Roy said, “Even in this area, cooling in summer comes at a higher cost than heating in winter.”

The building features a shower/ changing room for employees who like to ride their bikes to work. The parking lot has L.E.D. lighting and reserved spots for low-emission vehicles. The firm plans to add a solar panel array this summer.

The project cost $1.2 million; the cost of efficiency measures was $89,500.

It is anticipated the building will earn a “gold” certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. LEED is a third-party certification program with nationally accepted benchmarks for design and construction of high performance buildings.

Weimann Lamphere Architects recently achieved “silver” certification when it completed Colchester’s first LEED-certified building, the 35,000-square- foot office and laboratory space of UVM’s Colchester Research Facility. Other local examples of the firm’s work include the Pomerleau Alumni Center at St. Michael’s College in Colchester and Moe’s Southwest Grill in Williston –– both are LEED certified buildings –– as well as the recently completed spa addition to at The Essex Resort and Spa.

Captions: Top - Vice presidents (and brothers) Steve Roy and David Roy stand in the main work area of the newly completed Weimann Lamphere Architects building. The blue tubes in the ceiling are ‘duct socks,’ a fabric ventilation system. PHOTO BY WENDY HATOUM

Bottom - The newly completed Wiemann Lamphere building is anticipated to earn gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

Burton Snowboards Protest

Protesters prepare to march to the Burton headquarters in
Burlington to show their anger with the company’s Love and
Primo snowboards. PHOTO BY WENDY HATOUM

150 protest Burton boards

Essex woman leads charge

By WENDY HATOUM
The Essex Reporter (October 30, 2008)

About 150 demonstrators, as many as 20 percent of them children, gathered at the headquarters of Burton Snowboards in Burlington, chanting “Boycott Burton.”

The protest last Thursday was organized by Essex resident Lezlee Sprenger, who called for a general boycott of Burton products until the company withdraws two controversial lines of snowboards from the market: the “Love” line, which features vintage photos of Playboy models on the boards, and the “Primo” line, which includes graphic images of hand gestures depicted with severed fingers.

During the protest, Burton’s Burlington headquarters had uniformed police officers and squad cars posted at each of the property’s two driveway entrances. The company allowed protesters to gather on a narrow strip of land along the road fronting the property.

Reading from a written statement, Sprenger thanked the group for joining the protest and remarked on how the issue has grabbed the attention of people across the country.

“We, together, have led an enormously successful information campaign,” she said. “Tens of thousands of people have heard the message. This issue is being discussed in news groups and blogs across the country. People’s eyes are opening – they are seeing Burton for what they really are: a corporation driven by greed and self- interest; a company that shows no respect for women, no respect for children, and does not care about our families and community.”

In response to a statement released earlier by Burton CEO Laurent Potdevin, in which he stood by Burton’s board graphics, Sprenger said, “Burton continues in a long tradition of the debasement of women for profit. They hide behind their claim to freedom of artistic expression. Porn is not art. Porn is not love. And mutilation is not comical.”

Smugglers’ Notch Resort in Jeffersonville and Vail Resorts in Colorado have taken a stand on the snowboards, prohibiting their employees from using the Primo and Love boards. Vail Resorts owns Vail Mountain, Breckenridge Ski Resort, Keystone Resort, and Beaver Creek Resort.

Smugglers’ Notch issued this statement: “Smugglers’ is disappointed in the direction Burton is taking in this regard. None of the Love or Primo lines of products will be sold at Smugglers’ Notch Resort.

Employees will not be allowed to use these or other lines of products, which are likely to offend our guests, in the course of their interaction with guests at the Resort.”

At the protest, Sprenger was flanked by other community leaders, including Mark Redmond, director of Spectrum, Todd Centybear, executive director of the Howard Center, Tiffany Bluemle, executive director of Vermont Works for Women, David Ellenbogen, director of the Lake Champlain’s Men’s Resource Center, and Roddy O’Neil Cleary, a Unitarian minister and professor at the University of Vermont.

Ellenbogen questioned Burton’s naming one of the product lines “Love.” “What’s love got to do with it? Tina Turner got it right. It’s got nothing to do with love,” he said. Ellenbogen called for the company to stop producing the boards and pull the remaining ones from store shelves.

“They should melt them down and make a white ribbon board and donate the proceeds to prevent domestic violence,” said Ellenbogen. The white ribbon campaign was started by a group of men who formed to end men’s violence against women.

“This line of snowboards objectifies women,” said Spectrum’s Redmond. “Objectifying women leads to domestic violence.” He also decried the boards’ depictions of self-mutilation because of the problems that many young people have with cutting.

In response to the offensive boards, Redmond recently ended Spectrum’s participation in the popular “Chill” program, in which Burton supplied boards and apparel for the program’s youth. “There’s some things you stand on principle. It means giving something up.”

Redmond announced that the Alpine Shop in South Burlington had recently donated four snowboards and that other individuals had donated resort passes to Spectrum. With recent community donations, Redmond said he was hopeful that the young people who rely on the services of Spectrum will be able to participate in snowboarding this winter.

“I predict that Spectrum kids will be on the slopes,” he said.

O’Neil Cleary was dismissive of Burton’s Love line: “It is stuck in the ‘70s,” she said. “They are not cutting edge, not pushing the boundaries. It’s really regression.”

One of the protesters, Kathleen Kemp of Winooski, carried a “Shame on Burton” placard and called Burton’s actions “shameful.”

“I think that the stand that they’ve (Burton) taken is shameful and reprehensible in this day and age, and in this place in the world,” said Kemp. “I hope they take the opportunity to question where they’re headed with this whole idea, which of course is tied to profits.”

The Essex Reporter contacted Burton, and according to a company spokesperson, there has been no further comment on the issue aside from Potdevin’s statement, which was issued Oct. 22, the day before the protest. (See box.)

In light of the snowboard controversy, Burton co- owner Donna Carpenter has withdrawn from a November conference of the Women Business Owners Network where she was to have been one of two keynote speakers.

Robin Grunland, executive director of WBON, sent a press release dated Oct. 15 explaining the change.

“Over the last several weeks, Burton Snowboards has received media attention, and community members have expressed concern, regarding several of the company’s board designs,” the release said. “Donna Carpenter has graciously expressed concern that she might be a diversion to the goal of our conference and with much apology has decided not to speak at our event in order to keep the focus on the economic issues at hand.”

In WBON’s original press release, Donna Carpenter was described as “the founder and director of Burton’s women’s initiatives that ensures that Burton is the employer and brand of choice for women … Through Carpenter’s leadership, Burton established the women’s product and creative departments and internal committees that focus on retaining and promoting women within their organization.”

At the end of the protest, Sprenger requested participants to turn toward the Burton building and respectfully call on the principals, Jake and Donna Carpenter. There was no response to the repeated queries from the crowd, chanting, “Please talk to us” and “Where is Jake? Where is Donna?”

The answer to at least one of the protesters’ questions could be found on the Burton website: According to a post by Jake Burton Carpenter, the day of the protest found him with his sons, getting in the season’s first snowboarding runs at Loveland Basin, Colorado.