Summer
may not officially be here yet, but with temperatures across much of Vermont reaching the 90s on Wednesday, the time has arrived
for pulling out kayaks, putting on swimsuits and heading down to the lake or
the river. But much of the waterfront is still submerged. In some places,
beaches are just starting to reemerge, littered with debris. And many of the
state parks along Lake
Champlain have been hard
hit. Six of them, including the popular Sand Bar State
Park in Milton, are still closed due to flooding. Clean-up has begun,
and the state is aiming to have the park open for the season by the 4th
of July, though a state high water report notes that even then, it "won’t be
perfect."
We
talk to Craig Whipple, director of the Vermont State Parks, about the impact of the flooding on the waterfront
parks, and about what else to expect from the summer season.
Also
on the program, what happens to kids who rely on free and reduced price lunch
programs when the school year is over? Marissa Parisi of Hunger Free Vermont
explains the summer programs that are available, and how they integrate
community activities into feeding kids whose families are ‘food insecure.’
And
VPR’s Angela
Evancie reports on a new report released by the Vermont Center for Ecostudies has given us
a better idea of just how diverse the butterfly population is.