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‘Personally enriched our cultural life’: Vermont philanthropist Lois McClure dies at 98

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‘Personally enriched our cultural life’: Vermont philanthropist Lois McClure dies at 98


Long-time Burlington resident and philanthropist Lois Jean Howe McClure died Sunday at 98.

“She has personally enriched our cultural life in Vermont and furthered our understanding of Vermont history. These are good deeds that will be felt, undoubtedly, for many generations,” Jane Osborne McKnight wrote in a 2006 nomination for McClure to be selected as Vermonter of the Year. She earned the honor in 2013.

McClure and her late husband, J. Warren “Mac” McClure, donated tens of millions of dollars to Vermont-based organizations throughout their lifetimes including more than $16 million through the J. Warren and Lois McClure Foundation. The couple started the foundation in 1995 with a focus on improving access for Vermonters to higher education and life-long learning.

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“She outlived most of her generation and is best known to contemporary Vermonters as the namesake for buildings, scholarships, a replica canal schooner, and for the charitable foundation that she and Mac created in 1995 to continue their legacy of support for Vermonters and for Vermont,” reads an excerpt of her obituary.

The couple met after McClure had separated from her first husband Merton Ricker, with whom she had three daughters. J. Warren “Mac” McClure had come to Burlington for a leadership role at The Burlington Free Press, which was owned by her extended family.

“Mac was a tireless promoter of the newspaper and the greater Burlington area and Lois served as a constant sounding-board for his ideas while managing the household, entertaining extended family members and business associates, operating a home-based news service, and volunteering in the community,” reads the obituary by her family and the foundation.

The couple spent some time living outside of Vermont. In 1971, they moved to Rochester, NY, when J. Warren “Mac” McClure worked as Vice President of Marketing for Gannett Newspaper, the new owners of the Burlington Free Press. A few years later the McClures moved in Key Largo, Florida, where she chaired the board of the local medical center, co-managed a furniture resale shop, typed Mac’s speeches for his consultancy, according to her obituary.

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What organizations did Lois Jean Howe McClure volunteer with

Among her other volunteer and philanthropy work, McClure volunteered with the American Cancer Society; work she started after the death of her daughter Judy in 1961after extended treatment for kidney cancer.

She also served as a hospital trustee, like her father and grandfather before her. In later years, McClures donated to the University of Vermont Library, named for Lois’ father David Willard, and a building for a new wing for what is now the UVM Medical Center.

The were founding members of Shelburne’s Wake Robin community.

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McClure and her husband also worked to “preserve the unique history of Vermont and Lake Champlain Basin with both dollars and sustained enthusiasm.” The Lois McClure is, a now retired, full-scale replica of an 1862-class sailing canal boat, based on two shipwrecks located in Lake Champlain. It was part of a project envisioned by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and crafted on the Burlington waterfront by volunteers.

She, along with her husband, received honorary doctor of letters from the University of Vermont in 1983 and the Ira Allen Award in 1988.

McClure also began to donate to the Shelburne Museum in memory of her husband after his death in 2004. The money supported half-price admission for Vermonters. She also began to advocate for eldercare in an effort that ultimately created the UVM’s Center on Aging. She was the lead funder for the Bee Tabakin-Lois McClure Hope Lodge that opened in 2008 and for the Homes Forever campaign of the Champlain Housing Trust.

“When health concerns began to curtail her activities in 2015, Lois’ final personal philanthropic leadership gift was a collaboration with Bobby and Holly Miller to fund the McClure-Miller Respite House in Colchester, dedicated in 2016,” reads her obituary.

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Who are Vermont’s biggest landowners? The biggest private land owner owns 86,000 acres

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Who are Vermont’s biggest landowners? The biggest private land owner owns 86,000 acres


Great places to view fall foliage in Burlington, VT

It’s leaf-peeping season in Vermont. Here are six places to see the fall foliage in Burlington, the Green Mountain State’s largest city.

Vermont might not be a huge state but the amount of land the largest landholder owns might surprise you.

The World Population Review drew on 2025 data and found the biggest land owners in each state of the country.

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“Approximately 60% of land in the United States is privately owned, and just a few individuals and families control a significant proportion of this land,” they said.

Here’s what the World Population Review said.

What is Weyerhaeuser

Owning 86,000 acres of forestland, Plum Creek Timber Company was the largest landowner in Vermont, but it merged with Weyerhaeuser in 2016, the Review said, technically making Weyerhaeuser the biggest landowner in Vermont.

Weyerhaeuser also owns land outside of Vermont.

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The state website said that the Kingdom Heritage Lands that encompasses the West Mountain Wildlife Management Area as well as the public easement on private timber lands are currently owned by Weyerhaeuser.

“Essex Timber Company acquired 84,000 acres for working forestry, with easements protecting certain natural resources and guaranteeing perpetual public access,” the Vermont government website said. “This land was subsequently purchased by the Plum Creek Timber Company and again purchased by Weyerhaeuser.”

Today, the company manages land for wood production, conservation, and recreation. There are 20 miles of hiking trails as well as rock climbing opportunities.

According to investor.weyerhaeuser.com, Weyerhaeuser owns and manages 10.4 million acres of timberlands across the United States, making its overall market capitalization approximately $17.2 billion.

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Weyerhaeuser also has had its fair share of controversy, facing repeated accusations of violating the Clean Water Act and dozens of charges for stormwater discharge violations in the state of Washington. They have continued to deny wrongdoing and have settled in the past to end legal proceedings.

In 2016, Weyerhaeuser faced legal controversy when the Vermont Supreme Court said that their loggers cut down more trees than they were allowed to cut. They would settle with the state for $375,000 in 2017.

“Our environmental stewardship in these northern forests is shaped by responsible forest management, the geography of our ownership and past land management practices,” Weyerhaeuser’s website said. “Our forest management plans address biodiversity in line with state and federal environmental laws, collaborative projects with a variety of stakeholders, and practices that support sustainable forestry.”

Rin Velasco is a trending reporter. She can be reached at rvelasco@gannett.com.



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Obituary for John Lutz at Day Funeral Home

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Obituary for John  Lutz at Day Funeral Home


John Lutz, 86, died peacefully on October 16, 2025, surrounded by the love of his family and with the supportive care of hospice and the staff at Valley Terrace in White River Junction. He was born June 6, 1939, in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, the youngest of five children of Clarence and



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Thousands Say ‘No Kings’ at Protests Across Vermont | Seven Days

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Thousands Say ‘No Kings’ at Protests Across Vermont | Seven Days


For the second time in a matter of months, thousands of people around Vermont on Saturday took to the streets as part of a massive nationwide “No Kings” protest against President Donald Trump and his administration.

Some 50 Vermont cities and towns, from Vergennes and Underhill to St. Albans and Chester, held official protests. At each, dozens or in some cases thousands of people massed in green spaces and along busy thoroughfares to sing songs, wave signs and American flags, and voice their opposition to the way Trump has lead the country during his first nine months in office.

The largest gatherings by far were in Montpelier, where thousands of protesters filled the Statehouse lawn to listen to speakers, and Burlington, where separate groups of marchers converged on downtown City Hall Park for a colorful, musical and somewhat joyous gathering of community.

Creative signs and costumes were abundant among the throngs of people.

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Ken Bognanowicz , left, and Zoë Keating in Burlington Credit: Daria Bishop

In South Burlington, dozens of people holding “No Kings” signs crowded onto a narrow sidewalk along Patchen Road at the Interstate 89 overpass. Most were over 40, with some exceptions, including a man and a woman with two toddlers. They made giant bubbles that floated over the crowd.

A woman wearing an inflatable dinosaur costume would not give her name. “My husband is an immigrant so I’d rather not,” she said. “I’m glad I can represent both of us today. We thought a green card would be enough safety for us.”

Her costume, she said, was a nod to “what’s happening in Portland. I think that humor and silliness seem to be really effective against this administration.”

Another woman who declined to give her name described herself as a member of the “inflatable rebellion.” She wanted to show up with humor — “no anger, no hate, to stand up for integrity.” A nurse, she said she turned down an overtime shift for double pay to be there.

She’s from Thailand and grew up in a country with a king — a good one, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who united the country. Not like Trump, she said. “I want this to be a wake-up call. That’s what I’m here for.”

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Scroll through the slideshow below:

The “No Kings” demonstrations were under intense scrutiny from right-wing media and Trump administration officials, who dismissively referred to the gatherings as “Hate America” rallies. But the scene at the Statehouse was filled with American flags, children playing and smiling faces.

Prior to the demonstrations, an email from “No Kings” organizers briefed protesters on etiquette for the day. Stand two feet back from the street curb and keep sidewalks clear, it read. Smile and wave at any potential hecklers or disruptors, and put down signs and step back when an ambulance or fire truck passes, the instructions said. There were no signs of anything amiss at the Montpelier rally, which went off without a hitch.

U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) was the first speaker to take the stage on the Statehouse steps. “We need less Trump and more Vermont values in Washington,” Welch said to cheers. He invoked Matthew Lyon, a Vermont senator who was sent to jail in the 1790s for criticizing the president, only to be reelected by Vermonters.

A young child in a firefighter costume popped bubbles blown by protesters wearing inflatable animal suits as speakers took their turn at the podium. One demonstrator in a gray flying squirrel suit held a sign that read “Antifa” in stylish cursive, a reference to the Trump administration’s rhetoric about the antifascist group in Portland, Ore.

Introduced as a “fearless, feisty, ferocious fascist-fighting motorcycle mama from Brattleboro,” U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) began her speech with a call-and-response chant of “No Kings, No Tyrants, No Dictators!”

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“They’re trying to reframe this, and that’s because they’re scared,” Balint said. “We don’t hate America, Donald Trump. We just can’t stand what you have done to our country!”

Nikhil Goyal, a sociologist and former senior policy advisor for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), spoke to the crowd about the impact of Trump’s policies in Vermont. The crowd booed when Goyal made reference to state Sen. Sam Douglass (R-Orleans), who was outed this week by Politico for participating in a racist and sexist group chat of national Young Republicans.

After days of intense political pressure to resign, Douglass announced on Friday that he would step down effective Monday at noon.

Geri Peterson, lead organizer of 50501 Vermont, sang an original song while trans flags were passed out in the crowd. “Our existence, our basic biology, has been turned into a political talking point,” Petersen said of the Trump administration’s attacks on trans rights. “Behind every headline is another person trying to survive another day,” she said.

Protesters in inflatable suits

“It’s OK to feel overwhelmed about these things, but worrying does not have to be the end of the story,” Clara White, a 14-year-old student at Montpelier High School, said from the podium. “People my age, we’re not just sitting around waiting. We’re more connected than generations before us.”

Rae Carter of Plainfield was also at the first No Kings rally in June. She attended Saturday’s Statehouse protest adorned in bright colors, including a neon green wig. “Things have gotten worse, and the power is with the people,” she said. “Transformation and change is something that requires all of us.”

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Loretta Gaidys came from Barre to protest. “I have a lot of relatives that are in the service, and I just look at the man that is leading this country, and it scares the hell out of me,” she said.

Isaac Jensen, a construction and excavation business owner from the Northeast Kingdom, took the stage “to reject the current subversion of American patriotism and the assertion that, because we refuse to allow them to seize unlimited power, we are somehow anti-American.”

As the last speaker, he led the crowd in the pledge of allegiance.

Cathy Resmer contributed reporting.



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