SHAFTSBURY -- Four town residents were honored during the annual Town Meeting floor session with proclamations from the Vermont Legislature citing their achievements and service to the community. State Rep. Alice Miller, D-Shaftsbury, presented the proclamations, honoring Miles Yucht, a student at Mount Anthony Union High School, Town Clerk Judith Stratton and resident Florence Beebe, and Elizabeth Putnam.
Yucht was honored for scholastic achievement as a Siemens Award winner in Vermont for advanced placement studies in science and math. He also has been recognized as a musician and was active in athletics at the school.
Stratton and Beebe were cited for their work in cataloguing of veterans' grave sites in Shaftsbury. Their five-year project also researched genealogical and military service information on each veteran, providing a historical resource for the town.
Putnam was congratulated for being the first conservationist to receive the Presidential Citizens Medal [1]. While a student during the 1950s, she outlined a proposal for a student conservation association modeled after the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s, that would attract students to national parks to perform maintenance work. Her Student Conservation Association was formed in 1957 with support from the National Park Service.
Putnam received the Citizens Medal in 2010 in recognition of her role in conserving the nation's scenic areas.