Valerie Demong joined the admissions staff in 1990 and laments that she didn't come to this work sooner, as the personal interaction with prospective students is just her cup of tea - or mulled cider! Val and husband Geoff were Middlebury class of 1966, and after graduate work at RISD and UVM respectively, returned to Addison County. Here they put down roots, literally and figuratively, when they joined the agricultural community and planted their apple orchard in Shoreham which they farmed until just last year and where their two daughters grew up. Over the years Val served as Justice of the Peace, performing dozens of weddings and Civil Unions, and she also chaired the Shoreham Selectboard from 1993-2003. She's a graduate of the Vermont Leadership Institute and serves on the statewide board of the Preservation Trust of Vermont which is committed to helping Vermont maintain the beauty of its landscape, classic architecture, and the vital small-town communities that define our special state.