Thunderstorms. Low 67F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..
Thunderstorms. Low 67F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
This is a belated thank you to everyone who contributed in one way or another to bringing MayFest back to Bennington.
Thank you to the sponsors: The Bank of Bennington, MVP Health Care, Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, LeafGuard of Vermont, Harvest Christian Ministry, and Mission City Church.
We had 84 vendors, 49 volunteers, and 16 unique performances signed up a week prior to Mayfest. Our downtown merchants threw open their doors to bustling crowds of current and future customers, and our restaurants were packed. Despite losing 15 vendors and two performing artists within three days due to positive COVID tests and concerns over the weather, the day was an overall success according to our post surveys to the vendors and merchants — late afternoon storm not withstanding.
None of it would have been possible without our incredible volunteers, board members, and staff. Months of preparation go in to a festival like this and every single person is needed to pull it off. Thank you especially to Mission City Church for providing so many of our volunteers and keeping the streets clean throughout, Crae Printing for doing a speedy order of Swag, the Bennington Banner for providing space to store everything before and after the festival, the SW Vermont Chamber for loaning tables, tents, chairs, radios and more, the Bennington Police for keeping everyone safe and secure, Walt’s Taxi for coming to the rescue of one vendor’s broken vehicle, Keith Nichols for the use of the space in front of his garage, and the Town of Bennington for offering up the streets and overall general support. Thank you also to The Angry Egg, The Coffee Bar, and Bringing You Vermont for supplying coffee to our VIP vendors, Ramunto’s for supplying lunches, and Bringing You Vermont for offering up their keyboard and amp for one of the performers.
The three VIPs who did most of their work quietly in the background are my assistant, Kaiya Kirk; my always-at-the-ready Jack of all trades, Bill Clark; and my predecessor, John Shannahan. I feel beyond lucky to have such an incredible team. I’m sure there is someone I am missing. Thank you to them as well!
There is no rest for the weary (those cliches again!) as we launched straight into Thursday Night Live and begin preparations for the inaugural Harvest Fest. Let the planning commence!
The board and staff of the Northshire Rescue Squad are honored to acknowledge the incredibly generous bequest of $211,000 from the Arthur Jones’s estate. The beneficiaries of this bequest are each and every person in the towns of Manchester, Dorset, Danby, Mt Tabor and Winhall. The Northshire Rescue Squad has provided emergency medical care to the area communities since 1964. This is one of the largest bequests we have ever received.
Art Jones, a lifelong resident of Dorset, was an amazing artist of national renown. His creativity, infectious laughter and keen observations will long be remembered by everyone who knew him. We are honored by his forethought and community spirit in honoring us and the patients we serve in this manner. The board is considering the best way to use this generous gift during these challenging times.
The Bennington Banner (June 3) ran a letter supporting public access to automatic weapons. The writer’s paranoid (scared?) point-of-view was that everyone should have advanced weapons to defend themselves against possible attacks in the future. What highly improbable type of invasion is the author afraid of?
Rather than get cues from Hollywood movies ... pretending to be heroes battling unlikely invasions of cartels from Columbia, or aliens from outer space ... just look at the facts. More guns in public circulation result in more gun deaths. This is born out from data around the world, and from around America. The stricter the civilian gun legislation, the less gun violence. That’s the plain facts, supported by collected data.
Furthering the author’s argument, where does it stop? Should your neighbor be permitted to have grenades? IEDs? A bazooka, howitzer, land mines, or rocket launcher? All of these weapons, including the automatic and semi-automatic weapons that the writer is supporting, were designed for only one purpose .... killing other people.
The Second Amendment is archaic, written at a time when we were afraid of a specific colonial tyrannical government. It needs to be re-interpreted to fit modern reality. In modern times, with our established democracy, well-trained armies and the ability to destroy the entire world many times over, the only danger is from within: from Donald Trump and the like, self-centered and desperate for power (January 6th U.S. Capitol riot), and from self-styled civilian “Rambos” with military weapons in their closet.
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