Vermont History
Summer 2005
PART I: Uphillers on the Defensive
Key Words and phrases:
The Champion Land Deal
The Circumferential Highway
John Irving, Dorset author and prominent opponent of Act 60, to Time Magazine in 1999: “I’m not talking to the local press. I don’t want to make my child the target of trailer-park envy.”
The Rutland Herald, 1999: “Leah Felis, a 14-year-old member of the girls' varsity basketball team in Stowe, remembers a late-afternoon game in Fairfax, a receiving town at the time. "...A new round of cheers erupted from Fairfax parents and students in the stands. 'Act 60 Rules,' they chanted. 'We Love Act 60.' 'What's going on in this state?' I wanted to shout out. 'What did we ever do to you?'...'Why are you punishing me?'"
Vermont Forum on Sprawl: “No matter where they live, Vermonters value the quality of the environment, low crime rates, residents helping each other, the working landscape and a quality education. These results are consistent with findings of the Governor's Commission on Vermont's Future, who reported in 1988 that a set of four values were commonly held by Vermonters: community life, agricultural heritage, environmental quality and opportunity for a better life, including education, jobs, and affordable housing.”
Part II: The Glory Days of “Who is a Vermonter”?
Key Words and phrases:
Dick Lambert
Tom Little
Baker vs. State
Civil Unions
Matthew Lyon, 1793, “We are inundated with a new set of gentry who are interested in keeping the government at a distance from, and out of the sight of, the people who support it.”
The Brattleboro Phoenix, July 1902: “the rank and file [of Vermont Republicans] fail to enthuse over the prospect of elevating a quasi-resident of Vermont to the governorship…The universal complaint is, ‘I wish we had some good Vermonter to vote for.’”
Morrisville Messenger, August 1902 “voters should concern themselves with legitimate issues rather than the alcohol question and avoid the complications liable to come of misleading personal attack, vituperative ink slinging, or stump canard.
The Island Pond Herald, August 1902,”we beg our readers not to talk McCullough or Clement in a loud tone of voice in public places or get red and apoplectic over the virtues of your own candidate or the failings of either of those opposed to your candidate.”
Burlington Free Press town meeting day in March 1904: “It was something of a shower in Burlington, but pretty much all of the rest of the State was ‘dry.’”
Al Day (TBV supporter), August 2000: "That was the straw that broke the camel's back, the queer thing. It's a catalyst that brought us all together."
Beth Robinson (TBV supporter), Corinth: "It seems to be symbolic of something broader. It's more of a generic discontent with the current government in Montpelier."
Linda Weiss (lesbian, NYC transplant), Corinth: "People are so angry. They're filled with hostility and rage. It's scary to be in a small room with them, or in a small town with them, frankly."