all states    this state Make your own photo site Photowiki is free and easy for you to share your photos. Make your own! www.photowiki.com

© 2004 Craig Line Introduction Essay for Vermont 24/7 The Idea of Vermont By Stephen Kiernan Vermont is an idea as much as it is a place. Every July 4 this idea goes on parade in the one-stoplight town of Bristol. From surrounding Addison County, crowds throng the streets to watch aging veterans trooping proudly, tie-dyed dancers leaping to the sounds of African drums, Revolutionary War re-enactors firing muskets, an armada of tractors from little old ladies navigating lawn mowers to sunburned farmers captaining two-story John Deeres, purple-wearing hippies on stilts, five local fire departments, toddlers on a horse-drawn wagon, and, finally, rowdy boys on ATVs dousing the crowd with giant water guns. Like a hayfield with thistles, the parade is prickled with Republican, Democratic, Independent, Progressive, Libertarian, Natural Law, and grassroots politicians. But there is no booing, or conflict. Culture and counterculture are neighbors in Vermont. Even in a state just beginning to learn about race, differences are welcomed. The origins of the Vermont idea are historical. For 14 years this territory was an independent republic, joining the 13 United States only when Congress agreed to accept a state constitution that prohibited slavery. Idealistic iconoclasm persists, from U.S. Senator Ralph Flanders, who first challenged Joseph McCarthy, and U.S. Senator George Aiken, who said the solution to Vietnam was to declare victory and get out, to today's political crop: James Jeffords, Patrick Leahy, Bernie Sanders, Howard Dean-whose independence is famous or infamous, depending on whom you ask. The old values persist: Vermonters feel patriotic about their towns. They mistrust institutions, outsiders, and fads. They love independence of thought and character. Each mud season, they govern themselves in tedious but neighborly form on Town Meeting Day. They labor together on school boards, historical societies, volunteer rescue squads, and much more to sustain their precious heritage of community. The idea of Vermont was also written by the landscape, which is beautiful from the stony-chinned ridge of Mount Mansfield to the glacier-carved belly of Lake Champlain, but whose grandeur is on a human scale. Vermonters twice denuded their state of trees, once for potash, once for lumber. Later generations learned to appreciate what the land requires to thrive. Now that people outnumber livestock, it is Vermonters' ongoing challenge to balance the appetites of commerce with the nourishment of nature. The idea of Vermont's future rises from its small towns, struggling against the bland uniformity of mass marketing. Like apple trees in a frigid February orchard, they insist on surviving. The restoration of old theaters in Rutland, Bellows Falls, and Vergennes promises light. The recovery of historic storefronts in Randolph and Saint Johnsbury promises life. The repair of aging steeples all across the state promises spirit. Should any of the millions of visitors drawn each year to the idea of Vermont happen by one of those sanctuaries at the right moment, they may hear old hymns about how land is generous to those who treat it with respect, about the gratification of hard work, about sharing in community by pitching in when it's needed and accepting help when it's offered. The idea of Vermont endures because the human spirit needs to know that this kind of life, in one place at least, remains possible. STEPHEN KIERNAN came to Vermont in 1978. He is senior investigative reporter and former opinion editor for The Burlington Free Press. Browse    View All    The Idea of Vermont    Hearth & Home    Hard at Work    Vermont at Play    Reason to Believe    Our Town Photos: 149 Photographers: 28 Towns: 56

home  |  about 24-7  |   buy a book Copyright © 2004 24/7 Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of the website may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Please contact Alex@America24-7.com to request permission