This is re-post from my LiveJournal blog. I'm reposting it here on the off chance someone reads it and contributes.
Music posting to resume later...
So Vermont has been an important part of my families life and mine.
My Dad and his sister went to University of Vermont. It was one of the best times of his life. The way the school reached out and embraced him as his classes' 50th reunion came about was equally gratifying.
As a little kid, I remember fondly vacationing there a couple of times, going up for my dad's 25th or 30th reunion. Vermie, the stuffed mouse I got from the Vermont book store was a star of my menagerie for years.
My sister went to Middlebury, and it was there on one visit that wee James became known as "Who's the little dude puking off house porch?" and first had Olympia Beer. (Motto: "It's the Water." More like "It Is Water.) It was also in these visits I had my first aware glimpse of a winter Vermont sky. I saw more stars in one night than I'd had seen in all my life up to that point.
I think my first glimpse of the Milky Way was there.
Plus, I'm pretty sure I saw an early Phish tape or two laying around people's dorm rooms.
For me, my time in Vermont was in the winter of '93. I got a role in the Whetstone Theater's Christmas Carol, playing young Scrooge and Bob Cratchit. The company was an amazing mix of characters.. Green mountain natives and transplanted New Yorkers, and me showing up after my Mon saw an add in a Amherst news paper.
The town itself.. was brilliant. I'll admit to forgetting a lot of names.. I man, we're going on 20 years since I was there. But the Latchis Theater featured mainstream movies and an amazing women's film festival ( I saw "Wayne's World 2," "Adams Family Values" and "Ruby in Paradise" in this same theater. "Ruby..." was better than the other two, by the way.)
The cast was great. I crashed in a house with one of the staffers for a couple of months, and was really welcomed. And tolerated at points. Hey... new actors can suck some in rehearsals before things come together.
I left, lost touch. Heard some people in the company passed.
And then the Hurricane.
Folks, we are all broke beyond human belief and all have causes to help, towns in need. Fellow Empire staters need help as well.
But on behalf of old friends and old memories in Vermont, and some newer ones, I'm asking folks to consider giving some to the Green Mountain State.
Here's a link to a great web page- http://7d.blogs.com/blurt/2011/08/a
Cut, paste, and give a little.
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