I’ve been a devoted reader of the Vermont Almanac since the first one appeared five years ago, and I am pleased as punch to be among the contributors to this year’s volume. Unlike conventional almanacs, which tell you what’s coming in the way of weather, eclipses of the sun and moon, etc., the Vermont Almanac takes a backward look at what’s been happening in this state in the past 12 months from the perspective of those who work with or simply live on the land. My piece tells the story of how Robert Frost came to write a Christmas poem called “To a Young Wretch,” about the theft of one of the poet’s young spruce trees in 1936. One of the two boys who rustled the tree (they were both nabbed by the South Shaftsbury constable as they dragged it home) is now 93 years old. I visited him at his assisted living facility in Bennington not long ago and will drop off a copy of the Almanac for him later today. The stanza that concludes the poem is one of Frost’s best:
And though in tinsel chain and popcorn rope My tree, a captive in your window bay, Has lost its footing on my mountain slope And lost the stars of heaven, may, oh, may The symbol star it lifts against your ceiling Help me accept its fate with Christmas feeling.
I needed a new headshot for the contributors page, and I wanted a face to match the tone of the story:
I’ve been swinging from talk to talk lately: my “Black Presence” talk at the Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell, a talk to a visiting group at the Robert Frost Stone House in South Shaftsbury, and a brief talk about the Old First Church to a group at Hildene in Manchester. I think my speaking season is over, good, as I have to get back to preparing a new edition of my Battle book for spring publication.
I enjoyed learning more about the Church, which is raising money for various maintenance projects on the slate roof, the steeple, etc. It’s a remarkable structure. I was allowed to climb up into the tower (that’s the lower portion of the steeple, with windows). I was speaking alfresco, without slides, but I described the view out the north window over the gravestones of the early settlers of Bennington.
Here are a few more shots, including one showing the “lantern” (the topmost portion) on the ground before it was carted off for restoration. They tell me that I may be invited to give the talk again. I’ll keep you posted.
On the first of July, I posted about the Lake Paran panels and the regrettably complacent attitude of the board to fixing them. Three weeks later, a 9-year-old at the Lake Paran summer camp drowned. As with the panels, so with water safety. According to reports, there was negligence in terms of supervision and delay in calling emergency services. I am so angry that I doubt I will ever go back to the lake.
I had seen the “Unnamed Figures” exhibit in New York prior to writing the piece.
The good people who run Paran Recreations at Lake Paran in North Bennington had a great idea: erect two illustrated informational panels at the lake, one about the history of the lake, one about its ecology. They applied for and won a grant to finance the project and unveiled the results last summer.
I always approach a local panel with dread at what I will discover. The committee spent the grant funds on some first-rate mounts and printing, but enlisted a local college student as a volunteer to write the text (I have been informed). The editorial committee approved it, even though the name of the organization was misspelled and the word “incredible” was used five times in a row to describe species that dwell in or by the lake. I brought these shortcomings to the attention of the organization and got an estimate on new panels ($900). I volunteered my time to correct and as necessary rewrite the texts. The board met to consider matters. Their representative told me that they are “comfortable” with the present panels. I don’t have the energy to fight this one. I avert my eyes from the panels when I go for a swim. I have been considering changing the name of my business to “Better Call Phil.”
The Curator of the Bennington Museum does call me. I am always delighted to help the Museum as a volunteer, and I enjoy previewing (and reviewing) the wall labels for the always-intriguing exhibits. “Vermont Rocks” is on right now.
That’s the way the annual New Yorker Christmas poem traditionally begins…
I have been, as usual, away from my Voice and Word desk these past few months, because I have been busy in the field.
“Voices of the Fallen” played for two successful performances at the Bennington Theater on Veterans Day. I spoke an opening background monologue myself. We adapted Darrell Holovach’s music from the Battlefield audio project and used projections as well, but it came down to actors telling their stories to an audience. They did an excellent job, under the direction of Ingrid Magdelayne, who also directed “Voices from the Grave” two years ago. Once again Steven Thompson drove down from Akwesasne to play the role of the slain Mohawk chief and stayed with us in Pownal. The first show was videotaped by CAT-TV from a fixed camera at an angle to the stage, but it will serve as a record for the curious.
With the exception of Steven, we were all volunteers (I prefer that term to “amateurs,” although it was love of the theater that impelled us to devote so many hours to the play). The actors were paid a pittance – an honorarium – from funds raised by the Friends of the Bennington Battlefield for this year’s public projects. The scripts can be read on their own, in sequence, like extended Spoon River pieces. I loved writing in (mostly) blank verse and hearing actors speak the words that we had worked so hard together to polish.
It occurs to me that I could specialize in monologues of the dead. I have now written them twice. I could trade in re-animations, traveling from town to town, bringing their dead back to life. Sure enough, someone suggested having the houses along Monument Avenue, or at least their former owners, speak to us in a new production. But I think I may have run my course.
The week following the shows I gave an illustrated talk on Robert Frost as part of a post-show performance by a very good Frost impersonator. The script was well done, too, and Amelia and I were invited to dinner with the actor and writer/road manager. They put on two shows, both well attended. The Q and A with me followed the matinee.
The day after the Frost shows, I did my part (7 minutes of illustrated talk on Bennington’s past patriotic commemorations) for a presentation on the 250th at the Bennington Museum in the Historical Society’s Sunday speaker series. The following week I repeated it at a public meeting with the Bennington Selectboard.
Then it was off to the Masons (only, it wasn’t). I got asked to fill in for another speaker at the Bennington Masons’ 200thanniversary banquet, with reps from other Vermont lodges present as well as the local Masons. I am not myself a Mason, but in my Battle book I noted the Masons’ participation (complete with the scattering of corn and pouring of oil) in the laying of the cornerstone of the Bennington Monument. I was to, and am to speak on the history of Bennington. I would have spoken in early December but for the death of an eminent member of the lodge, which cause a postponement of the event. I had prepared in a whirlwind. Now I can let my script settle until spring, when they’ll try again.
I gave a talk, with Katie Brownell, called “Inside the Battle of Bennington” to the Bennington Historical Society on Dec. 17. The Museum had vigorously promoted the talk, and the head count was 79, a full house. I spoke about groups that have not been included or have been misrepresented in Battle commemorations past, chiefly Blacks and women, though I touched on other groups. Katie Brownell, a Friends Board member who has presented on Sarah Rudd, spoke about Sarah’s pension file. Katie also spoke the words of Sally Kellogg I quoted in my script. Her contributions made for a livelier talk. One man came up to me afterwards looking crestfallen. My having pointed out that Molly Stark had never set foot in Vermont had shaken him up. Legends die hard! Here’s Jackie Marro’s video of our talk:
My last Voice and Word act of the year was to supply an idea, a photo, and an intro and outro for a “Vermont Begins Here” post on Bennington’s coming attractions for 2024.
