Vanishing Vermonters…Loss of a Rural Culture by Peter Miller
Hard, hard at work. I have written 9 profiles, 12 to go and then the Foreword and Afterword, my, but, take a look at this documentary created by Rob Hunter of Frog Hollow. It’s all about what I do, that is to write and photograph, particularly my latest book, Vanishing Vermonter. Our culture is changing and the people who made this state are moving away, passing over, or just completely overlooked. I went out and photographed these people and others and let them talk and tell their story about their lives and what they think is happening to Vermont. The documentary will first air on Vermont Public Television and here is the schedule:
Streaming available: 2/22/2017-2/22/2020
Tuesday, Feb 21, 7 p.m. on Vermont PBS
Wednesday, Feb 22, 1 a.m. on Vermont PBS
Wednesday, Feb 22, 9 p.m. on Vermont PBS Plus
Saturday, Feb 25, 2:30 p.m. on Vermont PBS Plus
Sunday, Feb 26, 2 p.m. on Vermont PBS
Each profile is accompanied with a photograph. Here are a few of the Vermonters, my cousins, who are in this book, to be published this June.
Kim Crady-Smith, Green Mountain Bookstore
-
- Bill Schubart Columnist
-
- Heidi Scheuerman, Legislator
-
- Frank Bryan, Professor
Hi Peter!
Thanks for the heads up, will check it out.
Keep up the good work.
Susanne
Hi Peter,
I agree with you to some extent. However, Act 46 (education law) has brought out many people in rural VT who are not merging school districts but using the other option under Act 46 to preserve their local community schools in concert with joining other school districts to save money and increase educational equity. Roughly 1/3 to 1/2 of the state have chosen this option. We had to fight for it in the legislature as 43 of us did in April. You can watch that testimony at this website: http://cnuz.tv/voiceofvermonters/ We believe that our schools are at the heart of our communities and that our communities would wither away without the schools. People with children would not chose to move to a town without a school. We are striving to keep our small towns alive while embracing our rural roots.
Our schools are at the heart of our communities. We recognize that even though the Legislature did not until after our testimony. We do not want our rural towns to die. This requires planning. I live in Putney, and Putney Cares (oriented towards older people) has been around since 1985 to address the issues of aging in our town. In a year or so, I will be adding onto my home a 1 bedroom apartment all on the ground floor for me so that I can age in place. One of my daughters and her family will have the original house. We all live here now – a 3 generation household.
The person that you interviewed who was cold needs to contact the local VT Community Action that insulates older homes, replaces windows, etc. If you are low income, this costs nothing,. I hope that person is getting fuel assistance. Efficiency VT recently installed a heat pump water heater that is saving me about $60/month on my electric bill. It did not cost me anything.
I am much more optimistic than you are. Young people are getting into agriculture, many through programs with VT land conservation trusts. There are young foresters that fill the gap as older ones retire. All around me I see a younger generation who value rural areas.