BY MAT CLOUSER
BRANDON — “I love what I do,” said Brandon’s Recreation Director Bill Moore, reviewing the myriad things his office has up its sleeve this summer. “I love telling people about the best town in the state. My job’s easy in that regard.”
Among the items on deck for the Rec. Department this summer are the ever-popular Independence Day celebration on July 2, replete with its parade, duck race, inter-galactic Swiss Roll eating competition, and fireworks display, as well as rebranding the trivia contest at Brandon Carnival Days into the first-ever Vermont State Trivia Championship.
“Of course, there’s a lot more happening than that,” he said. “We’re trying for this summer to be a kind of return to normalcy where we bring back some of the pre-COVID activities alongside the new stuff we started in the last couple years. And it’s happening all over town—not just at the rec.”
Ongoing trail projects, pick-up basketball, art, and community service-based initiatives were among the items mentioned by the ever-ebullient Moore. “I wish I had time to create a community calendar where all the town entities could have their events listed in one place,” he mused, “but I’d probably need to take about six months off to make that happen.”
Discussing the upcoming summer sports camps, Moore made a point to emphasize accessibility. “We won’t turn anyone down based on finances. We have scholarships available to any who might need them—up to 80% of the cost.”
Moore said they’d like to do a rebrand similar to the trivia event but for the town’s cornhole competition, but cited the current lack of a commissioner as one of the main obstacles. “The game has changed a lot in the last ten years. We’ve gotten a lot better equipment than we had back then,” he said, adding with a smirk, “if you know anyone interested in being commish, let me know.”
One project that seemed to get Moore particularly excited was an idea he’s been working on with fellow Brandonites Jim Leary and Angus Cheaney, called the Neshobe Swim Club.
“Starting in July, for a $5 entry fee, folks can join up and get a t-shirt that reads ‘PLEDGE,’ and they’ll pledge to document swimming in the Neshobe River once a month,” he said. “The catch is that they have to do it once a month—every month—for the calendar year.”
