By LYN DESMARAIS
This is the first in a series about local people who are beautifying Brandon.
Even before Segment 6 made tremendous changes to the look of downtown Brandon, volunteers were sprucing it up in many ways. A Brandonite put it succinctly: “It’s gone from drab to fab.” Although that may seem a harsh statement, there are many people who remember Brandon in the 1970s and 1980s, and who live here still.
Judy Bunde came the Boston area, where she owned a commercial bakery for twenty years, to own and run The Inn on Park Street in Brandon. She joined the Brandon Chamber of Commerce in 2004 and later the Downtown Brandon Alliance. Judy bought 40 gray plastic pots in 2013 that stand outside businesses all summer.
“I had been wanting to do something to spruce up the sidewalk spaces and encourage people to walk and shop throughout downtown. So, the first 40 pots were filled with annuals. I learned the ‘thrilling, spilling, and filling’ rule and followed it to great effect. I bought plants from Woods, Pine Hill (now Virgil and Constance), and Golden Russet Farm. We buy our soil and fertilizer from Blue Seal. The last few years, I bought plants from Miller Hill Farm. We were able to get 3-foot Christmas trees from Red Sled Farm in Shoreham for 2 years. After 10 years of running it myself and cobbling together volunteers, I asked for help and three people volunteered to take it over: Joan Rowe, Cindy Thomas, and Jean Somerset.”
Cindy and Ed Thomas do a lot of volunteering in Brandon, especially with flowers, town gardens, clean-ups, and Christmas lights and decorations. They lived and worked in New Jersey before coming to Vermont. All through the 1990s they, with their daughter, came to Vermont each summer. In 1994, they stayed in Brandon at the Old Mill Inn Bed and Breakfast. That weekend they met Tom and Judy Brown, who became great friends. They ended up buying the Inn and moving here permanently. They got involved in the Chamber and the DBA. “We love Brandon, we like to be involved. We love to work.” From a clean-up outside of Barn Opera to Christmas decorations, they cheerfully always say yes to helping out if they possibly can.
Joan Rowe has been a realtor in town for nearly 40 years and a member of the Chamber for 30+. “You don’t have to have a business to be a member of the Chamber. Individuals can join, please do so! The Chamber does so much for the town. Bernie Carr and others always make the meetings such fun.”
With Judy, Cindy and Jean, she took over the flower-pot project gladly. “We work so well together that it’s just not a chore. Judy still does the fundraising. We get to have all the fun, planting the pots. Carl Phelps and Nan Jenks Jay of Miller Hill Farm order our annuals and care for them until they are ready to be planted. The pots are put only in front of businesses that agree to water. We cannot do the flower pots without our great waterers. Thank you!”
When Judy asked for help it was a perfect match. “I love flowers and I love this town. We love having others help. We’re happy to teach anyone what we are doing.” The next challenge is autumn plantings. “After you take the annual flowers out at the end of September, we need something more. The first year we tried pumpkins and gourds. It looked great. But it didn’t take off in year two. We need a reliable source of mini pumpkins and gourds. We’re open to ideas.”
Jean Somerset raised her kids in Killington. She was a teacher and principal in both Killington and Rutland. “After my kids finished college, I moved west with my husband, Harold. We kept a Vermont home and moved back permanently to Brandon in 2015. Brandon is so beautiful, and I love to be involved, so like the others I joined the Chamber. I’m also deeply interested in art, so I joined the BAG (Brandon Artists Guild).”
Jean also volunteers at Neshobe School in the Everyone Wins reading program. Jean echoes Joan, Cindy and Judy. She loves the beauty and artistry of flowers. She wants to contribute and help make the downtown beautiful. And she, too, encourages everyone to join something in town: the Chamber, the DBA, the BAG, Everyone Wins, a choir, a church or another group. “It’s the fastest way to meet people. The groups are fun, they do good things for the town, and while doing good things, you can make great friends and immerse yourselves in the community here.”
Everyone in this article thanked many people for their help. Judy especially wants to thank all the people and businesses who donate money for the plants and soil each year. The flowers alone cost $2,000.
