Bear with me...

I'm desperately trying to figure out how to be able to copy the url from this blog and paste it into Facebook without having the pic of John Lennon continuously appear. 

Old dogs; new tricks.  Hang in there...I'll figure it out eventually.

Hard Times

“Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone” – Gospel of John.

I am not a religious person but I do believe that some biblical quotes are good words to live by. 

On Monday, November 28^th I received a call asking if I would be willing to play “Amazing Grace” at the funeral service for Jeffery Charbonneau the following day.  This was an honor to which saying “no” was not an option.  The last, and only, time I had played this song was on September 7, 2005, at the funeral service for my mom, Thyra Laird.  That was hard.  This was harder.

Over the years Manchester has had its share of tragedies and hard times.  We have lost our chief of police, many stalwart citizens and way too many kids.  When I was a young teenager, in the summer of 1966, I was on my way to the Dorset Quarry; a great local hangout for kids since the day it filled up with water.

It had rained in the morning and the sun was just coming out on what was to be a great, summer day.  As is customary with young men in their early teens some fooling around ensued.  Before too long a spit-fight developed with one kid spitting at another, who spit at another.  No one worried too much about a “hawker” landing on their shoulder, because they could just dive in the reasonably cold water and wash it all away.  For now, they were all content to spit and get spit on.

One young man decided to take a different tack.  He thought it would be a good idea to climb up a tree and spit down on the others from on high.  It wasn’t long before that idea took hold and other kids were finding trees to climb.  One decided to climb the same tree as the first young man chasing him up the tree in hot pursuit.

The tree in question was a poplar tree.  For those of you who don’t know much about the poplar tree it’s a slender, quick growing tree with very smooth bark.  For some reason horses love to eat the very thin bark.  When it’s wet it’s also quite slippery. 

The pursuer came too close and first young man stepped out a little too far on the wet branch with the too thin bark.  He lost his balance and fell.  I will spare you the details, but suffice it to say that his was an untimely, careless, senseless death.

There was a lot of discussion during the days that followed as to what might happen.  The boy who died was from a family of little means.  The people who owned the quarry were pretty well off.  Would the parents of the fallen child sue?  Would the quarry be closed forever?  Questions upon questions.  Why did this have to happen?  Shouldn’t these kids have known better?  There are always plenty of questions; it’s answers that are generally in short supply.

The parents met with the owners of the quarry to tell them that they intended to do nothing.  What happened should not have happened, but it did happen.  Poor judgment had ruled one day when the young man perished.  The parents decided it need not rule other days.  That was four and a half decades ago.  Most of you reading this never knew Buddy Baker.  That’s what time does.  Time allows for healing.

Manchester, once again, finds itself in a hard place; a dark place.  We have lost one of our favorite sons.  In one quick moment of time all things have changed; all bets are off.  It’s a different day than yesterday.  Questions upon questions are being asked by all of us.  Yet the answers are always elusive.

I am in no position to pass judgment nor will I.  All positions, opinions and feelings are equally justified and justifiable.  Many lives were impacted on Thursday morning.  One son is lost forever; one son’s life will never be the same.  The people who have made up the Town of Manchester before us, the people who are here today and the people who will be here long after we’re gone will always be the ones who decide what the Town of Manchester will be.  Hopefully it will always be the loving and compassionate community in the future that it’s been in the past.

We have experienced a lot over the years, but rarely are we exposed to such profound sadness as we are today.  We will all have to deal with our individual emotions in our own way.  It is my sincere hope that both families directly involved, as well as all of the rest of us, will one day find peace.  As the old saying goes, what does not destroy us will make us stronger.

I offer my heartfelt condolences to both families.  As I said at the beginning of this column, I am not a religious man, but I will do my best at praying for all of you.  I hope others can do the same.

Bob Stannard 

December 2, 2010

How to Survive the Recession - A Vermont Perspective by Bob Stannard

The following is the opening of my new book.  I am going to be (slowly) sharing excerpts from the book on this blog.  Love to hear your feedback!

Dedication

Inasmuch as this is the first (and most likely ONLY) book I have written I feel compelled to uncharacteristically exercise some caution in dedicating it to anyone.

That said, I would like to dedicate this book to Joe Allen of Joe Allen Restaurants http://www.joeallenrestaurant.com/.  Had he not asked one simple question back in 1982 I doubt I would have ever written anything.  Through a terse exchange on his lawn he challenged me to write.  For almost thirty years I pondered that challenge.  Things happen slowly in Vermont, but they get done after a while. 

I would further dedicate this book to my friend Jay Hathaway who passed before the book was released.  I know he would have said, “How cool is that”.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the world’s greatest political cartoonist, Jeff Danziger for his generosity, wonderful talent and friendship.

I would like to recognize Louis Porter for his input on this book.  Editing is hard enough on a well written book.  It took him forever, but fortunately he was much faster at editing than I was writing it.  Also to Frank Bryan, Evelyn Wilde Mayerson and Don Hooper for their thoughtful comments and guidance.

Thanks to Ed Woods who called me out in an editorial in the Bennington Banner suggesting that I start writing a column.  I am grateful to Ed and the Bennington Banner for allowing me a forum to spew out thoughts to the world twice a month.

Extra special thanks to Sandy Taylor who did a very thorough job in editing this book. She is the primary reason I don’t sound like a complete moron.  This was not an easy book to edit.  She probably saved my marriage; for that I am grateful.

Lastly, I want to thank my wife, Alison, who notwithstanding would prefer that I do most anything else but waste time in front of a computer doing useless things like writing a book that few will ever read, seems to not only support me, but on occasion encourages me to write. 

Bennington Banner Column Nov. 2010

How About that Wristwatch

“You can’t handle the truth” – A Few Good Men

We live in fast times that are getting faster every day. Maybe I’m getting older, but I don’t think that’s entirely it. As time passes it does feel as though it picks up speed along the way. It doesn’t slow down much thanks to technology that has become lightning quick.

If you’ve been around long enough to remember characters like Dick Tracy who had a special wristwatch where he could actually call and talk to other people in the police force, you know what I’m talking about. Back in the 50’s and 60’s the idea of talking to anybody far away on anything other than on a telephone tightly secured to the wall in your home (and most likely the ONLY telephone in your home) was absurd. It was the stuff of science fiction and only believed possible by geeks who were reading those hideous comic books that your parents (and presumably your teachers) wanted banned from the face of the earth.

In the time that it takes to raise a couple of kids we now carry little rectangular devices in colorful cases that allow us to call our kids living miles away. The kids of today are living the science fiction of yesterday, and it seems like that happened over night.

Now we know how Buck Rogers might have felt after falling into a coal mine, remaining in suspended animation for over 400 years and waking up in a futuristic world; a world in which information now travels at warp speed.

If a policeman’s son in China ran over a peasant with his automobile and killed the peasant girl chances are that my generation would never had heard of the story. When this happened a week or so ago it was flashing around the world in a matter of seconds. The Chinese government did its best to suppress the story to no avail. Technology of today has given us incredible access to real-time data. With this access comes the responsibility to make sure that the story flying around a chunk of dirt 8000 miles in diameter is accurate. Because the length of time in takes for information to get from the other side of the globe to your telephone is now only a matter of seconds, the opportunity arises for mischief.

Look at what happened recently when our president went on a scheduled international trip 10-day trip to India, Indonesia, China and Korea, with a side visit to Spain. Most Americans think it’s a good idea for their president to reach out to other nations and have face to face communications (verses talking to them through a wristwatch). Apparently, not those Americans whose goal it is to see our president fail.

As soon as Obama took to the skies “news” stories began appearing immediately that Obama’s overseas trip; a trip similar in nature to every other president in history was costing taxpayers $200 million per day; more than the Iraqi or Afghanistan War.

The fact that this story was false did not deter Rep. Michele Bachmann; R-Minnesota, FOX News, Rush Limbaugh and the nation’s right wing crazies from circulating it. Even some of the mainstream media folks got caught up in fervor. Hey, why not? It might help to increase viewers/readers. Had it not been for CNN’s Anderson Cooper the story would probably still have legs (and most likely does for those who still want to believe a false story is true).

With a little investigation Cooper learned that the original cost numbers came from an anonymous quote. The anonymous quote was then picked up by The Drudge Report; a right-wing publication and Rep. Bachmann ran with it.

In Vermont, during the recent elections, we saw the same thing happen. There is a conservative, right-wing website known as The Vermont Tiger. They reported an unsubstantiated and unconfirmed story of a meeting that had taken place in a Senator’s store in Colchester. The anonymous quotes were that Sen. Shumlin, a candidate for governor, had reversed a long held position on the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.

The report was then picked up by Corry Bliss, Lt. Gov. Dubie’s campaign manager, who shopped it to local TV stations and off to the races went the opposition. The news circulated around the state and within minutes the Shumlin campaign was put on the defensive. The responsible journalists in Vermont (and thankfully there are many) refused to run the Vt. Tiger story, because it could not be substantiated. Only one person would speak on the record and he said the story being pushed was false.

Turns out Vermonters, unlike the rest of the country, are not easily fooled. Could be because our kids are highly educated. Smart people are harder to fool. Smart people check out a story before they run with it. Smart people generally prevail, but not always. It’s up to you to decide what to believe.

Maybe we need to pay more attention to the geeks out there; the ones who are reading those hideous comic books. They still have comic books, don’t they?

Bennington Banner Column Nov. 2010

How About that Wristwatch

“You can’t handle the truth” – A Few Good Men

We live in fast times that are getting faster every day. Maybe I’m getting older, but I don’t think that’s entirely it. As time passes it does feel as though it picks up speed along the way. It doesn’t slow down much thanks to technology that has become lightning quick.

If you’ve been around long enough to remember characters like Dick Tracy who had a special wristwatch where he could actually call and talk to other people in the police force, you know what I’m talking about. Back in the 50’s and 60’s the idea of talking to anybody far away on anything other than on a telephone tightly secured to the wall in your home (and most likely the ONLY telephone in your home) was absurd. It was the stuff of science fiction and only believed possible by geeks who were reading those hideous comic books that your parents (and presumably your teachers) wanted banned from the face of the earth.

In the time that it takes to raise a couple of kids we now carry little rectangular devices in colorful cases that allow us to call our kids living miles away. The kids of today are living the science fiction of yesterday, and it seems like that happened over night.

Now we know how Buck Rogers might have felt after falling into a coal mine, remaining in suspended animation for over 400 years and waking up in a futuristic world; a world in which information now travels at warp speed.

If a policeman’s son in China ran over a peasant with his automobile and killed the peasant girl chances are that my generation would never had heard of the story. When this happened a week or so ago it was flashing around the world in a matter of seconds. The Chinese government did its best to suppress the story to no avail. Technology of today has given us incredible access to real-time data. With this access comes the responsibility to make sure that the story flying around a chunk of dirt 8000 miles in diameter is accurate. Because the length of time in takes for information to get from the other side of the globe to your telephone is now only a matter of seconds, the opportunity arises for mischief.

Look at what happened recently when our president went on a scheduled international trip 10-day trip to India, Indonesia, China and Korea, with a side visit to Spain. Most Americans think it’s a good idea for their president to reach out to other nations and have face to face communications (verses talking to them through a wristwatch). Apparently, not those Americans whose goal it is to see our president fail.

As soon as Obama took to the skies “news” stories began appearing immediately that Obama’s overseas trip; a trip similar in nature to every other president in history was costing taxpayers $200 million per day; more than the Iraqi or Afghanistan War.

The fact that this story was false did not deter Rep. Michele Bachmann; R-Minnesota, FOX News, Rush Limbaugh and the nation’s right wing crazies from circulating it. Even some of the mainstream media folks got caught up in fervor. Hey, why not? It might help to increase viewers/readers. Had it not been for CNN’s Anderson Cooper the story would probably still have legs (and most likely does for those who still want to believe a false story is true).

With a little investigation Cooper learned that the original cost numbers came from an anonymous quote. The anonymous quote was then picked up by The Drudge Report; a right-wing publication and Rep. Bachmann ran with it.

In Vermont, during the recent elections, we saw the same thing happen. There is a conservative, right-wing website known as The Vermont Tiger. They reported an unsubstantiated and unconfirmed story of a meeting that had taken place in a Senator’s store in Colchester. The anonymous quotes were that Sen. Shumlin, a candidate for governor, had reversed a long held position on the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.

The report was then picked up by Corry Bliss, Lt. Gov. Dubie’s campaign manager, who shopped it to local TV stations and off to the races went the opposition. The news circulated around the state and within minutes the Shumlin campaign was put on the defensive. The responsible journalists in Vermont (and thankfully there are many) refused to run the Vt. Tiger story, because it could not be substantiated. Only one person would speak on the record and he said the story being pushed was false.

Turns out Vermonters, unlike the rest of the country, are not easily fooled. Could be because our kids are highly educated. Smart people are harder to fool. Smart people check out a story before they run with it. Smart people generally prevail, but not always. It’s up to you to decide what to believe.

Maybe we need to pay more attention to the geeks out there; the ones who are reading those hideous comic books. They still have comic books, don’t they?

Welcome

Hello people. It's December 8, the day John Lennon died and the day that I have decided to (finally) do a blog.

There is much to talk about in this world today. A president who is a little too eager to compromise on tax cuts for our nation's wealthiest people. Losing Lennon. Losing Jeffrey Charbonneau. Losing summer (we now have snow on the ground).

I will be using this venue to post my columns that appear in the Bennington Banner as well as my thoughts on Vt. Yankee; a nuclear power in Vermont that I have been hired to close down, as scheduled, in 2012.

I will also, most likely make some comments on Thyra Grayce Hairston; my new granddaughter, but I will desperately try to keep this blog pertinent and of interest.

Stay tuned. Tell your friends. Mark the page