All this week on Vermont Edition we’ve been hearing audio postcards from towns around Vermont – Lyndonville, Rochester, Peru, Stannard.
Today we stop in Montpelier. Everyone else in the state associates the city with government and the capitol building. But we asked locals how they see their city, and here are some of their comments:
Eliza Lapaglia at Langdon Street Cafe
"My name is Eliza Lapaglia and I live in Montpelier. Right now we’re at the Langdon Street Café, there’s entertainment every night. It’s just supposed to be a big open space for anybody that wants to come in. I’ve always loved Montpelier, it’s my home, I’ve grown up here. For me, it has this real sense of community. There’s a certain level of consciousness in this area an I think it has to do with the fact that there’s so much surrounding country land and people remember what’s it like to live off the land. So we’re kind of a bunch of hippies in Montpelier, and I like it."
Chad Avery at Bear Pond Books
"My name is Chad Avery and we are Bear Pond Books. You know just State and Main, you find community out on the street. The hustle and bustle of just energy – street musicians, farmers markets. It’s a place where people can come and gather and meet other people, explore different ideas. And Montpelier has attracted those people. It seems, to tell you the truth, it reminds me of an elf haven! (Laughs) It just seems to bring a lot of different people together/ There’s just a celebration of life that happens here in Montpelier and you can see it in the people, you can see it in the arts, and just in the community."
Sarah at Charlie O’s
"My name is Sarah, and I’m a bartender at Charlie O’s. It’s like the little dive bar that every town should have. It’s been here forever and it’s always been a bar, sop it’s got a little history to the place. One of the reasons I enjoy working here is because I find it a microcosm for the city itself. And the people who come here – it’s such an eclectic mix. I mean, you can have bikers over here, guys in business suits over there, hippies on that side, jocks over here – and it’s totally fine and everyone is welcome as long as you get along. Yeah, I think that’s definitely Montpelier itself. Just looking around, seeing a tractor drive by the Statehouse and guy in a business suit waves to the farmer pulling a spreader. I think that’s a neat thing."