Top Stories for Tuesday May 13, 2008

Vergennes Downtown Future Promising
By Mike Cameron
    At their Wednesday morning May 7th  business meeting, Vergennes Area Chamber of Commerce members were given a lively presentation on the Vermont Downtown Program by Leanne Tingay a downtown specialist who came to Vermont by way of Erie Pennsylvania with an impressive record for turning around downtown areas that have had difficulty keeping up with today's suburban shopping trends.
    “Most purchases are made between the hours of 4:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.  The malls are open,” said the nationally certified downtown specialist who is now the point person with the Vermont Downtown Program.  That opening salvo got everyone's attention.
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American Vehicles: Red, White, and Blue..... and Green?
By Rebecca K. Fay
    Local vehicle dealerships speak up about the quality and efficiency of American vehicles in lieu of the national headlines favoring foreign cars.  At Shea Motor Company in Middlebury, Mark Stacey General Manager explains, “The national press is biased towards American cars, and this affects the local market.”  Scott Foster of Foster Motors explains “The quality of [American] cars [has been] brought to the level of imports…quality and safety have been incorporated, so now it comes to design and how it drives is what's important.”
    Foster Motors Inc. is in its third generation of sales and owned by Scott and Dave Foster.   The dealership sells new and pre-owned Chrysler, Dodge, Dodge Trucks and Jeeps.  Foster Motors is rated an Elite Five Star Dealer in the State of Vermont.  Dave Foster explains this rating means we are “first in Vermont for Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep.  We outsold other dealers and out sold ourselves from last year.”
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Hilltop RVs Offers A Great Selection of RVs for Every Family
By Rebecca K. Fay
    Hilltop RVs in New Haven sells a variety of Recreational Vehicles.  It is owned and operated by Jim Borne, Scott Lafave and Bret Knapp.  They are experienced in automotive sales and service, and were introduced to the RV business through happenstance.  Scott Lafave, owner of Vergennes Auto, was receiving many used RVs for trade-ins.  Lafave put the RVs on his lot and they had a quick resale. Lafave began thinking about opening a store, but needed to find the right property and business partners.
    Luckily the property came to him.  One of his customers was selling a car and ended up selling Lafave and his partners a restaurant located on Route 7 in New Haven.  Lafave proudly states, “Now we're in the RV business.”  The first step was to do a major remodel of the restaurant into a RV sales and repair facility. 
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Where is Pocock Vermont?
By M. Stuart Parks
   Fourteen years before the American Revolution   , in 1762, The town of Pocock, Vermont was granted to Samuel Avery and sixty two of his associates for about 20 English pounds each.  Although New York claimed the land that is now  Vermont, New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth,   an agent of King George the Third, granted or sold townships in Vermont to men who saw an opportunity to settle new land and to sell or lease that land to others.
    At about the same time Admiral George Pocock, in command of the British fleet, had wrested  Havana, Cuba from  the Spanish and was in need of a reward.  Along with a knighthood   and  122,000 British pounds, a new town was named after him.  Like most Vermont towns it covered approximately 23,600 acres and had areas set aside as public lands for schools and  worship. In the far northeast corner was a large lot known as the “Governor's Right”, which was four or more times the size of the standard division. 
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Vermont All State Music Parade Held In Vergennes May 7th

Vermont All State Music Parade Held In Vergennes May 7th  [ more ]