Temporary Bridges Update #38

Downtown Block Party A Success; Main Street One Day Closer to Opening

I’m writing this update late Wednesday night following a fun and energizing evening celebrating our downtown and our community spirit on Main Street.

The Downtown Block Party was due to get underway at 4 PM. At 3:45 it started raining. But good fortune was with us and by 4:15 the weather had gone around us, and the party was in full swing. There was popcorn and cotton candy for the kids, chalk drawing on the street, Middlebury College served up hot dogs, the band Luminous Crush played live, and, as advertised, kids got to climb up into one of Kubricky’s mini excavators with a hard hat supplied by the National Bank of Middlebury. Seeing the smiles on the faces of the little ones as they climbed up into the cab was a highlight. Thanks to all who participated.

And thanks to all who came downtown to support our downtown business community. At a rough guess, around 100 people spent at least $25 (many spent much more) at one of our downtown stores and so entered for a chance to win a grand prize of $500 in Middlebury Money, two second prizes of $250, and five runner-up prizes of $50. We’ll be announcing the winners on Friday.

Thanks to the Better Middlebury Partnership and Addison County Chamber of Commerce for sponsoring the event, to our merchants for taking part, and a very special thank you to our good friend Karen Duguay who did a fabulous job organizing the Block Party on short notice. We’re fortunate to have someone of Karen’s organizational skill and creative energy promoting our downtown.

Dining at The Diner Redux. Many thanks to those who are answering my call to support our friends at The Diner. VTrans was in town Wednesday and eight of us went over for lunch. I know that several of you stopped by for breakfast and lunch or ordered out. Hot Tip: fellow Painter Road resident Janet Winkler told me that The Diner’s BLT is the best.

Wednesday Wrap-Up. Those who came downtown for the Block Party got to see a lot of construction activity. Richmond VT company J. Hutchins spent the day paving on Main Street, laying down both a base coat and a top coat on the main roadway. Late in the afternoon, Kubricky completed assembling and launched the Mabey bridge on Merchants Row. It now sits astride the rail line.

What’s on Tap Thursday. Hutchins will finish paving the Main Street roadway, we’ll mark out the parking spaces on Main Street, and Kubricky will begin removing some of the fencing in preparation for opening Main Street to traffic on Saturday. Who will be the first to drive down the new roadway? Over on Merchants Row, Kubricky will finish installing the bridge abutment on the Town Hall Theater side and begin backfilling the western end of the roadway.

Downtown Information Booth Lineup for Thursday. Staffing the Middlebury Rail & Bridge Project information booth in Cannon Park on Thursday are Peggy Burns (10-12), Chree Perkins (12-2), and Catherine Nichols (2-4). Stop by and say hello to our great volunteers, who will be showcasing all the great info on our town available at the booth. If you’re around in the morning, say hi to Peggy. As Director of Middlebury College’s Center for Careers and Internships, Peggy works with her team to fund summer internships at a number of Middlebury institutions, including Town Hall Theater, Addison Independent, Sheldon Museum, Charter House, MREMS, Edgewater Gallery, Middlebury Community Music Center, Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, and more. Full disclosure: Peggy is my wife!

That’s all for today. See you downtown.

Please keep your comments and questions coming. Send me an email at jgish@townofmiddlebury.org and I’ll try to cover it in my next update.