Dateline Woodstock:
Regardless of where you live or work, there's a good chance that your evening news is dominated by two topics: 1) who is really the Democratic nominee for the US Presidency and 2) how much gas and oil costs in your neck of the woods. Since everyone (except one) knows the answer to the first question, Vermonters spend most of their time contemplating the impact the answer to the second question will have on our rural lives. On a recent trip to Florida (a state where the maximum elevation is measured in inches) we counted 3 sightings of Toyota Prius' and 8,457 Lincoln Navigators, Ford Explorers, Chevy Suburbans, and other gas guzzlers. Here in Woodstock, the Prius' are more common than mosquitoes. Gas may be hovering around $4/gallon but Woodchucks take great delight in 1) staying home and 2) traveling over 500 miles on one 10-gallon fill-up. Local businesses are adjusting for what may be a slow tourist season. Jake and Irv Samuels, the brothers who run the local RV park, have announced what they think is an innovative idea. The Samuels boys own 26 motor homes that they customarily rent to tourists who wish to visit various geographic and historic sites around the state. Problem is, the RVs average 8-10 miles per gallon. So the boys have announced their "Stay At Home Vermont Plan." The idea is that, for a yet undisclosed price, you get to stay in one of their "deluxe motor homes" and experience what Real Vermonters do most every day -- you go absolutely nowhere. Cleverly, Jake and Irv have contracted with Vermont Outdoor Sign Company to produce 26 large-format pictures of the Top Tourist Sites in Vermont. To entice prospective customers and make their visit to Vermont all the more authentic, the boys plan to position one of these pictures on each side of their units. According to Jake, "We'll move the pictures each night so that, in the course of a week, ou! r people will feel like they have seen the entire state." All without burning a gallon of gasoline!
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