Big news! Alex of Pizza Chef won the mountain bike in the Woodstock Basketball team raffle. As many of you know the basketball kids were helping out at Taste of Woodstock and were able to raise $700 for the team. There were other fund-raisers going on all day for such great Woodstock help-out agencies as the Woodstock Food Shelf and the Woodstock Job Bank.
I am prompted to give you this news and the details of the recent festival by the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce which called Woodstock Early Bird to vigorously defend the recent event against “the few” who have some complaints about how it is organized. In an earlier post I mentioned that several (and I mean MORE than one business, at least four that I know of) were a bit unhappy that some clothing and jewelry vendors were invited. To this the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce says A)) they were equally local people selling items not available in Woodstock stores and B) the event is meant to be more than food but a TASTE — as in a sampling — of food AND wine AND things local to our region.
Specifically, we are told that one clothing vendor at the event is a perennial supporter of Killington and Woodstock sports teams, another is a hippie clothing maker local to the area and finally a representative from the White River Junction Vermont Bead Studio, someone from Pomfret, was also providing enjoyment for kids to make their own stuff.
For the record, the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce says this Taste of Woodstock event does bring in people to town overall. The weekend before last only 200 people signed in to the Welcome Centers register. This past Saturday, 600 people signed in. Bookings at local B&B’s and motels were high to maxed out this past weekend as well. All good news!
We also hear also of the positive effects of Taste of Woodstock — anecdotally, of course — that couples had “Date Nights’ together to enjoy the FREE music, visiting the street festival during the day and returning at night. The Woodstock Chamber spent $650 alone just to have one band play. And it was all FREE for the rest of us.
The Woodstock Chamber of Commerce has been doing this event for three years and each year they say they learn more about how to improve on it. For example, this year there were more wine vendors with the opportunity to show off their work with local grapes. The Chamber also did pay for an extra dumpster and someone to pick up bags of garbage after the event.
Officials from the local business group (the Woodstock Chamber) say they are happy to work with store owners who may have some grievances but they don’t see how NOT having the event will really help anyone. They remind everyone that putting on a day like we had Saturday is “a ton of work” and there should be some positive feedback about it. Absolutely duly noted. Woodstock Early Bird saw lots of Early Birds on the day of the event hauling stuff around and “on-scene” throughout the day. And, oh yeah, we had fun! So. Thank You!
Still, one of the most useful reasons to have a press is to give voice to those in the minority who might not be heard because of their “unpopular” opinions. Woodstock Early Bird would not have published a blog mention noting “negativity” about the festival were it simply one person complaining. The chirps of discontent are from at least four businesses, if not more.
Within any organization there are always differences of opinion. It’s hoped those in the minority who might desire some changes will be heard and respected as being an integral part of our community. It sounds as if the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce is willing to continue whatever it takes to keep putting on a universally attractive, fun and free Taste of Woodstock event.
Julia Carlisle
Woodstock Early Bird 