Woodstock is a town for all seasons

Vermont Business Magazine, Mar 01, 1998

Woodstock was recently named the "Prettiest Small Town in America" by Ladies Home Journal magazine. For someone who has never been here, it is almost impossible to imagine. But for those of us who have, truer words were never written.

As early as the 1700s, people have been coming to Woodstock either for recreation or to settle here and raise a family. In all this time, the reasons why people come to Woodstock haven't changed very much. But now, whether it be Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall, the Woodstock Area has a lot more to offer.

In Winter, one can find cross country skiing or snowshoeing at Woodstock's Ski Touring Center or downhill skiing and snowboarding at Suicide Six. Woodstock is located within 30 minutes of several other ski areas both downhill and cross country. Sleigh rides and trail rides through the back woods are available all season long. In the village, there is an outdoor ice rink for skaters of all ages and starting in mid-winter there is skating available right on our village green.

In Spring, the sap of the persistent maple begins to flow. The warmer days and cool nights combine to provide the perfect conditions for maple syrup production. Taps appear throughout the country side and boiling begins. In just a few short weeks the sugaring season ends but not before residents and tourists alike have their fill of fresh maple treats like sugar-on-snow.

As the days grow longer, the trees begin to show traces of the delicate green that only briefly appears heralding summer. The Covered Bridges Half Marathon in early May each year, held in cooperation with Quechee, kicks off the summer season with a bang of the starter's gun. Two thousand runners from all pans of the globe come to Woodstock each year to take their turn on this rural course.

Summer is prime time recreation season in Woodstock. Golf, tennis, swimming, horseback riding, hiking, biking, canoeing, fishing, camping and the all time favorite, shopping, are to be found right here in the Woodstock area.

The Recreation Department's annual John Langhans Road Race takes place at the end of June followed closely by its Independence Day Summer Festival and Crafts Fair, sponsored in conjunction with Pentangle Council on the Arts and Woodstock's Fire Department, which concludes with spectacular fireworks at nightfall.

South Woodstock's Green Mountain Horse Association offers riding exhibitions, classes and endurance events throughout the summer. Other local activities include: book fairs, church fairs, church suppers, art shows, community theater presentations, biking and historical tours. At Billings Farm, in addition to its regular program, there are special event days, such as: Cow Appreciation Day; Children's Day; Heirloom Seed Day; and Wool Day, which ends its summer schedule.

Thanks to the generosity of Lawrence Rockefeller, the Marsh-Billings National Park will open this year, bringing in more visitors than ever before. The opening of the park adds a major event to Woodstock's already impressive list of summer activities. With lodging establishments ranging in size from a three guestroom BBB to a resort with 144 rooms and health center, outstanding restaurants, delis and cafes (one can choose from a snack bar to the most elegant in fine dining); and over 35 unique retail shops, museums and galleries, Woodstock is ready to take on the challenge this busy summer will bring.

Woodstock is fortunate to be the home of the Pentangle Council on the Arts, a nonprofit organization which brings cultural enrichment to the community. Pentangle offers a year-round variety of artistic performance opportunities such as weekly first-run movies in Woodstock's 400-seat Town Hall Theater, The Vermont Symphony Orchestra, a Cajun zydeco band and summer Brown Bag Concerts on the Norman Williams Library lawn. This year, Pentangle, working together with the Woodstock Area Chamber of Commerce, has designed a program called Weekend in Woodstock, which will, for the first time, bring the many powerful economic forces of this community together in one marketing effort. Weekend in Woodstock will link lodging facilities, dining establishments, and retail shops to interesting cultural, historic and/or recreational activities each weekend that will be produced by Pentangle.

As the summer wanes, it is harvest time and Fall begins. Travelers continue to find their way to Woodstock to experience the spectacular changing colors of the trees. People from states like California, Arizona, Texas and Florida, and countries like England and Germany flock to Woodstock to see for themselves the vivid red, yellow, and orange leaves Woodstockers have come to take for granted. Local businesses and residents prepare for the annual temporary swell in population. Many visitors fall in love with Woodstock and dream about making it their home. Some turn that dream into reality.

People move to Woodstock to recapture the life they remember as a child and/or to provide a less complicated life for their children. In many ways, a child's life is simpler in Woodstock, but it isn't a free ride as education is taken very seriously here. Excellence in education at every level is the goal of each person involved with our schools. Woodstock's schools are modern and run by dedicated, hard working staffs. Woodstock's students are well rounded, scoring well academically and in sports while the high school's theater group consistently wins awards for its productions. The classrooms are equipped with computers, children play video games and watch MTV. But, in keeping with our rural setting, they are taught about animals and their importance to us; how to respect our environment, and how to keep it clean for themselves and for generations to come.