By Hannah Messer
Q: Before opening your businesses, what made you decide to stay and raise your family in Castleton?
A: My wife’s family is originally from the area. We met at Middlebury College, then moved back here and the store went for sale in 1973, so I bought it then. Then, I bought the pizza place about 25 years ago, and the diner about 17 years ago.
Q: How do you feel about being the father of a select board member?
A: Delighted. I’m really pleased to be working with my son. I’m very fortunate. Not many families get that opportunity. I have four children; three of them live right in Castleton.
Q: Many people see you as this stuffy business owner/landlord. How do you respond to that?
A: I think that’s very inaccurate. We try to be very responsible landlords, both to our tenants and to our neighbors. It’s an issue that has come up repeatedly. We feel that we respond to any complaints that the tenants have or any repairs that they might need. It’s what we do. It’s a seven day a week, 24 hour a day job.
Q: What is something that most people don’t know about you?
A: I love to row on Lake Bomoseen. I have a rowing shop on the lake. During the summer I get up almost every morning at five or six in the morning and I go row for a couple hours each day.
Q: What makes you so interested in historical buildings?
A: I have really devoted my life to preservation in the state of Vermont. I’m a former board member of the Preservation Trust of Vermont. I grew up on Long Island, and I learned to swim on Lake St. Catherine at age 5, so I came here initially to vacation, and I am very place-oriented. These historic houses and buildings are such an important part of the character of Vermont and what it has been in the past, and what people come to see. I am also a former board member of the VT Land Trust. Their mission is to preserve land for future generations. So, it’s just been what I’ve done. By living and working in a small community, it’s very important to me, that things continue to stay vibrant.
Q: What do you think is the biggest benefit or downfall to having the college in such a small community?
A: I think there are a tremendous number of benefits. There are so many activities up at the college. I like dealing with young people, if I didn’t I wouldn’t be in this business. I have always liked mentoring people. I have people that come to me that have never had a real job before. Sometimes, they’ll stay and work for me for four years. It’s gratifying. It’s also very demanding. Sometimes I do a good job, and sometimes I don’t.
Q: Do you think the community has a positive or a negative relationship with the students of Castleton?
A: There is a positive relationship, I think. The sporting events have brought a lot of positive support. My experience with the student-athletes has been especially terrific. I can’t say enough positive things about them. The discipline that these student athletes bring to their lives and their academics are just great. I don’t see any downsides. It’s really quite different as what I may have perceived ten, maybe fifteen years ago.
Q: What are you most proud of?
A: I am proud of my family. I’m proud of the community. I’d say I’m most proud of my family. I am really proud of the restoration and rehab of the buildings around town. We’ve had some buildings that were literally falling in when we got them, and they are much better now. We have had these buildings for a long time, and we have put a lot of work in them over the years.
Q: Why yellow? Why are the majority of your buildings yellow?
A: After college, I was a teacher in Lyndonville, VT. In 1968, there was the Darling family in Lyndonville. They had an estate, and the owner painted his buildings yellow. It made such an impression on me when I was a kid, that when we came down here I first started painting my house yellow, and then expanded from there.
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