WOLCOTT – Local families and organizers of the Village Trust Initiative (VTI) gathered by the Wolcott town hall June 20, to share dinner, a scavenger hunt and plans for the future of their town.
The ultimate goal of the group is to transform the schoolhouse, which has been out of use, into a library, and their existing library into a cafe. The project began in 2008, with the School Revitalization Committee. Since then, more committees of residents have formed and fizzled.
“We got involved in wanting to revitalize that building [the schoolhouse] and it just didn’t happen for a lot of reasons. You know, financially, it just didn’t happen. Every time we would get started on efforts, something would come along and knock us down,” said community member Monica Cross. Cross remembers attending kindergarten in the schoolhouse building.
Recently, the VTI selected Wolcott’s library revitalization as one of their seven projects to pursue for this year. Others are located in Lunenburg, Greensboro Bend, West Fairlee, Braintree and Reading. The initiative operates on funding from a congressional spending award, federal funds, and community donations.
“We are only going to fund something the community wants to see,” said Kaziah Haviland of VTI.
“They liked how far we had come with our planning, because we had already gotten plans with the architects and we knew what we wanted to do with the building. That helped us to get the grant,” said Cross. “They’ve come in and restored hope.”
Linda Martin, chair of the community trust and a Wolcott resident since 1979, said community members are excited for the project. She looks forward to drawing travelers from the nearby rail-trail and park into a new cafe. She has worked with engineers and architects for years to get the project going.
The event included boards that asked community members to share their thoughts on what they look forward to in Wolcott on post-it notes. Adults and children shared post-it-notes with ideas ranging from organized historical events to iced coffee.
“I think this shows that this community has hope, and this is for future generations,” said Cross.
Applications for the next round of the VTI programs open July 7, with an informational webinar July 9. For more information, visit vtrural.org/village–trust.
Alex Strand
Alex Strand is a Hardwick Gazette reporting intern for this summer. She is a rising junior at the University of Vermont studying English and Psychology. She is from Boston, MA, but has begun to fall in love with the Northeast Kingdom. In her free time, she likes reading, swimming and canoe tripping.
