Editorial Comment

A tree in Readsboro earlier this week offers a preview of what's to come.

The mountains are on fire, and we're happy to see it.
Fall foliage season is upon us and while much of Bennington center is hanging onto the green, the outlying areas, especially the higher elevations, are ablaze with pockets of vibrant reds and orange, contributing to the general reddish hue of the mountain sides. In Woodford, peak may very well be this weekend as the colors are bright and trees still have nearly all their leaves. Soon the leaves will begin to fall and a slow transition to woody winter will begin.
So take a drive, ride a bike, or hike if you can, and check out the colors. Use the comment link and let us all know what stage your area is in. Check out a state report here.

Posted by Clover Whitham at 03:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We made note here of efforts by students in northern Vermont to not only help keep riverways clear of rubbish, but also to have an impact on the sources of such pollution and unsightliness. After noticing the high number of tires being tossed into rivers, the students are getting behind efforts to pass state legislation calling for a deposit, similar to those on many bottles and cans in Vermont.
Look for an editorial by us speculating on just how great an impact student age people can have, especially in a small state like Vermont, and especially since everyone became connected online. On many issues, concerted efforts by Net connected teens and college age Vermonters could put reform legislation over the top.
Jim Therrien
Editor

Posted by Jim Therrien at 10:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In my Sept. 4 story about the history of the First Methodist Church in Bennington I note — citing an account published about the history of the church in the Banner in 1909 — that the first known visit by a Methodist to Bennington was by a man named Freeborn Garrettson in September 1792. This was the extent of the information in the account I cited. I didn’t bother to try to find out anymore about him, so I wrote: “Who this man was or what he had to say is not recorded.”
Well, I still don’t know what he said, but thanks to Bruce Lee-Clark of Bennington, I now know that Garrettson was a traveling preacher who helped spread Methodism in New England, New York and what is known as the DelMarVa Penninsula in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Garrettson was a close associate of Francis Asbury, who I also mentioned in the article and who visited Bennington in 1795.
According to the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church Web site, Garrettson “saw the potential for the establishment of Methodism in New England. He encouraged Bishop Francis Asbury to appoint someone to this new mission field, hoping that he would be chosen. However, Garrettson was sent to upper New York State, and it was Jesse Lee, a pastor in Baltimore, who was asked in 1789 to introduce Methodism to New England.”
According to a 1958 article on Garrettson by William H. Wroten Jr., a history professor at Salisbury State Teachers College, Asbury also had a high opinion of Garrettson. According to the article, which can also be found online, “Asbury said, ‘It is incredible, the amount of good he has been instrumental in doing.’ ” 

Mark Rondeau
Local News Editor

Posted by Jim Therrien at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I think one of the hardest ediitorial policies to enforce, or explain, because people are usually only asking to publicly thank someone or a group that may well deserve it, is the Banner's ban on "thank you" letters on the editorial pages.
And even though the policy is stated in the Letters to the Editor box we often run on those pages, people either miss it or they somehow think that their cause is a good one and it really won't apply to them.
Agree or not, and we know there are some people who don't, "thank you" letters present several problems and that is why the newspaper decided some time ago not to run them anymore. I completely agree that this is the best course. One reason is that there is only so much space for other letters, columns and editorials and we don't want to devote any to something that is not related to an issue before the community or the nation, the airing of which is the primary function of the edit pages.
Secondly, in the past, too many people abused the thank you letter by tossing in plugs for all their friends in business in the area, or just mentioned all their friends to get their names in the paper. These really are the main reasons we now ask people to take out a classified ad if they want to thank someone, especially a local business.
On another level, if someone volunteers for something or donates to a cause, they really should be doing it because they want to, not because they know they will get a plug in the newspaper.
And finally, thank you letters just aren't that interesting, except to those few people who are being thanked.
On the other hand, we do allow letters of praise for an event or for someone or some group that deserves it. Please, just don't start tossing in the thanks yous. We might have to hit the delete button.
Jim Therrien
Editor

Posted by Jim Therrien at 11:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)