Our Week in Rutland

The rule of the road is - Whomever has access to write the Blog, does so.
Tonight I am sitting at home all packed up ready to move on to Lake Placid tomorrow and my host, Cale Shipman, and I have been downtown to a sportsbar for a pasta meal. The Red Sox are losing in the 3rd inning.
This week we were met by Rutland rotarians at Woodstock and drove further into Vermont on Sunday via a great little brewery (Long Trail Brewery) and the Mt Killington ski fields. I asked our host today how many ski resorts are within an hours drive and the answer was "many".
We met our host families at the pick up place of the week - another McDonald's car park and each had a restful night with hosts in their homes.
Monday was a highlight with a breakfast meeting at Wallingford RC. They meet in the Little Red Schoolhouse, a Paul Harris Memorial Building now owned by the District. After a short tour to orientate Rutland we attended Rutland City RC and gave what we now refer to as a mini presentation - we gave an intro followed by a brief bio. Cale and Jeff took us moose hunting without success and we were delivered back to our hosts by around 5pm.
Tuesday, on the other hand, was our first day of poor weather on the entire trip. There was light rain all day and the temperature didn't get above 45deg F. We had made a few changes the day before so this day was altered to provide a great visit to Stafford Vocational Technical Center in the morning, lunch by the catering students and then a road trip north to Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory - would you believe we struck Free Cone Day? and then further on to the Von Trapp Family Lodge. You may like to check your own resources for further information on these places.
Wednesday was Vocational Day and Linda had done her homework well as I was allocated to suss out the golf course with Nancy Anderson. Teresa came with me and Robyn and Amanda went to Middlebury College. I can say the day on the course was most educational! Thanks Nancy and thanks Bill for the clubs, even though the three wood doesn't work properly.
We finished the day with a cook-out at Socinskis and ate moose burgers prepared by Teresa from last year's hunt.
Our final full day in Rutland started with a presentation and Rotary meeting at Rutland South and then an historical and entertaining tour by Rick. Rick took us to Manchester for Danford Pewter and then to Bennington for a visit to the museum and the Bennington Monument. The monument is a 200ft tower built to commemorate the Battle of Bennington which the Patriots fought against the British in 1777. On the way home we searched and searched for the elusive moose but, again, no luck.
We look forward now to a trip to Lake Placid and District 7870 Conference.
David and the Team