Thousands of Vermonters took to the streets Saturday, condemning the actions and policies of President Donald Trump in peaceful protests at dozens of locations.
They lined up on Main Street in Newport and on Creamery Row in Hardwick, on the village green in Fair Haven and in towns from Burlington to Brattleboro. In all, around 50 “No Kings” demonstrations were held.
Nina Keck
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Castleton resident Robert Revell came to Rutland Saturday to show his anger at the Trump Administration. “We have a war that we’re not supposed to be in, we have a president who does nothing but lie… I am just fed up,” said Revell.
Castleton resident Robert Revell stood along Route 7 in Rutland with hundreds of others.
“I’m just so angry,” said Revell, who held a three dimensional sign that incorporated a blow-up planet Earth with words below that read “Mother DEMANDS NO kings, no pedos and no liars.”
“We have a war that we’re not supposed to be in, we have a president who does nothing but lie,” he said. “I am just fed up. I’m 73 in a couple weeks and I lived through the Nixon thing and I’m just here to protest and share my heart.”
Around him, throngs of people, many in costume, lined several blocks along Route 7 waving flags and handmade signs. Some rang cow bells or thumped tambourines. Many passing motorists responded with staccato horn blasts.
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Nationwide, more than 3,000 protests were planned for Saturday in large cities and small towns. They have been organized by national and local groups, including well-known progressive coalitions such as Indivisible, 50501 and MoveOn.
Nina Keck
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Vermont Public
Hannah Abrams, of Mendon (in blue jacket) was among hundreds of protestors who stood along route seven in Rutland Saturday. This was her third NoKings protest. “I’m not tired of protesting,” she said, “but I’m really tired of the current administration.”
“For me, it boils down to the cruelty I’m seeing in the world right now,” said Hannah Abrams, of Mendon. “I think that our president instills a lot of cruelty among the people he doesn’t like. And actually for the people who do vote for him too, because they’re not any better off with him in office.”
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“There are a lot of people who say this is not America,” Abrams added. “And I would like to say, it’s exactly America, it’s just targeting different people now … Sadly, this is not new.”
Nina Keck
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Vermont Public
Stephanie Brush and her 89-year-old mother Mary Jane Demko (in wheelchair) of Rutland Town came out to protest President Trump on Saturday in Rutland. Said Denko, “I couldn’t stay in, he’s too evil.”
Mary Jane Demko, 89, of Rutland, showed up to her local protest in a wheelchair driven by her daughter, Stephanie Brush. Demko carried a sign on her lap that read “IMPEACH THE SOB!”
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“I couldn’t stay in and not be part of this,” Demko said. “He’s too evil.”
Karen Lorentz of Shrewsbury said she too couldn’t stay away. At 80, she said Saturday’s event in Rutland was her first protest. She held a handmade sign she said a friend had helped her make.
“I’m really old and when the Vietnam War was on I was a new teacher and I didn’t have time,” she said. “But I felt strongly that I needed to be here today.”
ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. (Aging Untold) — For 10 days, the Champlain Valley Fair, a county fair in Vermont, becomes its own little town with thousands of people, hot afternoons and the occasional emergency.
Charlene Phelps, 74, runs the fair’s emergency response team.
“We have a lot of seniors that come and people don’t drink enough water,” Phelps said.
The team handles sprains, bee stings, heat exhaustion and whatever comes through.
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“I like taking care of people, I like helping people,” Phelps said.
Living out a childhood dream
It’s also a childhood dream.
Phelps wanted to be a nurse, but college wasn’t possible, so she found another route into care and has been showing up year after year at the fair.
Aging Untold expert Amy O’Rourke said living out your purpose can improve mental and spiritual well-being.
“When you tap into that, you’re tapping in on a place that’s a risk, that’s a challenge that inevitably creates growth inside you, gives you confidence so that if you’re in another situation you can build on that,” O’Rourke said. “Or, if you’re in an everyday situation where you’re a little anxious, it’ll help create stabilization in that place as well.”
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Saving lives at the fair
Sometimes it’s bigger than a bandage.
“Over on there near the swings way over there is Gustovo, and we saved his life,” Phelps said.
Gustovo had gone into cardiac arrest at the fair a few years ago.
“I mean he was gone,” Phelps said.
Now he’s back and working the rides.
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“Came for my hug, Gustovo,” Phelps said.
O’Rourke said stories like this are also why some people keep working past retirement age. Purpose isn’t a number, it’s a role.
“I’ve seen a 92-year-old still working as a nurse’s aid. I’ve seen people in my neighborhood chilling out and loving it,” O’Rourke said. “So, I think it’s being really self-aware of what you need and making sure that you’re getting those needs met.”
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A plan by Gov. Phil Scott’s administration to make all of the state’s lottery games, including scratch-off tickets, available on a person’s phone never got off the ground at the Statehouse this year.
Lottery Commissioner Wendy Knight told lawmakers in January that the plan was a way to modernize the lottery “because you need to keep pace with technology — you need to meet your players where they are.”
Fifteen states have created a “digital” lottery system, and many have discovered there’s a distinct market of people who don’t buy lottery tickets at retail outlets but will do so on their phones, according to Knight. “We’re trying to ensure the future of the Vermont Lottery, ” the commissioner said.
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But state lawmakers have not been persuaded.
Vergennes Rep. Matt Birong, the Democratic chair of the House government operations committee, said members of the panel felt this year was not the time to move forward with this plan, especially given the recent legalization of sports betting.
“It is digitizing a current system and after moving forward with the sports wagering — people just wanted to take their time with it — so my committee decided to tap the brakes on further testimony.”
The administration estimated that the plan would have raised roughly $5 million a year for the state’s education fund after two years of implementation.
The prospect of that additional revenue is appealing to lawmakers, and Birong said they may reconsider the plan next year.
