Vergennes Union High School - Blue and White Yearbook (Vergennes, VT)

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BLUE AND WHITE 15 VERMONT SCENES By Youth . . . After a short, steep pull onto a rocky ledge, we turned and saw—well, it's hard to describe—but it seemed as if the entire color spectrum had covered the whole of the Champlain Valley visible to us. The sinking sun broke through a maze of clouds, and was reflected from the lake and various rivers hack to the sky and clouds in a glory of color—colors artists dream of putting on canvas but never achieve, because they are divine colors that only God can paint. Perhaps these colors, visible to us at times, are insights to the hereafter. Who knows? Daniel Bull, '38 . . . When, in this day of improv- ed transportation we are in danger of forgetting how to walk, mountain

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14 VERGENNES HIGH SCHOOL THE VERMONT OF THE FUTURE As a state, we are entering what promises to he a period of widespread social and economic change. Vermont has been, and is yet. known primarily as an agricultural state. Whether it will he so called in the future is highly problematical, for something has to he done for our farming situation. At present, about 50% of the er-mont farms earn adequate incomes, enabling them to maintain a living standard equal to the white-collared city workers. Twenty per cent of the farms permit their owners barely to break even, forcing them to do without many luxuries which in this day are virtual necessities. The other 30% of the farms are hilly, rocky, and worn-out—of the type known as sub-marginal. Their owners are hopelessly in debt, uncultured, living in ramshackle buildings; men and women made coarse and sullen bv generations of unrewarded drudgery. Experts estimate that fully one-third of the farms of Vermont cannot be operated at a profit and should be retired. What could be done with this 470.000 or so acres? Reforestation is the logical answer. For farming, the land is valueless, or nearly so; as a gigantic park and game reserve, its earning power would be tremendous, not to mention the value of the timber taken off. Our tourist trade already amounts to millions of dollars a year. With a large section of the state turned into a glorified, natural park, this sum would be multiplied many times. It would all be money coming into Vermont from other states. What about the 25,000 people now living in the proposed development areas? Most of them could earn comfortable livings catering to the tourist trade. The retirement of these 3,000 farms would not. one might suppose, materially cut down our dairy products exports, as with modern machinery and efficient, up-to-date methods the remaining farms could easily increase production to meet the demand. Although the development plan has the approval of many economists, conservative Vermonters will undoubtedly frown on such a change for some time. Can you suggest a better scheme? It is a problem for the whole state. Something must be done to give the underprivileged farmspeople a new lease on iife, and to clean up our rural slums. Robert Elliott, ’37 SPRING TWITTER V ermont—V ermont The State near Isle La Mont, With a few small cities And many quaint ditties Vermont—Vermont—Vermont K. H. Haven, '39

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16 VERGENNES HIGH SCHOOL climbing offers us a chance to get on our own legs again. There is, doubtless. a thrilT and uplift in standing amidst the vast boulders of the glen or on the tremendous, unbroken ledges of the upper slopes and gazing on the world below. George Willard, 38 . . . The Monroe Sky Line is well named and takes the hiker over every little mountain or hill which will give him any view. Mts. Ira and Ethan Allen are crossed and then a gradual descent of the trail brings the hiker to Montclair Glen, a shelter. From here he can look at the bald head of Camel’s Hump high above him. Howard Washburn, ’38 . . . Surrounded by the Green Mountains and the Adirondacks, Lake Champlain spends its life in everlasting peace. The troubles of the world are but ripples on its mirror-like surface. From its youth in the distant past to its dotage in the equally far distant future, Lake Champlain flows on—and on in its undisturbed life. Throughout most of its course, tiny islands speckle its surface like ducks on a pond. Okley Davis, ’37