Vermonter.com

Thankfully, the rain held off during a fantastic Elton John concert at the Essex Junction fairgrounds on July 21. 2008. The concert started off with an old classic, Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding and continued on at full steam for the rest of the night. For a guy in his sixties, you wouldn’t know it. Elton John still has a few acrobatic tricks left and he didn’t hesitate to use them. The music itself was fantastic and his voice only began to show signs of wearing out during the beginning of the finale. His voice was a bit hoarse on his last DVD, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that was not the case during this performance.

Near the end of the concert, I was down front shooting some video near the stage. All of the sudden, all hell broke loose and the crowd rushed to the front of the stage. The security guy tried to restrain people but he was soon overwhelmed by the crowd. I was actually pushed to the front of the stage by the crowd but unfortunately, my video camera battery died just as I was 6 feet away from Elton John, preparing for some close-up shots.
After a few minutes, I struggled back through the crowd to my seat. Better to leave the space for the number of kids scrambling to get to the stage for autographs. I was surprised to see Elton John take several minutes to autograph everyone’s items just before the finale and at the end of the show. Most artists are pretty aloof and don’t bother to interact with the audience. To see a legendary performer such as Elton John take the time to be so gracious with his fans was the icing on the cake after one of the best concerts I’ve ever attended.
Sir Elton John indeed!

Courtesy Of State Representative (Orleans County) Scott Wheeler

Brooke Bennett was a beautiful, 12 year old girl from Randolph with her life ahead of her. But as most Vermonters and many people around the United States now know – she is now dead, killed in the last couple weeks apparently by her uncle, a repeat sex offender.

Although all murders are horrible, Brooke’s death has gripped the state, and the nation. Her death has forced Vermont officials, and the nation, to ask whether Vermont is doing enough to protect its children. Legislators in Vermont are receiving phone calls and emails from some very impassioned people weighing in on Brooke’s death and what more, if anything, Vermont can do to protect its children. Most correspondences note that Vermont is one of a few states that has not adopted Jessica’s Law. The law, which is named after Jessica Lunsford, a Florida girl, who on February 25, 2005, was raped and and murdered by a repeat sex offender, puts strict sentencing guidelines on sex offenders, including a 25 year minimum jail sentence and life long monitoring. Some members of the Vermont legislature insist that Vermont’s laws governing sex offenders are tough enough.

The following are three of the emails that I, as a legislator, have received from people from around the country following the death of Brooke Bennett. The first letter is from Chicago.

“The blood of Brooke Bennett and the loss of her innocence is on your head. It’s on the heads and the hands of you’re entire state government. Shame on you with the deepest amount of shame that morality can muster for being soft on repeat child molesters. Your state (I do not call it “great state” anymore) is forever stained by the fact that you coddle child rapists, oppose Jessica’s Law and make that place a safe haven for the worst scum our species has to offer. VERMONT IS THE CHILD RAPIST CAPITAL OF THE WORLD NEXT TO BANGKOK THAILAND AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED.
You people in the legislature and the courts are sick and twisted because by making Vermont a veritable Disneyland for pedophiles, you make it a hunting ground for the innocent kids that have no crime except for the bad luck of being born in your cesspool of a state. I hope you see Brooke Bennett’s face in your dreams, and I hope her blood cries out to you from the ground where she spent her last dying gasps for help;. Her blood and the possible DOZENS of other kids victimized by that Vermont sex ring. Vermont is the absolute toilet of this country as far as I’m concerned, and as a PR agent with much influence on both coasts, I will make sure that everyone I ever influence will come to believe the same, and do business with your state accordingly.”

The next letter arrived from New York.

“Thank God for the Federal Government and President George Bush putting forth the law that would hopefully put to death or life imprisonment for child rapists/murders/kidnappers. Vermont surely will not do anything and the Feds know it. Time after time you let these perverts out and they re offend even while under your stupid supervision and rehabilitation which does not work for pedophiles. All of us sane people in other states know this, but Vermont, oh know, Vermont knows more than all the other 90 % of the states that passed Jessica’s law. Vermont knows nothing and the poor children suffer due to this. I blame those Vermont government officials who do not protect its most vulnerable of citizens. The children of Vermont. I blame all of Vermont officials for Brooks death and the other girl’s rape and torture since she was 9. It is all of you who opposed Jessica’s law and set this mad man out after only 4 years of imprisonment. The lowest imprisonment in the country for rapists. YOU ARE TO BLAME! DONT FOOL YOURSELF. Thank you President Bush and the Federal Government. Vermont is a weak disgusting state that others need to clean it up, because Vermont’s government will not do the dirty work and think pedophiles can be fixed. Only morons think this and Vermont is full of them. I am boycotting Vermont and have asked others to also. Anyone with any intelligence knows that pedophiles re offend and when you let them back out they will hurt another child. Study after study has proven that and that is why most of the states of this great country passed Jessica’s law. But I guess Vermont in it’s pride, thinks they know so much better. Unfortunately Brooke is dead because of your stupidity and pride. Your state let this man out under supervision and so called rehabilitation and all during it he was raping a little girl and it is on you and him. And all of you will answer to God for your evil wicked decisions to not protect Vermont children.”

The person who wrote the following letter is from Vermont:

As a new resident of Holland and a lifelong resident of Vermont, I am not sure how you feel about Jessica’s Law, but I am a big supporter of it. If ever there was a time to do something about sex predators/offenders in Vermont it is NOW!! I love the state of VT but am tired of it being a mockery when it comes to the way we treat the monsters who abuse our children and get a slap on the wrist and put back into society. PLEASE do something for our children and help get this law passed.

If you wish to contact your local legislators to share your thoughts about this tragedy, and what, if anything, Vermont can do to protect its children from sex offenders, you can find most of their numbers listed in the phone book. You can also find most of their mailing, and email addresses, at the legislative homepage at: www.leg.state.vt.us

The author of this article, Scott Wheeler of Derby, represents Orleans 1 – Brownington, Charleston, Derby, Holland, and Morgan. He can be reached at (802) 334-5920 or by email at swheeler@leg.state.vt.us

State Representative (Orleans County) Scott Wheeler, was nice enough to send me a very candid article containing several heated remarks from around the USA concerning the tragic death of 12 year old Brooke Bennett of Randolph. I’m currently waiting for his permission to post it here, so stay tuned. It is more than likely you won’t see it posted throughout any other Vermont media outlets.

Let’s just say that the letter writers are angry and very upset with Vermont’s liberal policies towards sex offenders. One of them from Chicago, refers to Vermont as “the absolute toilet bowl of this country”. Maybe they have a point. For years, many of us native Vermonters have been aware of a well used phrase “Come to Vermont if you want to get away with murder”. Since the 1970′s and the influx of out of state liberals to Vermont, the legal system went from crime and punishment to a “forget about the victim and let’s hug the offender” attitude.

Somewhere along the lines, hapless murder and rape victims took second stage to the rights and concerns of the creeps who perpetrated such horrendous crimes. Yeah, that’s right…creeps. Not politically correct enough? Tough. My 15 year old sister was brutally murdered in Vermont in the 1980′s and the creep who killed her is out of jail (like many other creeps and scumbags) walking the streets and school yards of Vermont.

Like everyone else, throughout the USA and what remains of normal Vermont, I was appalled by the lurid details surrounding the death of Brooke Bennett. Even more disgusting was the fact that at least one of the suspects, was a previous offender who should have been treated to a lethal injection cocktail or at the very least, locked up for good. There are a lot of highly educated stooges in Vermont who believe that rehabilitation and group hugs are the answer to everything. Well, they’re wrong again and their fancy degrees obviously don’t include an iota of common sense. People don’t change. Some do a better job of hiding it than others. Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic, as the saying goes.

So yes folks around the USA, some of us understand why you’re appalled and disgusted with our state of Vermont. You have a right to be. Many Vermonters are frustrated when hearing our state being dragged down by the national media for all sorts of offbeat, sordid events. Others revel in it and call it revolutionary. Many of us wish they would take their revolution somewhere else.

Vermont used to be known for hard working, middle class folks, maple syrup, scenic mountains and lakes. The old-timers had common sense, a trait the enlightened newcomers didn’t bring along with them when they moved here several decades ago. VT local newscasts are no longer concerned with farming and soldiers, etc. Naked people are a big media event in Vermont these days so it’s not really any wonder that the darker, more deviant sexual elements aren’t far behind. Nope, Vermont ain’t what it used to be!

The hills and valleys of the Northeast Kingdom are filled with book authors. Some of the authors have names that are known around the United States such as fiction writer, Howard Frank Mosher of Irasburg; Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Galway Kinnell of Sheffield; Reeve Lindbergh of Caledonia County, the daughter of the famed aviator, Charles Lindbergh, and Ted Hoagland, a renowned essayist who spends the summer months living and writing in the Kingdom.

There are many other authors living in the Kingdom who are not as well known but who have written important pieces of works. Among some of the many are: Don Bredes of Wheelock, Harriet Fisher and Virginia Downs of Lyndonville, Del Green, Bea Nelson, Tony O’Connor, Scott Wheeler of Derby, Penny Tice of Holland, Micheal Hahn of Evansville, Craftsbury natives Leland Kinsey and Natalie Kinsey-Warnock, Richard Colburn of Charleston, Paul Daniels of Albany, Darlene Young of Barton, and Ron Smith of Irasburg. Then there are Northeast Kingdom natives now living elsewhere who have published books, people such as former Newport residents, Bill Alexander of Shelburne, and Ernie Farrar of St. Albans. The Eastern Townships of Quebec also have a number of fine authors who record life along the Vermont/Quebec border, authors such as Matthew Farfan of Stanstead, Quebec. These are only a few of this region’s authors.

Scott and Penny Wheeler of Derby, the publishers of Vermont’s Northland Journal, along with the Goodrich Memorial Library in Newport, will host a gathering of authors from the Northeast Kingdom and the Eastern Townships of Quebec at the library on Saturday, August 30. The event will last from noon until 3. This event, which is free and open to the public, will serve as a time to spotlight the region’s authors and their works.

Authors are asked to contact the Wheelers if they plan to attend the event. As for the public, they are encouraged to visit the library at their leisure between the hours of the event and meet the authors and browse, and even buy, the works of the authors of the Northeast Kingdom. Mr. Wheeler can be reached at (802) 334-5920 or by email at northlandjournal@gmail.com