Only Bevan Quinn of Guilford (which, incidentally, is the answer to this unasked question: Micah Rice [no relation to Basmati] was the first settler of what Vermont town?) knew that (a) Washington County measures 34 north-to-south miles by 31 east-to-west miles, though I was exceedingly remiss in not adding the word “approximately” to the question; (b) the historical markers located at 44° 0.842' N, 73° 9.992' W; 43° 59.316' N, 72° 35.64' W; and 43° 27.106' N, 72° 47.191' W are for Emma Willard (who gave the earliest collegiate instruction for women in America at a seminary in her home from 1814 to 1819), the Log Cabin home site of Justin Morgan (although famous for the horse breed that bears his name, Morgan was also a farmer, stallioneer, tavern keeper, town clerk, singing teacher, and composer), and the Mount Holly Railroad History site (where, in 1848, a construction crew discovered a woolly mammoth tusk in the nearby wetland and also where, in 1849, locomotives pulling trains with dignitaries from Burlington and Boston met to drive home the last spike), respectively; and (c) the Vermont Symphony Orchestra’s commissioned tune that featured Ewe drums, timbales, cajón, cabasa, conga, cowbell, Tar, and hi-hat (they’re all percussion instruments) was titled A Tangoed Web and was written by – well, by me. It’s true.
All the time that I’ve faithfully cranked out these little Vermont-themed posers I’ve also maintained a separate existence as a composer. It hasn’t always been easy to find the time to do both. That’s why, beginning next month, I’ll focus my energies on the music full time while at long last bidding both VLCT and the world of local trivia sayonara. (Coincidentally, I once wrote a quintet titled “Cyan Aura.”) So, to my faithful Trivia readers over these last, what, 13¼ years, thanks for reading, and annyeong, do svidaniya, and hat jemand meinen Dudelsack gesehen?
David Gunn
Municipality Triviality Custodian