One of the events I enjoy most about living in Middlebury is the Memorial Day parade. It is such a wonderful expression of small town USA with the school bands and other music groups, the various service groups and the firetrucks from all the surrounding towns.
Since I missed last year’s parade because I was traveling, my friends and I arrived about 8:15 Monday to get our preferred seats outside the library on the shady side of the street. When we arrived there was a white van parked in the spot closest to the roundabout. When I approached the woman and asked her about moving her car because it was blocking our view, she replied that she wasn’t going to and that she had also parked there last year.
Sometime later a friend of mine, who was also bothered by this, went to ask her to move and she told him and she didn’t have to move.
Moving here from Los Angeles has been a joy because of the thoughtfulness of people — drivers in their cars who routinely motion you to turn or enter traffic ahead of them, phone calls from friends and neighbors to check if you do not show up for an event where you are expected.
Continuing to leave her car parked there may not have violated the law but it certainly wasn’t very neighborly. I hope the town will consider not allowing cars to park there for next year’s parade.
Diana Cotter
Middlebury