MIDDLEBURY —The Vermont Book Shop will celebrate 70 years in business this Dec. 17. To commemorate the occasion, Middlebury’s downtown bookstore will collaborate with John Vincent of A Revolutionary Press to create a broadside of a Robert Frost poem, “A Time to Talk.” This poem speaks to the mission of The Vermont Book Shop as a place for the community to gather and interact with their friends and neighbors. The bookstore will also partner with Sunrise Orchards of Cornwall, to offer free cider on Monday, Dec. 2, a day becoming known as “Cider Monday” — a shop local initiative created by the Toadstool Bookshops in New Hampshire to counteract Cyber Monday. 
The letterpress prints of the Frost poem will be available to purchase. Proceeds will benefit the H.O.P.E. food shelf as well as other organizations selected by A Revolutionary Press, which is also a non-profit organization.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Vermont Book Shop was opened by Dike Blair on Dec. 17, 1949. Blair created a strong foundation for the venerable institution. The bookstore was passed to Becky Dayton in 2005. The bookstore offers new general interest books, with a focus on literary fiction and children’s books, fine stationery, fun gifts and toys, with a niche selection of new music CDs. In 2007, Dayton completely redid the interior, while continuing to curate a community-centric yet worldly selection of books, in an intimate space lit by tall windows that overlook the Otter Creek. Most recently, Dayton launched a Vermont Book Shop stall at the new Public Market at Stone Mill, a Community Barns venture.