The buzz around Vergennes, Bristol and Middlebury last week was that the Rod Stewart was spending time in Addison County leading up to Christmas. I even heard that he skied at Middlebury Snowbowl, stayed at the Swift House and was visiting for three weeks. The news spread like wildfire with Seven Days writing a witty account of his leather jacket purchase at Your Turn and other occurrences at Sweet Charity and 3 Squares Cafe. By Sunday evening, however Seven Days retracted the story as it turns out a (semi) look-alike with a thick British accent was in the area, along with his wife, who apparently looks like Rod’s partner. Imagine that!

What I do know is that we’re in the last lap of days leading up to Christmas. I, for one, am counting on Santa to come down the chimney — and I can count on the downtown shops of the Little City for gifts that will warm the heart and soul.

A wise former boss of mine once told me there’s no such thing as bad publicity. While I tended to disagree with him on various levels of such, the buzz about Vergennes highlighted three of the long-standing shops in our downtown — Sweet Charity, Your Turn and 3 Squares — and sent a vibe of Vergennes as a cool, cool, cool place to be. Am I projecting? I think not.

Was Rod real? Was the leather jacket fake too? Could Elvis be coming this week — or has he left the building? Regardless, Happy Holidays to you and yours from Vergennes Partnership.

Julie Nelson Basol

Vergennes Partnership