A High School Classmate's Business Gets Press

BURLINGTON FREE PRESS: Amy's Granola is a home-baked success
By Gail Callahan, Correspondent October 6, 2007

FERRISBURGH -- In 2001, Amy Mailloux wanted to adopt a healthier diet, so she decided to create a nutritious product. The idea has turned into a growing food business that is quickly becoming a staple in diets.

"I was trying to lose weight, and our family likes granola," said Mailloux, 42. "After trying a number of different recipes, we decided to make our own."

Intrigued by the idea of starting her own company, she created Amy's Granola three years ago. Cooking is done in a commercial convection oven in Mailloux's kitchen. Her husband, Ernie Mailloux, 42, works full time cooking and packaging during the early part of the week. Friday, the boxes are packed up for distribution. Weekends are spent at store demonstrations and festivals. The couple are the only workers.

From start to finish, the process takes 30 minutes. Twenty-five pounds of the granola is made at a time, Mailloux said, noting sales have doubled every year since the company's inception.

The company's goal is simple. Make a product that boasts healthy and nutritious ingredients that are uniquely associated with Vermont, including maple syrup and the family's own honey. The product comes in 4- and 16-oz. bags.

The product is distributed in Vermont and New Hampshire with prices determined by retailers, Amy Mailloux said. The Shelburne Country Store, Shaw's Supermarkets and Harrington's in Shelburne stock the granola.

Deb Mayfield, owner of the Shelburne Country Store, added the granola to the store's shelves one month ago. The product is selling well, she said.

"It's very good," said Mayfield. "It's a quality product and it's locally made."

Harrington's in Shelburne started to offer the granola about two years ago. Its popularity has continued to grow, said manager Cheryl Young. "It's popular and it's good."

During the first year of operation, the business made 200 pounds of granola. This year, the company is expected to prepare 600 pounds monthly.

"I experimented with different recipes. I did research." Mailloux said. "We put an addition onto our house and built a community kitchen."

Locating the business in rural Ferrisburgh, with its convenient access to U.S. 7, makes sense to emphasize the company's homey roots, Mailloux said. A banking executive, she works full time outside the home. A driving force behind the business's startup stemmed from the desire to have one parent at home daily with the couple's four children.

"It's been a real blessing," Mailloux said.

The specialty food business is a unique industry in the state, and one that will continue to provide employment for Mailloux, despite the challenges of the marketplace.

"We're providing a quality product," Mailloux said. "We have time with our kids and we have a business."

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I've tried it, and it's good stuff! You can order some at her website.

Simpsons Movie Premieres in Springfield, VT

BURLINGTON FREE PRESS: First family of Springfield
Published: Sunday, July 22, 2007 - By Brent Hallenbeck

SPRINGFIELD — It was easy to find the festivities for the world premiere of “The Simpsons Movie” Saturday in downtown Springfield. All you had to do was follow the people with the sky-high blue hair.

Diane Bilotta was wearing a beehive wig mimicking the famous blue hairdo of Marge Simpson, the long-suffering wife of Homer, her fellow yellow-skinned cartoon character.

“It puts Springfield on the map,” the Grantham, N.H., woman said, clutching a Homer Simpson doll as she stood outside the Springfield Theater where the film would debut in about two hours. “It’s a lovely town, and Marge and Homer wouldn’t live anywhere else.”

It’s only been a couple of weeks since the world learned that the Springfield that Homer, Marge and their children Bart, Lisa and Maggie call home is Springfield, Vt., a well-worn town of 9,300 in a pretty spot among hills buffeting the Connecticut River that defines the Vermont/New Hampshire border.

The southern Vermont town was the smallest among the 14 Springfields in the country taking part in a contest through USA Today. By registering 15,367 votes among more than 100,000 cast, Springfield, Vt. — on the strength of a “Simpsons”-inspired online video produced by Vermont filmmakers — won the movie premiere and bragging rights as the hometown of “The Simpsons.”

Police estimated Saturday afternoon that the celebration drew a shade below the 5,000-10,000 fans organizers expected. Those who gathered for a chance to win some of the 800-plus tickets to the premiere and to hear from the filmmakers were excited enough to make up the difference.

Matt Groening, who created the satirical cartoon for television two decades ago and attended the feature film’s celebration, was stunned by the outpouring from fans.

“We knew that wherever the real Springfield was there would be a lot of enthusiasm. This is unbelievable,” Groening said in an interview along the yellow carpet — a red carpet just wouldn’t suit this jaundiced, dysfunctional family — that stretched toward the Springfield Theater.

“Rabid, zealous, fanatic, and yet they’re all smiling,” Groening said of the crowd. “Usually in Springfield on the show, any time a large crowd gathers it turns into a mob.”

Fans who gathered in a spacious parking lot next to the Springfield Theater heard short speeches from Groening and others who worked on the film, which opens nationwide Friday. Springfield officials presented Groening with a key to the town; Groening gave the town a plaque depicting “Simpsons” character Krusty the Clown placing his hands in cement outside the Springfield Theater while an oblivious hot-dog-munching Homer strolls through the ceremony and the cement.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the first-term Vermont independent, said the contest win demonstrated that Springfield is a “can-do community” despite the obstacles the town has faced.

“Fortunes go up and down,” Sanders said. “This town, like ‘The Simpsons’ family, occasionally has its problems.” Springfield rose on the back of the machine-tool industry and slid into hard times once that business declined. Residents of the former industrial town are glad Springfield is animated again.
Betsy Eldredge was one of those residents happy to see her town so lively. “Springfield has been quite a depressed area for some time,” she said.

Springfield pride and “Simpsons” mania merged in front of the theater where a huge yellow hand hoisting a pink-frosted doughnut — Homer’s famously favorite food — rose like a beacon. A banner stretched across Main Street, also festooned with images of doughnuts, read “Welcome to Springfield, Vermont – Home of the Simpsons.” Big yellow lettering in the window of the Springfield Copy Center proclaimed “We Won!” in front of a backdrop showing Homer’s and Bart’s faces and, of course, more doughnuts.

There were also real doughnuts to be had from Vermont vendors near the theater. The Woodstock Water Buffalo Co. offered special “yo-nuts” filled with maple-flavored yogurt made from water-buffalo milk. The Magic Hat Brewing Co. crafted a “Springfield VT Premiere” ale that was more golden than yellow. Ben & Jerry’s combined Homer’s two favorite flavors for the one-day-only “Duff & D’oh-Nuts” ice cream with a heavy chocolate-doughnut flavor and a hint of stout beer.

Along with Vermont’s most famous ice-cream maker, the celebration featured two members of Phish, the band that, before the Simpsons were discovered to live in Springfield, was Vermont’s best-known group of celebrities.

“Thank you very much, Springfield, this is a huge honor for us,” said keyboard player Page McConnell, who preceded the ceremony with a set from his band. They were joined by ex-Phish bass player Mike Gordon who, like McConnell, appeared in flesh tones rather than the yellow hue the four members of Phish had in a 2002 episode of “The Simpsons.”

Several of the filmmakers remarked about the beautiful, idyllic setting of Springfield.

“It’s just amazing. I feel like we journeyed through America,” Emmy- and Oscar-winning producer James L Brooks said in an interview after the pre-premiere ceremony. “I feel like I’m going to bump into Frank Capra.”

The film’s director, David Silverman, also mentioned Capra, the classic movie maker known for setting his films in bucolic burgs.

“It’s wonderful. What a picturesque American town it is,” Silverman said.

Some people were there not to celebrate but to make a point. Eldredge was passing out fliers in her hometown opposing renewal of the Vermont Yankee nuclear-power plant’s license when it expires in 2012. The plant — perhaps the one Homer works in on the show — is about 45 minutes south of Springfield.

A shutdown of the plant might put Homer out of work. Eldredge has a suggestion for the head of the Simpsons family — he could work on a wind farm.

Nancy Schaefer was making a different sort of statement on Main Street, where the Bellows Falls woman and a handful of youths were gyrating inside Hula Hoops. Schaefer wore a T-shirt bearing the slogan “Drop the Donut.”

Schaefer and her fellow exercisers were recommending 30 minutes of exercise a day and five servings of fruit and vegetables. “Homer represents too many doughnuts and beer,” she said.

With her yard-high blue wig made of foam insulation, Schaefer suggested she might not be Marge but instead an obscure member of “The Simpsons” clan. “I could be her unknown sister, the one we don’t talk about, Nancy Simpson,” Schaefer said. “The crunchy-granola unknown sister.”

Stephanie and Matthew Strangwood were in Springfield to celebrate “The Simpsons Movie.” They drove 15 hours from Romeoville, Ill., to be there, and that’s not even the biggest sign of their “Simpsons” devotion: They met in 2000 through a “Simpsons” trivia online chat room, became friends, and Matthew, 26, moved to Illinois from his native England to be with Stephanie, now 23. They’ve been married almost four years. “The Simpsons” is the tie that binds.

“It’s brilliant,” Stephanie, wearing a Homer Simpson backpack, said of the show.

“It’s witty, it’s great satire,” said Matthew, who wore a Krusty the Clown backpack.

They wouldn’t have missed the Springfield celebration for anything.

“It’s the biggest event of all time,” Matthew Strangwood said.

In “Simpsons” history or world history?

He paused for a moment. “World history,” he said.

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenb@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com.

Vermont Town Chosen For Something

ASSOCIATED PRESS: Vt. Town Named `Simpsons' Official Home
Tuesday July 10, 4:48 pm ET - By John Curran, Associated Press Writer
Oh, Maaan: Vermont's Springfield Proclaimed Simpsons' Hometown, Will Host Movie Premiere

SPRINGFIELD, Vt. (AP) -- Maybe it was the pink doughnut. Maybe it was the clever homemade video, or small-town charm.

Maybe Homer just figured it was time to go green.

Whatever the reason, this much is true: Tiny Springfield, Vt., beat out 13 other like-named cities Tuesday for the right to host the premiere of "The Simpsons Movie," winning an online poll it wasn't even invited to participate in.

On July 21, the town's 100-seat movie theater will play host to the movie, which opens July 27.

"Vermont wins," read the purple lettering beside the doughnut-chomping patriarch of America's favorite dysfunctional family on "The Simpsons Movie Springfield Challenge" Web site.

"Ninety-three hundred people, and we won," said an exultant Town Manager Bob Forguites. "I think it's pretty neat, myself."

Springfields in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon and Tennessee also made bids, submitting videos meant to show how much their cities are like the fictional Springfield in "The Simpsons."

Competition was fierce: Massachusetts got U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy -- the inspiration behind the voice of Mayor Quimby on "The Simpsons," to appear in its entry.

"Just think," Kennedy said. "You'll even be able to enjoy some real chowdah."

Vermont's Springfield -- which has a bowling alley, a pub, a prison and a nuclear power plant just down the road -- wasn't initially part of the contest, but a local Chamber of Commerce executive appealed to movie producer 20th Century Fox and the race was on.

The town submitted a video shot by a 17-year-old volunteer cameraman showing buildings with "Springfield" in them and featuring Homer -- played by a Burlington talk-show host -- running through town chasing a big, pink, rolling doughnut.

Eventually, a mob chases him into a movie theater.

The video was posted on the contest Web site along with the other entries. By midnight Monday, the deadline, 109,582 votes were cast.

Vermont got 15,367, edging out Springfield, Ill., which drew 14,634.

Florida's Springfield got the lowest vote total, 1,386.

"We're so excited," says Patricia Chaffee, vice president of the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce. "We came in at the last minute, and for us to win, we feel like the underdogs, which makes this so big and so great for us."

Gov. Jim Douglas congratulated the town.

"This is an exciting, exhilarating moment for Vermonters," he said. "Perhaps more importantly, it proves there's really nothing a giant doughnut can't do. To all the other Springfields, I say 'Don't have a cow, man.'"

The mayor of Springfield, Illinois, the state's capital city, took the loss like a man, not a cow.

"We knew all along that it would be a tough battle against the other cities who claim a relationship with the television program," said Timothy Davlin. "We in Springfield, Illinois, have enjoyed the notoriety from this exercise and hope that it translates into more people visiting Springfield looking for the Abraham Lincoln sites and the Simpsons."

Springfield, Ore., hoped it had an in because "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening is from Portland, the state's largest city, and many of the show's landmarks are named after streets in Portland. It noted in its video that "the only Springfield Groening passed through on his way to Hollywood was in Oregon."

According to USA Today, which ran the vote on its Web site, the 13 other Springfields that participated will be given small screenings of their own the night before the movie opens nationwide July 27.

AP writers John O'Connor in Chicago and Aaron Clark in Portland, Ore., contributed to this report. (This version CORRECTS date of premiere to July 21; RECASTS throughout, ADDS quotes, byline.)

The Times' Vermont Journal

NY TIMES: Warm Days and Hard Times in Snowmobile Land
By KATIE ZEZIMA
Published: January 20, 2007

CHESTER, Vt., Jan. 18 — For 24 winters, Bev and Butch Jelley, owners of the B&B Mobil station here, have provided legions of snowmobilers with fuel and chili. But this year the kitchen is quiet, and the snowmobiles are nowhere to be found.

Snowmobile clubs and the businesses that cater to them are having their second bad year in a row in many parts of New England, as warm weather has turned flakes to wet blobs and left trails a grassy, rocky mess.

Conditions are improving for clubs in Northern Maine, which received a foot of snow this week, and are getting better in parts of the Northeast Kingdom in Vermont and the North Country of New Hampshire, both of which received snow this week.

But elsewhere, snowmobile clubs are seeing memberships decline, meaning a drop in the dues used for trail maintenance. The lack of riders is severely affecting restaurants and gas stations like the Jelleys’, which laid off much of its winter staff and is closing on Sundays to save money.

“It’s horrible. We’ve been here 24 years and have never closed on a Sunday,” Mr. Jelley said. “We need snow for snowmobilers. That’s what we depend on in the winter; it’s 99 percent of our business.”

Pat Budnick, owner of the Motel in the Meadow, has a sign saying “Think Snow” in the reception area.

“I’m down $3,000 from last year in January, and so far that’s just 18 days,” Ms. Budnick said. “We haven’t had one snowmobiler, because the trails aren’t open.”

Ann Shangraw, president of the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers, which oversees local clubs and distributes money for grooming trails, said fewer than 5,000 memberships had been sold so far this season. The association, known as VAST, normally sells about 30,000 memberships annually, Ms. Shangraw said.

“Our budget is membership-driven,” she said, adding that the association distributes about $800,000 annually to clubs. “We are a wealthy association until the end of this year. We are by no means folding, but at the end of this season we will be thinking about programs and services to cut.”

Ms. Shangraw said snowmobiling brought $553 million annually to Vermont, according to the association’s last economic impact study.

Local associations are also trimming their budgets. Dick Jewett, president of the Chester Snowmobile Club, said that all of the club’s trails had closed and that he had not had occasion to use its snow-grooming machine, which sits in his garage. The club, he said, gets $10 from VAST for every mile of trail it grooms.

Mr. Jewett said that the club had 489 members last year, and that as of Sunday, only 110 riders had joined so far this year. Because of budget concerns, the club will probably do away with two scholarships it gives out, he said, and look for other ways to trim its budget.

“It’s the second year with light snowfall,” Mr. Jewett said. “In order to survive, we’ll have to make cuts.”

In Maine, registrations were down by a quarter, said Bob Myers, executive director of the Maine Snowmobile Association, but the state just received snow, and people plan to snowmobile this weekend, Mr. Myers said.

Bill Cost, owner of Inn by the River in The Forks, Me., said he and other business owners were trying to salvage the season. Mr. Cost, who helps maintain trails, said the region recently got about a foot of snow, roughly one-third of what it takes for good snowmobiling conditions. He expects heavy use this weekend.

“It’s been devastating, absolutely devastating. It has a huge trickledown effect,” said Mr. Cost, who had to lay off four employees because business was slow this year and last. “We’re holding our breath, hoping the cold and snow continue.”

Here in Chester, Benny’s Power, which services cars and sells snowmobiles, has three years of unsold stock out back.

Chris Gansz of Full Throttle Motor Sports in Warren, N.H., and a member of the Asquamchumauke Snowmobile Club, said he could not get rid of his inventory of used snowmobiles.

“No one is buying sleds. I couldn’t sell a used sled to save my life right now,” Mr. Gansz said. The club, he said, is worrying about money.

“We’re all scratching our heads wondering how we’re going to pay for the groomer this year,” he said. “Our checkbook is taking a pretty good hit right now.”

John Plante, president of the Sno-Bees Snowmobile Club in Barre, Vt., has not given up hope.

“We’re waiting, praying, for snow,” he said.

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Shows what I know - I thought most people swapped out snowmobiles for those four-wheeled ATVs a long time ago. Here's hoping business picks up!