On Tuesday evening, the Woodstock Village Board of Trustees worked to finalize fall foliage plans as the autumn season approaches.
At the meeting, several nonprofit organizations were approved to sell food on The Green during foliage.
Also, the secretary of the Woodstock Rotary Club, Beth Finlayson, and the chair of Rotary’s funding committee, Bob Wagner, petitioned for a new fundraising initiative.
Finlayson addressed the board, saying, “As you know, the Woodstock Rotary Club tries to raise more than $30K a year to give back to local nonprofits. One new way of fundraising we would like to propose is for horse-drawn wagon rides to be available in the village this foliage season.”
Wagner added, “We are requesting approval for two weekends, Oct. 11-12 and Oct. 18-19, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.” The plan outlined by Finlayson and Wagner detailed the carriage rides beginning in front of M&T Bank, turning down River Street, making a left through the covered bridge, strolling around The Green, then returning to the bank. The pair assured the trustees that no roads would need to be closed off.
Trustees chairperson Seton McIlroy said that adding horse and wagon rides during peak traffic season in the village could be problematic. “My concern is twofold,” McIlroy said, “Horse-drawn carriage rides during Wassail are done during a time when people are focused downtown, and it is part of a greater fair-like event. Your request is to do this during the busiest traffic time of the year. On top of this, the route you outlined is in the primary place for bus drop-off during foliage season. If we approve this, I do not know where the buses will go — we would have to push them somewhere else.”
Vice chair Jeffrey Kahn proclaimed his support for the idea. He said, “I think this will either become an annual tradition or it will never happen again, but we will only know by trying. I think it’s a great idea; I say let them ride.”
The board voted to allow for horse and wagon rides to commence from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11 and Sunday, Oct. 12. The rides could potentially return the weekend of Oct. 18-19, contingent on the findings of a “feedback meeting” scheduled by the trustees on Oct. 14.
The Rotary Club plans on charging $20 per ride. According to Finlayson, all proceeds will go directly to support community organizations such as the Norman Williams Public Library and Pentangle Arts.
The trustees also voted to have two portable restrooms available near the Welcome Center from Oct. 10-13.
For more on this, please see our September 11 edition of the Vermont Standard.
