Next year, 2012, will mark forty years since I first set foot in Middlebury, Vermont.  After I visited the town this past weekend, for the first time in ten years, I re-read the booklet titled Of Middlebury Town that was mailed to all incoming Middlebury College freshmen in 1972 (yes, I kept it in my files).

A lot has changed, both in the town and at the College.

The booklet describes these downtown businesses, located on Main, Park, Mill, Seymour, Elm, Court, and Pleasant Streets, and on Merchant’s Row and Bakery Lane:  Sam’s Market, Emilio’s Deli, Tom’s Barber Shop, Little Wing, Tony’s Pizza, Benjamin Brothers Dry Cleaners, Store 2, Chief’s Pool Hall, The Alibi, Frog Hollow Craft Center, Little Oaken Bucket, College Town Shop, Frog Alley Fabric, Leather Brothers, Ruby’s Variety Store, The Wicket, Farrell’s Men’s Shop, O’Brien’s Beauty Shop, Sports Unlimited, Verde Mont Gifts, The Pipe Shop, Wild Mountain Thyme, Vermont Drug, Calvi’s, Montgomery Ward, Vermont Book Shop, Park Drug, National Bank of Middlebury, United 5 Cent Store, Bike Touring Center, Lazarus Department Store, Ted Novak’s Mobil, Fisher Travel Service, Campus Cinema, Ben Franklin, Mal Randall’s Ski Shop, Sears, Midd Way Shop, Baker’s Jewelry Shop, Ski Haus, Abrams’ Department Store, Gerow’s Heating and Plumbing, Pauline’s Beauty Salon, The Shoe Hut, Cole’s Florist, Rother Studio, Depot Auto Parts, Country Tire, Stan’s IGA, Grand Union, Quesnel’s Laundry, Electronic Lab, Middlebury Hardware, Bakery Lane Food Shop, Chittenden Trust Company, Brown’s Auto Parts, All Good Things, Cisero’s Pizza, Merle Norman, Bud’s Market, A&P, Dot Discount, and Desabrais Laundry.

Of these 63 establishments mentioned, I count 9 that are still in business under the same name: Wild Mountain Thyme, Vermont Book Shop, National Bank of Middlebury, The Bike Center, Ben Franklin, Sears, Pauline’s, Cole’s Flowers, and Ski Haus.  Some years ago, Frog Hollow Craft Center, which was newly opened a year before I arrived, relocated to Burlington as the Frog Hollow Vermont State Craft Center.  Campus Cinema has morphed into  the Marquis Theater.  Calvi’s, the ice cream parlor where I spent many happy hours, has been replaced by the country store Sweet Cecily.

There are probably as many changes in dining and lodging establishments as there are in the retail businesses and services listed above.  The Middlebury Inn and Waybury Inn and the restaurants Mr Ups and Fire and Ice are still on the scene, but I would venture to say that almost every other restaurant in Middlebury today was not there forty years ago, including such popular eateries as Two Brothers Tavern and 51 Main.  I can’t say if these changes to a small town over almost half a century are typical or not.  What do you all think?

I stayed two nights at the Inn on the Green, renovated in 1995-97, long after I left Middlebury.  Here I am having breakfast in the Cornwall Room:

Across from the Inn is the Town Hall Theater, which when I lived in Middlebury was the Knights of Columbus Hall.  The Knights sold the building to a community group in 2000; after years of fund-raising and massive renovations, the building was re-opened in 2008.

Otter Creek still runs through the center of town:

The town seems a bit more upscale than in my day, but perhaps that makes it even more of a picturesque place to visit.  It was fun being a tourist:  my niece and I ate dinner Friday night at the Taste of India and last night at the Storm Cafe; we also enjoyed a late afternoon chocolate treat yesterday at Middlebury Chocolates.

Since 1972, there have been many changes at Middlebury College as well, including an increase in the student body from about 1800 then to around 2350 today.  I photographed some of the new buildings, so I may write another “Changes” post.