No Sandwich For You

The Rutland Farmers' Market will return to its outdoor location at Depot Park in just under a month (on May 8) and Rut Girl for one can't wait.

Sadly Connick's Sandwich Shop on Terrill Street, our favorite place to eat in Rutneyland, won't be there. Apparently there is no space at the market, in fact those in the know say that demand to have a stand at the market is so high, Connick's can't even get on the waiting list.

We did however read in the Rutland Herald last week that the market is trying to have part of Evelyn Street closed so they can accommodate more vendors (a decision on that should be made at the upcoming aldermen meeting) so there is still a chance.

Joe Brown who owns Connick's with his wife Patricia was hoping to sell bread (which is amazing by the way) and make sandwiches but apart from the lack of space apparently he was told the market isn't keen on having food there. So maybe we won't see Connick's there after all. Does that reasoning strike anyone else as odd by the way? On the other hand, maybe it's a good thing. We don't think the current bread vendors would take well to another competitor. We smell a bread war!

Oh well, its the market's loss. We hear Joe is taking it all in his stride. He has huge plans for his blossoming eatery including making and selling European style bread, (who needs the Farmers' Market?!), pain au choclat and croissants (we're so there).

Rutland Creative Economy Community Forum Set To Spark Spirited Debate

Email inboxes and twitter feeds lit up across the weekend as news spread about the Rutland Creative Economy Community Forum scheduled to be held this Wednesday, March 31 at the Paramount Theatre (although we see the event isn't listed on the Paramount's calendar, what's up with that?!).

Some people are genuinely excited about the event (which we hope to make, but we already had plans - seriously folks, a week's notice??!!) but others are angry about the lack of agenda for the forum.

The meeting made front page news of the Rutland Herald today with the Creative Economy's Chairwoman Tara Kelly quoted as saying the group had begun to hear that there was 'public perception that the group wasn't open and accepting of new members'.

It will be interesting to see how receptive the group is to new ideas and new members. Equally it will be interesting to see how receptive non-members are to the ideas presented by the Creative Economy - the emails we've seen doing the rounds from non-members are certainly fiery.

One email we were forwarded called projects undertaken by the Creative Economy 'Disney like' and another called the projects some of the 'worst investments ever'. Harsh. Additionally, the comments portion beneath the Herald's story features some spirited debate.

We have to say the bulk of the ideas up for contemplation during the 'open ideas' portion of the forum that were outlined in today's paper didn't exactly have us in raptures. Another reason for us to try and get there to have our say. The ideas for new groups and projects includes:

• Forming a group to spearhead a comprehensive implementation of Rutland's marketing brand (there's a marketing brand?!)
  
• Create a downtown gateway at the train station (we're sure that's the first thing visitors will notice when they stumble off the Ethan Allen at 9.05pm at night or 11.30pm on a Friday night. How about working with Amtrak to promote the service so we can have more than one train a day?)
• Beautifying the city's gateways through landscaping and prominent signage (seriously, enough with the signage already, how about filling those vacant stores and promoting local business better?)

No matter what your position is, we think it is fantastic that there are people committed to putting Rutland back on the map so while the drama queen in us is looking forward to the potential fireworks at the forum, we hope that the passion is harnessed into positive projects that will actually make a difference.

Side note: we hate to be spelling Nazi's but a shout out to the Creative Economy - there's a glaring typo on your pages

An Important Public Safety Message From The Red Moon Saloon

First of all apologies for the intermittent blogging. Poor health, the weather and a job that pays the bills have conspired against Rut Girl and eaten into her spare time, but this week she'll be back in full force.

Seeing as how we're in such a good mood, we thought we'd share a sign we spied in Rutneyland during a nighttime drive with Mama Rutland.

It is planted outside local drinking establishment The Red Moon Saloon. 'Take Safety Home With You'.....what kind of message is that to send to prospective patrons?!

Admittedly, we haven't been to the Red Moon Saloon. To be honest, we haven't heard great things....although according to the Rutland Herald, The Red Moon put the Vegas in RutVegas!

We also love their Facebook page, in particular the reference to transport in the area. Taxis and limos? Apart from the fact that we have never seen a limo in Rutland, the Friday night we were in the Red Moon parking lot, there was not a car to be seen. In fact, it was dark, desolate and all we could see were a couple of eyes peering through the darkness, watching our every move! In fact it looked closed.

So we did some preliminary digging online and found the minutes from the Board of Alderman meeting in October last year. Seems there was a motion to suspend the Red Moon's 'entertainment permit' because the place is a giant fire trap waiting to happen (our words, not theirs).

We also found a couple of awesome reviews online - one referred to the Red Moon as a 'place for toothless, lower class people' and another mentioned they nearly got into trouble when they emptied their bladder on someone's car.... you don't say?! So maybe the sign is in fact an appropriate public message from Red Moon's management; we're thankful for the warning.

We've got a birthday coming up in April, we may just take a chance and find out for ourselves.

Downtown Seeks To Improve Signs - We've Got A Suggestion Or Two

We've been sitting on this article from the Rutland Herald for a few days now, contemplating our response. After all, we're new here, we don't have a whole lot of history to draw on but then again without new people and without their input, no matter how naive, how can things improve?

It turns out the Downtown Rutland Partnership and Rutland Redevelopment Authority are submitting two grants for a total amount of $48,000 to purchase.....new signs. New signs?! Who knew signs cost so much?! The purpose of said signs is to welcome travelers to downtown and point out amenities .... particularly the parking garage on West Street (really, the parking garage?!).

Don't get us wrong, some directional signs would be nice. Take for example these signs we saw today for Rutland's Farmer's Market. Some directions (say an arrow or an address as a basic starting point) wouldn't go astray. The Rut's Farmer's Market is a FANTASTIC event on a Saturday, but in its current winter location it is impossible to find. We should be doing everything we can to support and promote local businesses and we think applying for grants supporting those types of endeavors would be a more worthy investment of time.

How about helping existing businesses establish their own websites (so few seem to have them)?

How about encouraging new businesses to setup downtown (a subsidy on the rent perhaps)?

That way when travelers and tourists visit, there's actually something there for them to see, rather than vacant stores (take a look at the number of listings on the Downtown Rutland Partnership's site) or food venues and shops that aren't open weekends when lots of travelers go exploring.

How great would it be to have a few sit down options for breakfast downtown on a weekend? I mean Clem's is great and all but it gets a bit boring week in week out. How great would it be to direct people properly to the Farmer's Market so they can sample and purchase our local wares?

Speaking of the Farmer's Market. Is it our imagination or are there decidedly less vendors at the moment? We seem to remember a Mexican guy who sold beautiful jewelry, a cupcake woman and maybe a person with homemade dips? We didn't see them today. On the plus side our favorite musician was playing today making for a pleasurable trip around the stalls.

Rut Girl's Friday Honor Roll

Friday Funny

Well it isn't everyday that we would nominate the Rutland Police Log as funny but one particular item on the list (published in Wednesday's Rutland Herald) caught our eye. Take a look at the 3.13pm entry on Sunday, February 21. Yes, that's right 'breathing'. Take that as a warning all you Pine Street residents, take one breath and Rutland's finest (what's left of them anyway) will be at your door.

Friday Fail

Following on from last week's Friday fail featuring Cafe Terra's spelling error, we thought we'd found another one when we saw this sign at Ponderosa Steakhouse on Route 7.

That's not how you spell ace is it? Convinced that no one could possibly have erred that badly (who would describe their seafood buffet as ace anyway?!) we googled the term.

Surprise, surprise AYCE is an acronym for 'all you can eat', not one we're that familiar with, but there you go, not only do you learn something new everyday but it's yet another example of the death of the English language (and yes we mean you Diamond Run Mall). It is not like there isn't plenty of white space (obscured by the vehicle) to fit all those words. Lazy!

(apologies for the quality of the photo, but it's not easy when you're a passenger on a bus on the opposite side of Route 7).

Diamond Run Mall - A Great Place To Dine and Snack

We know it seems like we're picking on Rutland's Diamond Run Mall but when we saw this ad in today's Rutland Herald, our reaction was 'what the?'.

Don't get Rut Girl wrong; not featuring the 'over 50 stores' claim is a solid move but replacing it with 'come enjoy our stores and shops to dine and snack' is certainly a unique tactic.

Rut Girl knows she's had a lot of cold and flu medication in the past few days but she doesn't think it's her imagination .... that sentence doesn't make sense. Then there's those first time visitors whose expectations are now no doubt high about the fine selection of dining and snacking they may be able to enjoy upon a visit to the mall.

Let's revisit Rut Girl's list of stores from her visit last week:

So let's do the math: Something Sweet, Orientaste, Sbarro, Gene's Beans and The New American Grill & Tap Room are the 5 dining and snacking options on offer (unless you count Vitamin World). Oh hang on, we forgot, there's also the K Cafe inside of KMart. Make that 6.

Hardly a wealth of choice and let's face it, Something Sweet doesn't really count because as delicious as they're offerings are, you don't really snack on their goodies while walking around the mall (we could be wrong). Orientaste and Sbarro aren't really what we'd consider 'dining' options either, unless you're idea of dining is eating off Styrofoam plates with plastic cutlery. Each to their own though.

And let's not forget about the free parking. That's the biggest reason of all to go? Back to the drawing board marketing team.

Five New Things We Found About Rutland Today

After two days of rain (and two days of flu for Rut Girl), it was impossible to resist heading outdoors today to soak up the spring-like conditions. It's funny how blue skies and sunshine make people happy, because everyone we saw today had huge smiles on their faces, like they'd emerged from hibernation. Here's five new things we discovered about Rutland today that made us smile:

1. Newly opened Emma T's Take It To Go Buffet on Center Street. Love that they stress the point that it's a one trip buffet. We're happy to have a new lunch alternative but the story in the Rutland Herald implies they're only open Monday to Friday. Wouldn't it be great to see some life on Center Street on a weekend?

2. This house on Lafayette Street getting into the St Patrick's day spirit, putting a shamrock on the door and rolling out the green carpet, which is more that we can say for Two Sheas on Wales Street. We phoned them to ask if they had anything going on for St Patty's Day....the response of the female staff member who answered the phone? 'Uh, I don't think so' in a tone that suggested Rut Girl was stupid for asking. Awesome. We just thought given the Irish origin of the word Shea and all.

3. That we never noticed this George Bush/Queen Elizabeth graffiti complete with RutVegas' catchphrase on the corner of Center and Wales Street. Is this new?

4. That there's a Rutland Magazine. We love that Rutneyland has its own magazine, but what's with this cover image. It doesn't seem to relate to the featured stories, unless it's the one about spring chickens. Our friend Butternut also drew our attention to the dirty shorts the child in the green shirt is wearing. Hey at least he's not inside watching video games.

5. That there's a gun store next to a church on Route 4. Yep, that's the New England Outdoorsman you see right next door to the Church of the Nazarene, an evangelical Christian group organized in Texas in 1908. Just saying.

Burning Down The Rut

Mama Rutland alerted Rut Girl's attention to a cool photo on the Rutland Herald's website this week. It was a fire that took place alongside the parking lot at Walmart on Wednesday.



Intrigued, Rut Girl perused the Herald's site for some kind of story about said fire but turned up nothing. We got in touch with Lalena Conklin who posted the video and accompanying photo to see what she had heard.


Fire in Walmart parking lot

We were hoping for an exciting story about a pyromaniac on the loose (not that Rut Girl condones intentionally setting fires; just hoping for a good yarn is all) but sadly that wasn't to be.

According to the very helpful Lalena, the fire was caused by faulty wiring in the outlets located underneath the bushes. Fortunately Rutland's finest were there to put the fire out before things got out of control. We love the bit at the end where you can hear a bystander remark 'that bush is hot'. Aaah another Rutter telling it like it is.

Anyway, Lalena, a photographer, also has some pretty cool photos. Friend her on MySpace to see them (Rut Girl especially likes her ice photos).

For whatever reason we can't watch the video without humming our localized version of Talking Heads' Burning Down The House.

'Hold tight, we're in for nasty weather. There has got to be a way, burning down The Rut'. Catchy.

Singing Superstars Set To Rock Rutneyland

Look out Rutneyland, some of the world's biggest selling artists are on their way to the Rut. Jay-Z? Rhianna? Lady Gaga? Not quite. Try Bryan Adams and Richard Marx for starters. Yes, the guys who once rocked big hair and power ballads are both confirmed to play at the Paramount Theatre. Not together mind you, which is a shame, we'd love a power ballad sing off.

Just when Rut Girl thought it couldn't get any more 80s/90s, Mrs Rutland told us two more superstars were going to rock RutVegas. Excitement pulsed through Rut Girl's veins at the prospect of seeing Bono. Okay, maybe U2 is aiming a little too high. What about Michael Buble? Canada's not that far away after all.

Sadly that wasn't to be. Instead Mrs Rutland revealed Pat Benatar and REO Speedwagon will be here in June to rock the fairground. Awesome. It's not the first time they've toured together either so a sing off is definitely on the cards. Mind you, that tour was back in 1995 and the Rut is only the second stop on the tour, so they might be a little bit rusty. And while we jest, Rut Girl would like to point out that needy kids will get a slice of the proceeds.

Look, don't get us wrong, we're very happy to have big names come to town, we just wish it was all a bit more current.....say an artist who had an album or a single that charted in the last two years (and no, compilations, best of's and Christmas albums do not count).

The Richard Marx ad that ran in the Rutland Herald last week was hysterical. 'Over 30million albums sold’ it boldly states. Yes, in the 80s and 90s. Let's look at the stats, because we love stats (thanks Wikipedia, remember to donate everyone, what would we do without Wikipedia?):

Bryan Adams (age, 50). Last album, 2008. Cracked #80 on the Billboard Top 100.
Richard Marx (age, 46). Last album, 2004. Failed to crack the Billboard Top 100.
Pat Benatar (age, 57). Last album, 2002. Failed to crack the Billboard Top 100.
REO Speedwagon (collective age, 290). Last album, 2007. Failed to crack the Billboard Top 100.

On a side note, Rut Girl hears when Taylor 'tell it to my heart' Dayne (age 47, last album 2008) played The Rut she was less than happy about her digs at the Holiday Inn and acted like quite the diva when she was here.

I can't imagine the same behavior from Richard Marx and Bryan Adams, unless there's no hairdryer in the room, then there could be trouble.

Blown Away By Too Much Information

Another gem from the Rutland Herald. This one was passed on to me from Mr Rutland. It's from Wednesday's Dear Abby column. I don't know about trumpets, but I do know there is such a thing as too much information, or TMI as the kids like to say.

You can read Abby's considerably less funny response here: http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/?uc_full_date=20100224.