WEST BRATTLEBORO — The West Brattleboro Association (WBA) has put up its new “Welcome to West Brattleboro” signs.
These signs are displayed at the borders of the village on Route 9, according to a news release. One is viewable heading west on Western Ave, on the sign post a little past the Creamery Bridge. The other stands at the intersection of Marlboro and Cooke roads, on land owned by the Whetstone Valley Farm.
Michael Bosworth of the WBA said in the release that the installation of these signs, one last fall and one this spring, was the culmination of several years of effort. The Association first had to raise the money, and numerous people and businesses gave large and small donations.
Brattleboro Area Affordable Housing acted as the initial fiscal sponsor for these contributions. The WBA now has its own federal nonprofit status.
Dennis Tier of Dummerston was hired to make both of these signs, which are based on a graphic created for the WBA by Lauren Henry and used in the Association's letterhead and on various fund-raising documents in the past.
Bosworth thanked Brian Bannon of the town Planning Services Department for “expeditiously processing both permits” for the signs, George and Ed Martin of Wayside Fence for mounting the eastbound sign on posts and then installing it near Whetstone Valley Farm, and the Hamilton family for letting it be located on their land.
For the westbound sign on the signpost near the Creamery Bridge, Bosworth said Town Manager Peter Elwell “was supportive and very helpful in picking the location.” When this second sign was ready, it was installed by the Department of Public Works.
Bosworth said State Senator Jeanette White, D-Windham, and the Vermont Agency of Transportation also played roles.
“Senator White advocated for a change to the state's roadside sign laws that allows villages like West Brattleboro - which aren't separate municipalities, but which do have their own identities - to put up such non-commercial welcome signs,” he said in the news release, “and [AOT] sent out a person to specify the appropriate distance from the state highway at Cooke Road.”