Barre was teeming with politicians last weekend. Sens. Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders made their way across the stage at the Barre Opera House. So did Rep. Peter Welch and Barre Mayor Thomas Lauzon.
They all wanted a piece of the crowd’s attention before Jackson Browne played Saturday and Sunday nights, perhaps not realizing that the crowd was packed with Jackson Browne devotees from all over the country who can’t vote for them.
The occasion – no, the 70s singer-songwriter doesn’t play Barre regularly – was a grand opening/fundraiser for LACE (Local Agriculture Community Exchange), a project initiated by the late rocker Warren Zevon’s daughter, Ariel, who’s a Barre resident with a penchant for healthy foods and is also Jackson Browne’s goddaughter.
Browne plays his politics on his sleeve and his guitar. He was no-nukes in the 70s, no-war in the 2000s. Leahy said he and Browne chatted politics Saturday afternoon, pretty much agreeing all the way. Except that in Browne’s new "Drums of War," he sings, "Why is impeachment not on the table?" Apparently, they don’t agree on everything.
None of the politicians were there because they’re big fans of Browne’s music. Leahy’s more of a Grateful Dead fan. Sanders didn’t stay for the whole show. Welch admitted he didn’t know many of Jackson’s songs, though he wanted to hear "Stay." ("Won’t you stay just a little bit longer?") He didn’t get to, though I did deliver a refrain of it myself that would make anyone yearn for David Lindley’s strangled voice on the original.
I was there because my sister and I grew up palpitating over Jackson Browne’s sum-up-life-and-its-failings lyrics in the 1970s.
'Cause I've been up and down this highway
Far as my eyes can see
No matter how fast I run
I can never seem to get away from me
No matter where I am
I can't help feeling I'm just a day away
From where I want to be
Now I'm running home baby
Like a river to the sea
There was nothing particularly political about our adoration of him and his music. You can argue, as my husband does, that it’s all about Jackson’s hunky-dreamboat looks, or, as I maintain, that it was about the words. Anyway, our sisterly reunion to re-explore that devotion is a beautiful story, really, but this is a political blog. So let’s get back to the politics.
One politician conspicuously absent from the concert stage or the grand opening - despite his penchant for ribbon cuttings – was Gov. Jim Douglas. Could it be there are politics to choosing ribbon cuttings?
When push comes to shove, Douglas probably connected with more voters by going to the Girls on the Run race Sunday morning than the LACE ribbon cutting. Deputy Agriculture Secretary Anson Tebbetts represented the Douglas administration, said the ag agency has worked steadily with LACE to put this thing together, but the governor skipped this one.
Anthony Pollina was there, staffing his Vermont Milk Co.’s newfangled creamie machine. Scudder Parker was milling around. It might not have been Douglas' kind of thing.
- Terri Hallenbeck
