Bethel’s Winterfest celebrates community, looks toward the future

BETHEL — Lindsey Schell never meant to stay in Bethel. She left her hometown to go to college in New York and then lived in New Mexico and Florida. She only came home in 2019 to figure out where she would go next.

But Saturday was Bethel’s first Winterfest, and the 26-year-old was there selling T-shirts emblazoned with the pink logo for the Bethel Skate Park. (Matt B., a local artist, age 13, had contributed his drawing.) Schell was raising money for the park’s second, expanded phase.

“The sense of community and how it’s evolving has made me want to stay,” she said. “People make a place.”

Schell didn’t go to many community events when she was growing up. But even in the last few years, she has seen Bethel become a more cohesive town. She joined the Recreation Committee after she saw the first phase of the skate park — she knew it was just the kind of project that Bethel needed to draw in people from neighboring towns.

The Bethel Winterfest was a celebration complete with hot cocoa, s’mores and a blazing bonfire. The warm weather precluded any ice skating, but a steep hill on an open field offered prime sledding. The Recreation Committee and Bethel for All, a new volunteer group, organized the event to bring people together in February when winter cabin fever is at its most extreme. But the Winterfest was also a way to get more people involved with projects they have in the works to make Bethel a better town for everyone.

Ellie Griffin, who chairs the Recreation Committee, served hot chocolate and flaunted her bright “X” and “O” earrings — donned “because I love Bethel,” she said.

Bethel’s Recreation Facility used to offer little more than a swimming pool, she said. But the committee is working to make it an “all-inclusive center” with something for everyone. So now Bethel has an ice-skating rink for winter, a skating park for the warmer months, an expanding trail network and lots of plans in the works.

Griffin is also part of Bethel for All, a new group that started last spring when the town won a Better Connections grant from the state of Vermont. The volunteers have about $100,000 to create an action plan to improve accessibility and safety in the village, help connect people to recreation opportunities, beautify the village and revitalize the economy. They are working with a team of consultants led by DuBois & King, based in Randolph.

On Saturday, anyone who stopped by for hot cocoa could also pause by large interactive maps of Bethel. They could place stickers anywhere they would like a new bike lane, a more accessible entrance or another local shop.

Suspended between the busier towns of Randolph and White River Junction, “Bethel gets shuffled off,” said Nicole Cyr, the Bethel for All project manager. But she emphasized how much the town has to offer, from skilled artisans and small businesses to bucolic surroundings.

“We’re really lucky to have a downtown with great bones — really unique historic buildings,” said Rebecca Stone, who volunteers on the Bethel for All steering committee. Stone’s firm, Community Workshop, is also working with Poultney and Lyndon, the two other Vermont towns that won Better Connections grants last year. She is contributing many of the same services to Bethel for free.

“The built environment is the first thing you see, and it colors your perception of whether a community is a place you want to stop, get out of the car, want to live,” she said.

But Bethel’s historic buildings were not built for wheelchairs, and renovating them is expensive. Other buildings need repairs and public spaces “could look better,” she added.

Winterfest is only the beginning for Bethel for All. In the months ahead, it will hold online planning forums, block audits, pop-up demonstrations and small action projects ranging from beautifying the downtown area to putting up new signs.

Claire Potter is a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at cpotter@vnews.com or 603-727- 3242.