The "Art of Humor" isn't trivial
2024-04-14
Dear friend,
How's it going with you?
I'm trying to find my happy place this morning, but overall, events around the world and around Vermont have been getting me down. (For more on some of the things I've been down about, see inflation hits the State budget, The cost of education is going up., and Will rural cell coverage ever improve?)
If that's not enough, I've got constituents writing to me every day about taxes, affordability, and trapping.
That's right -- if politics were not already divisive enough, the Senate passed S.258, a hunting and trapping bill. There will be testimony on it in House Committee on Environment and Energy this Wednesday/Thursday, and since January I've been hearing strongly from voters. By email volume, tone and rhetoric, y'all are very strongly split on this bill.
Here's where I stand: to be determined (TBD).
I feel strongly about protecting our wildlife, and I also feel that humans are at our best when we are wildlife. I love being outdoors, among the animals and plants, and I know a lot of my neighbors feel the same way. I'm more of a forager myself, but I respect hunting and fishing traditions and believe that they can and do, for the most part, co-exist responsibly with healthy Vermont ecosystems.
With over 800 House bills and over 300 Senate bills out there, I've held off getting to know S.258 until a) it was passed out of the Senate, and b) the committee of jurisdiction in the House scheduled time on it -- which they now have. I'll look forwarding to following the testimony this week and getting to know the bill.
If this bill is like any other controversial topic this year, there will also be multiple amendments on it that will change it significantly. We'll see how it goes.
Please keep your emails coming. I read each one, even though I'm not able to reply every time.
***
With all that's difficult, I feel it's more important than ever that we cultivate laughter and celebrate what's working!
I was so happy to be able to attend Wilmington's Town Meeting on March 5th and deliver to Laraine Morrow an official copy of H.C.R. 168: House concurrent resolution honoring the artistic legacy of Skip Morrow and The Art of Humor Gallery in Wilmington.
Laraine Morrow speaking after receiving H.C.R. 168 from Rep. Roberts at the Wilmington Town Meeting, March 5, 2024
If you haven't been to the Art of Humor Gallery in Wilmington -- it's worth a visit! There is a nominal entry fee and you get to walk around and laugh at the art on the walls. There are affordable gifts to buy, but there's no pressure. What's not to like?
Even though I only made my first visit to the gallery last year, Skip Morrow has touched my life ever since he and Laraine opened the gallery in 2001. The sign alone on Route 9 has always perked me up. Someone had the vision to be a cartoonist and devote a gallery to it. And they chose to do it all up a dirt road in Vermont -- oxymoronically named "Not A Road"? This is the kind of thing I love about Wilmington.
As mentioned in the Resolution, Skip shared his talents. Not only was he a mentor to many students, but he did a lot of volunteer work. The MOOver has gotten a lot of mileage out of the logos Skip designed and that still adorn all the DVTA buses. Skip cut the original decals by hand -- a modern Matisse. He also did:
The logo for the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Clambake and Auction fundraiser that was held annually for many years at the hospital.
The initial logo for KidsPLAYce in Brattleboro.
The logo for the Pool Learning Center in Marlboro, VT for students with dyslexia (no longer in operation)
Artwork used by organizations from Strolling of the Heifers to Mount Snow
Skip also co-organized and performed for about 30 years for the annual Deerfield Valley Food Pantry (DVFP) Holiday Benefit Concert, and designed advertising campaigns for the DVFP.
Laraine and Skip Morrow perform together
Humor isn't trivial. Sometimes, as in Skip's The Official I Hate Cats Book, it reflects the cruelty of the world we live in and helps us to laugh at it.
Sometimes, it takes a humorist to see things in a different light. In the 1990s, the State proposed building a bypass for Route 9 around downtown Wilmington. This proposal would have torn up the landscape and didn't fly. But apparently, it got Skip thinking. As part of a town committee, he proposed leaving Route 9 where it is, and moving the town to a hillside over the Harriman Reservoir. Skip spent months building a 3D model of the proposal, which remains on display at the gallery.
"It wouldn't cost that much to move the town out of the way and Route 9 is exactly where it wants to be," Skip told PBS in an interview. "So it was fun. And it is still the subject of bar talk in our town."
from left: Lindsay Morrow, Laraine Morrow, Megan Morrow, and Rep. Roberts - April 10, 2024
Skip's legacy is also Laraine's. Married in 1981, the two made a creative couple -- a musical duo that performed at Deerfield Valley restaurants, weddings, and other events.
I was privileged to be able to welcome Laraine Morrow and her daughters Lindsay and Megan to the State House last week.
Here again is the resolution celebrating their work together. A small sampling of the Art of Humor Gallery is also on tour -- you can see a couple of Skip's pieces on the walls of the State House in my committee room -- House Corrections & Institutions.
Thanks for reading today! What's your feedback on S.258, humor, or people who have encouraged you to think differently?
cheers!
Rep. Tristan Roberts
Vermont House of Representatives
P.S. Also check out: https://www.skipmorrow.com/
