And The Cabin Naming Contest Winners Are ...

Lady's Slipper

Thank you to all who participated in our Cabin Naming Contest. We had over 400 entries and so many of them were wonderful, which made deciding on two winners very difficult. The stories, poems, pictures, and reasons people submitted for their entries were touching, entertaining, and very interesting. We hope to share some of them with you over the next couple of months.

The most popular flower submitted was Red Clover or Clover, but unfortunately, even though it is our state flower, it's actually native to Europe.

Even though there were so many wonderful entries, there can only be two winners. These lucky folks will receive a weekend in their named cabin and there will be a poster placed in each cabin for the season, explaining how the cabins got their name. Congratulations, you have made park history!

The winners are...

Lady's Slipper
From Jennie Kolenda of Proctorsville, Vermont

As youngsters, we were always roaming through the woods (never called the forest). We delighted in hearing the songs of the birds and the stirrings of the leaves, surprising a rodent. When we were thirsty, we cupped our hands and drank the water from a sparkling stream. Today, that would be a no-no. In the spring, we checked out the many beautiful wild flowers, knowing them by name. In particular, we searched for the elusive, rare, "Lady's Slipper." Were we excited when we found one. To us, it was like finding Gold. We did not disturb its habitat, leaving it to reproduce the following year. When we arrived home, we had exciting news to tell our family.


Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Jack-in-the-Pulpit
From Autumn Bucchieri, Shaftsbury, VT
 I have an answer that is dear to my heart. When I was about ten, we moved along the Battenkill River in Arlington, VT. My mom was a hippie of sorts and I remember fondly her taking us kids for walks, showing us the species of plants and mushrooms that grew in the wild along the riverbanks. One of these days has stood out in my mind ever since. We were walking and exploring when I heard an exclamation and excitement come over my mom. She knelt to the ground and tenderly swept away dead foliage and showed us her "wonder". It was a Jack-in-the-Pulpit. She explained to us kids how rare and beautiful this flower was. She told us we should never pick it because it was endangered and very special. As a kid, it was the first time I had ever known that other things besides animals could be endangered. It was eye-opening and moving and I will never forget that curious odd looking Jack-in-the-Pulpit. That day created for me a lifelong appreciation of the small wonders of nature and the ability to never take these things for granted.

One of the new cabins

We also wanted to award an Honorable Mention to Kit Andrews from Burlington, VT who submitted, "Red Clover" with the following story:

(Red Clover) Because I have always been very proud of our state flower. It is a lovely wild flower and very common, which is like Vermonters. We are lovely, plain & uncomplicated, and common. Meaning, we are right here and right over there, easy to find if one looks for us, in groups or alone. Furthermore, we all know we are the same inside. We are all equal and no one of us is better than the next one. And, if every one of us, whether a "muffin" or "kitten" doesn't always come across this way, recognizes the equal worth of every human being, we are no better or no worse than "those other ones over there". We still know in our hearts that this is the Vermont way to be. Otherwise, we wouldn't still be here, or we wouldn't have returned, or we wouldn't have chosen to move here from away. One other reason for this flower is that cows love it and for well over half of the last century, there were more cows than people in Vermont!

Thank you to everyone who participated and we'll see in the parks!