Moose Paparazzi in Town

Paparazzi are notorious for being where the action is. They will go to any extreme to get the story and you can bet they will take lots of pictures. Moose paparazzi are no different as a good moose story is hard to beat. Word about the Bennington Moosefest made its way out West to the Rocky Mtns. earlier this year so Colorado residents Marty Wilson and Jan Cummer (aka... the Moose Paparazzi) flew out from Denver to get the scoop.




The official Moose Paparazzi Unit

On the afternoon of Thursday, Oct. 13, the paparazzi team sped into Bennington on Rt. 9 and the first stop was a photo op of "Molly Stark Moose" at the Top Notch Diner. The first words out of Marty's mouth when gazing at the moose were, "What a sight! This event is going to be huge!" After exercising the camera shutter like a fashion photographer, the paparazzi motored west into the heart of downtown. "Jackpot!" exclaimed Jan as the moose were seen standing at their sentinels one after another along Main St. With the moose map in hand, the paparazzi duo traveled afoot to catch all the action from the downtown herd. This also afforded an opportunity to get a bounty haul of "Mooseabilia" at some of the local shops.

Next was onto the Chamber to meet PJ and the gang so the moose crazed Coloradans could get the latest skinny on the other moose throughout the area. The team couldn't leave the Chamber without buying some more "moose goods" so it's a good thing the Moose Paparazzi Unit had ample trunk space!

Daylight was thinning so the duo worked the herd in the Chamber area. Over dinner, they put together a strategy for locating and photographing the rest of the gang over the next two days. Downtown was sure to be abuzz tomorrow night as it was Funky Friday and a great opportunity to mingle with the artists and shop as good paparazzi always find time to shop the local scene.

Day Two brought the moose shutterbugs to the southern gateway on Rt. 7 to start the morning right with "Rufus" over at Leonard's True Value Hardware. After some discussion with his guardians, the next stop was to admire "Nellie" up at the Pownal View Barn. They inquired about her illustrations and got the scoop on the long johns. At this point, the lure of eating real VT cheese was too much to take, so Marty purchased some heavenly local cheese for the team to munch on while tooling about to the other moose along Rt. 7 and then Rt. 9 west to the state line.



The Moose Paparazzi
With Rufus

All in all, it was a good day for the team as they visited 19 moose for photos and mingled among the local shops. As the afternoon was giving way to dusk, the paparazzi made their way to the Chamber for the latest buzz on the moose and another run of "moose loot." The duo wandered into the downtown herd again for another look and met up with a number of the artists at Bennington Bookshop. "It was really cool to talk with the artists about their particular moose and the evolution of each piece from start to finish," said Marty. In addition, multiple copies of dolly's clay were signed for the paparazzi to bring back to Colorado. After sampling some of the other events going on for Funky Friday, reality hit that the teams' mission would be completed the next day as the remaining moose up Rt. 7A and Rt. 67A were on tap for the camera lens.

Day Three was bittersweet as the paparazzi caught up with the remainder of the herd clear up into N. Bennington. They happened by VAE to visit "Mort" and came upon Matthew Perry, one of the moose artists. The artful moose positioned throughout the community and the overall value of the Moosefest to the Bennington area was the hot topic that the paparazzi team discussed with Matthew. He shared his thoughts as he was signing along side his moose in dolly's clay. How fitting to have "Road Trip" located at Bennington Subaru to be the final moose to be photographed on the three day tour. The paparazzi clamored on in conversation with one of the moose owners at the Subaru dealer and then it was one more shuffle to the Chamber for the final farewell.


Paparazzi with Woodland Carousel

At the Chamber, Jan turned in her copy of the "Moose Scavenger Hunt" and PJ was gracious enough to grade it on the spot! Jan scored 100 % as everyone enjoyed the conversation around the "Moose Paparazzi" visiting and photographing all the moose displayed during these three days. "Being amidst the buzz of Moosefest for these three days has been very special to us and the positive vibe in the community is very evident," said Marty.

As the pair was driving out of town late Saturday afternoon, they waved and smiled as they passed Maury, Tracks, Hands, Moose Daisy, Vern, Sal, Stepping Out, Any Which Way and Molly Stark. The moose felt like old friends to the paparazzi team and to them, the Bennington Moose and their spirit will always be aglow in this wonderful Vermont town.