Can I be biased? My dad owns a business on Dairy Hill. We have a John Deere dealership. That's where I grew up. He's been there for over 40 years and there's no sign at the bottom of the hill and he's been doing great. It's pretty incredible.

What do you think makes Royalton unique or different from other places you have lived or visited?

I think it's the close knit family ties here and the community. We're smaller, everybody kinda knows each other... It's a willingness to help everybody. In bigger towns it's harder to get that, your more apt to stray away from people. The law school's a big part of our town. I always say if it wasn't for the law school we'd probably wouldn't have a town, because they bring so much. They bring a lot of diversity which I think is really great.

What is the most challenging aspect of life in a small Vermont town like Royalton?

Now that I'm divorced, meeting someone. I have my own singles group for that now. I think it's maybe the access to the resources that would be in a larger area. When things need to be improved it's a bigger struggle to get new places, like a new gym, the taxes seem to be affected by that. It definitely has an impact on improvements in the community which are important.

What Royalton resident made a positive difference in your life?

It really boils down to my parents because they're business owners. Growing up as a child we watched them do the business. Didn't really understand the importance of it then, but as I look back at my childhood now, even though I was kinda on my own a lot and became very independent it was really important, kinda how do you survive. That to me really instilled good work ethic. Kind of what it takes to have your own business and survive. Sometimes your family does get sacrificed. But I think all in all as adults now we're all really close and it's a big family business.

What do you want people to know about your town?

One [tidbit] I know and I think and I could be wrong is that John Deere was either born here or he was here in his early teens and that's how he met Joseph Smith and so they had a connection and so it's really cool that my dad happens to have a John Deer dealership on Joseph Smith Hill so that's really cool.

What is wish for your life? What is a wish for your town?

To never give up. Never give up things that are really important to the community like Old Homes Day. Even though it's a smaller version of bigger things that people love, it's still really important and it supports the fire department and it's just as important.