The Northland Journal is about a passion, a passion to preserve the history and culture of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom and its neighbors. It’s not about getting rich or about inflating my own ego with self-imposed titles. What the Journal is about is sharing and preserving the history and culture of this little corner of the world.
In saying that, I must admit it did feel good to have the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce award the Journal with the Kingdom Recognition Award.

The Journal was one of a few Northeast Kingdom businesses honored at the Chamber’s annual meeting held on March 7 at the Black Bear Tavern and Grille in St. Johnsbury.
The award reads: “In preserving and chronicling our unique traditions, our storied history and wonderful personalities, Vermont’s Northland Journal shows a side of the Kingdom that is rarely seen but always appreciated. In grateful appreciation of telling the tales that deserve to be told.”

I see this award as the Chamber’s recognition of the value of sharing and preserving the stories that helped make the Kingdom what it is today. Above all, it shows that they understand the worth of listening to the voices and words of our more seasoned residents—the people who lived the region’s history and helped make it what it is today—while also acknowledging the importance of weaving in some of the voices of more recent arrivals.

While there are a fair number of people who seem to enjoy complaining about what we don’t have in the Kingdom, I am a firm believer in the region. No, life isn’t always easy here in this neck of the woods. Jobs aren’t always plentiful, and the seemingly endless winters sometimes get me to grumbling, but I try to focus on all that we do have here in this rural, forested part of the world—the beauty, the safety, and the community spirit. The pessimists among us look at the Kingdom as the land of lack of opportunities; I look at it as a land with bountiful opportunities, recreational and economical. There isn’t a day, not even the days that I find myself griping a bit more than I should, that I don’t count my blessings for being able to call this land home—a land that my ancestors have walked and worked for hundreds of years. If we work as individuals, and as a team, we can make the Kingdom an even better place to live.

Thank you, Northeast Kingdom Chamber, for this recognition, but an even greater thanks for realizing the importance of our past and the important role it holds in understanding the present as we set our sights on the future.

Scott Wheeler accepted this award from the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce on behalf of Vermont’s Northland Journal.