For Immediate Release
May 28, 2008

Contact: Martin C. Langeveld
802-254-2407

langeveldvt@comcast.net

Live Green! Expo and Miss VerMOOOOnt Beauty Pageant, sponsored by Aubuchon Hardware, Highlights of Vermont’s Light-Hearted Rendition of Spain’s Running of the Bulls

Brattleboro, Vermont --Two special highlights of this year’s Strolling of the Heifers Parade & Festival (Friday, June 6 – Sunday, June 8) will be the Live Green! Expo and the Miss VerMOOOOnt Beauty Pageant. Aubuchon Hardware is sponsoring both of these brand new events. In keeping with the Top Ten Vermont Summer Event’s Live Green! theme, Aubuchon Hardware is underwriting the Live Green! Expo on Saturday, June 7. This educationally oriented exhibition will take place on the Brattleboro Common (9:00 am – 3:00 pm). It will feature approximately 30 exhibits and vendors. In addition to being able to check out fuel efficient cars like Toyota hybrids, visitors will be able to learn about issues ranging from how to make their homes more energy efficient to how buying local helps support local farmers and reduce carbon emissions.

Commenting on the agricultural celebration’s focus on the protecting the environment, longtime dairy farmer and Stroll Steering Committee member Helen Robb, notes: “We chose Live Green! as our theme because when it comes to slowing down global climate change, we all must strive to save the environment for future generations.” The Strolling of the Heifers’ mission is to increase awareness regarding the importance of sustaining local agriculture and to raise money to fund educationally oriented agricultural programs for youth. Money raised by the parade and festival underwrite youth-oriented-agricultural education projects. Over the last seven years, the organization has distributed over $125,000 in funding to area schools and organizations for such projects.

Focus is on Simple Steps Everyone Can Take To Protect the Earth

“We’re taking our quest of educating youth about agriculture one step further this year by focusing on the big picture,” observes the Stroll’s Executive Director Orly Munzing. “Our Live Green! Expo, sponsored by Aubuchon Hardware, will help us educate them and the general public about simple steps everyone can take to protect the earth. With roughly 40,000 attendees each year, our event offers an unparalleled opportunity to educate a large number of people about this issue.”

Aubuchon Hardware is also sponsoring the Miss VerMOOOOnt Beauty Pageant. Emceed by Joan Rivers look-a-like, actress Nan Mann, the tongue-in-cheek beauty contest will be judged by a celebrity panel of judges including Vermont’s Secretary of Agriculture, Roger Albee, and Aubuchon Hardware’s CEO, William Aubuchon III. The heifer deemed most beautiful will stroll down the red carpet to be crowned Miss VerMOOOOnt at an awards ceremony on the Brattleboro Common -- right after the parade -- at 11:15 am. Surrounded by the paparazzi and throngs of fans, judges will bestow awards on the “Best Dressed Heifer,” “Most Congenial Heifer” and the heifer with the “Best Stroll.” Prizes donated by Aubuchon Hardware will be given to all contestants. (Heifers are cows under 2 years old that have never been milked.)

Aubuchon Hardware’s sponsorship of the Live Green! Expo and the Miss VerMOOOOnt Beauty Pageant is part of the company’s year-long celebration commemorating its 100th anniversary. The company was founded in 1908 by Bill Aubuchon’s grandfather. A century later, Aubuchon Hardware has grown from its humble beginnings into a mainstay of lively downtowns across New England and New York. Today, there are over 130 Aubuchon Hardware Stores located in small towns in New England and upstate New York. With 26 stores in Vermont alone, Aubuchon is a vital and dedicated community partner of the Green Mountain State. For more information regarding Aubuchon Hardware’s century of good business and to learn about special Aubuchon promotions and community events in your neighborhood, please visit www.hardwarestore.com.

Senator Sanders Stars Once More in Celebrity Milking Contest

The beauty pageant will be followed by the ever popular Celebrity Milking Contest starring Bernie Sanders. Bernie, a veteran competitor who has never missed the chance to compete in the contest. He will be joined by several other celebrities who will give him a run for the milk. Later, HP Hood/ Booth Brothers’ Livestock Children’s Literature Tent will be rockin’ with book-related activities for kids, including performances, readings, drawing lessons, and treasure hunts. Nationally acclaimed book authors and illustrators, Scott Nash, David Elliott, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Suzy Becker, Lori Korcheck and Marshall Taylor will be on hand to read to their fans.

For more details about the Strolling of the Heifers Parade & Festival, please log on to: www.strollingoftheheifers.com.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS. PRIMARY MEDIA SPONSORS: Brattleboro Reformer; WKVT GOLD: Hood/Booth Brothers Dairy - Official Milk of Strolling of the Heifers; Holstein Association; SoverNet, USA; Toyota; Turkey Hill; WTSA SILVER: Aubochon Hardware; Brattleboro Food Co-op; C&S Wholesale Grocers; Cabot Cooperative Creamery; Horizon Organic/The Organic Cow; Organic Valley; Price Chopper; Redex Industries/Udderly Smooth; Walgreens; WCAX-TV BRONZE: Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce; Brattleboro Museum & Art Center; Brattleboro Retreat Healthcare; Brattleboro Savings & Loan; Costume Ladies; Durand Ford Toyota; Green Mountain Tent Rentals; Hannaford Superstore; Key Bank; Mount Snow; New Chapter; Newman's Own; Stacy Subaru; Stuart Communications; The Rutland Herald; Trust Company of Vermont; United Natural Foods Inc.; Vermont Cheese Council; Windham Foundation CRYSTAL: 101 The Fox Radio; Building A Better Brattleboro; Chelsea Royal Diner; Chittenden Bank; Foard Panel; G.S. Precision; H&R Block; Hampton Inn; Home Depot; Keats Inc.; The Keene Sentinel; Leader Distribution; The Marina; New Holland; The Putney School; Riverview Café; U.S. Cellular/21st Century Cellular; Staples; Stoneyfield Farm; University of Vermont Extension; Vermont Country Store; Vermont Department of Agriculture; Vermont Natural Water; Windham County Dairy Promotion; World Learning; Woodstock Farms; WRSI/The River; Zinn Graphics PATRON: A Candle In The Night; American Flatbread; Antioch University New England; Arthur Whitcomb; Best Energy Saving Technologies; Brattleboro Chrysler, Jeep, & Dodge; Brunelle & Son Construction; BRW Electronics/ Radio Shack; Building Green Inc.; Capers Restaurant; Cockadoodle DOO; Cooke Family Realty; Co-operative Insurance; Farmers Diner/Vermont Smoke & Cure; Fleming Oil Company; Free Lunch Media Productions; Gallery Walk; Garelick Farms; Grafton Village Cheese Co; Holiday Inn Express; Hooker-Dunham Gallery & Theater; Howard Printing; Landmark College; Leader Distribution System, Inc; Marlboro Graduate College Center; Mary Meyer Mfg Co.; Merrick Pet Care; New England Natural Bakers; Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub; O’Connor Law Office; Perkins Home Center; Putney Food Co-op; Red Roof Inn; Save The Corporations from Themselves; SEVCA; Silver Forest; Southern Vermont Cable; Spring Tree Maple Products/Specialty Brands of America; Suburban Propane; Taylor for Flowers; Triple T Trucking; The Valley Advocate; Verizon Wireless Zone; Vermont Agricultural Business Education Center; Vermont Agricultural Credit Corp; Vermont Bread/Rudy’s Organic Bakery; Vermont Land Trust; Wal-Mart; Windham Wines; Zinn Graphics SUPPORTING: Abbiati Monuments; Agri-Mark, Inc; Agway; Anon’s; Banknorth Vermont; Bart's Homemade; Best Inn; Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont; Brown & Roberts Hardware; Brown Family Farm; Burton Car Wash; Cersosimo Lumber Co and Cersosimo Industries; Clear Solutions Inc.; Colonial Motel & Spa; Creamery Bridge Candles; David Manning; Inc.; Efficiency Vermont; Fireworks Restaurant; Friends of the Sun; Gale, Corum, Mabie, Cook & Prodan Law Firm; GPI Construction, Inc.; Green Mountain Spinnery; Hertz & Lloyd Attorneys at Law; Kristensen, Cummings, Phillips & Carol PC; Latchis Hotel; Mini Melts Dots of Ice Cream; Moo Dooers/VNAP; Newfane Country Store; Newton Business Products; Northland Downey Insurance Group; The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co. Inc; One Stop Country Pet Supply; Peebles; Perkins Home Center; Peter Havens; Pieciak & Co; Inc.; The Putney Inn; Real Green Goods; The Richards Group; River Valley Credit Union; Sam’s Outdoor Outfitters; The Sandri Companies; Solar Source; Thai Gardens; True Value & VS Variety Store; USA Solar Store; Vermont Artisan Designs; Vermont Natural Coatings; Vermont Veterinary Medical Assn.; Vermont Vinyl; Vermont Water Buffalo; VT-NH Veterinary Clinic; Windham Family Vision Care; The Windham Solid Waste Management District; Winter Panel Corp.; Women's Agricultural Network; Woodman Athletics; Yankee Farm Credit; Zephyr Designs SPONSORS: Adagio Trattoria; Adivasi; Altiplano; A.L. Tyler & Sons, Inc.; Amy’s Bakery Arts Café; At the Oasis; Bast Investment Co; Beadniks; Berkley & Veller/Greenwood Country Realtors; Black River Produce; Book Cellar; Borter’s Jewelry Studio; Brattleboro Haulage; Brattleboro Area Realty; Brattleboro Veterinary Clinic; Brooks House Realty; Campbell & Boyd Ins. Services; Inc; Carley’s Florist; Creative Woods Furniture Inc.; Crispe & Crispe Law Firm; Crofter Moving & Storage; Dalem’s Chalet; Inc.; The Dorner Agency, Inc.; Edward Jones & Company; ERA The Masiello Group/Stepping Stone Real Estate; Fenton Family Dealership; Fitts, Olson & Giddings; Fitz, Vogt & Associates at World Learning/SIT; Friends of Brooks Memorial Library; Green Mountain Bovine & Equine; India Palace Restaurant; J Coleman & Co Architects; James M. Puls & Associates Certified Public Accountants; John Rocray Law Firm; Lawton Floor Design; Linden Gardens; Masiello Employment Agency; Merrill Lynch; Merrill Gas Co; Inc.; Miller Brothers-Newton; Inc.; Nassau Broadcasting Partners, WHDQ/WZLF/WXLF/ WWOD/WCFR/WNHV/WSTV; New England Coffee; The New England House; Océ North America Document Printing Systems; Oly’s Plumbing & Heating; Outer Limits Health Club; Pinnacleview Equipment Inc.; Potter Steward Law Offices; Putney Road Market; Shin La Restaurant; Stevens & Associates; T.J. Buckley; Thomas M. French Attorney At Law; Verde for Home & Garden; Vermont Butter and Cheese Co; Walker Farm; Windham Flowers; WW Building Supply; Wyman Agency.

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