Lunchtime golf near Manchester Village PHOTO BY HUBERT SCHRIEBL

Many of the names on the voter list, many of the buildings, and many of the vistas are the same today in Bennington County as they were a century ago. Even as we've grown, we've kept our traditional values. We have:

• Emphasis on community and family activities in a safe environment

• Strong local primary and secondary schools (both public and private) and several first-rate colleges

• Thriving cultural institutions: music, art, drama, dance, museums, historical societies, libraries, and collections.

• Broad spectrum of real estate: in town and out of town, historic and modern at good value in an incomparable setting

• Low cost of living

• Sports: summer and winter, organized and casual, individual and team, from youngsters to old-enough-to-know-better, in and around the Green Mountains.