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Community Events in St. Albans, VT



Welcome to Handy Chevrolet's All-new
Franklin County Community Events Page

WANTED - Car, truck, SUV, and minivan drivers with nerves of steel!

The 2011 Franklin County Field Days is on route, ladies and gentlemen, and one of the main events is the annual Demolition Derby.  The Field Days board wants anyone with any experience to drive in the Derby - for pictures and video of last year's event, click here.

If you have a vehicle you'd like to enter into the handycars.com/Bousquet's Truck Parts & Service-sponsored event, contact 859-582-3155 or 802-868-7021 for details, information, and registration.

handycars.com and our staff will be there... will you?
The 2nd Annual Kingman Street Klassic Antique & Classic Car Show

The 2nd annual Kingman Klassic is back and sure to be better than ever!

On July 23, 2011 from 10:00 a.m. through 3:00 p.m., come see dozens of classic cars from various owners!  The fun includes 23 trophies, participation awards for entrants, cash prizes to the winners, fun and games, an auction, food, and DJ Made in the Shade will be performing.

This family-friendly event is 100% free for onlookers and it only costs $10 for entrants who preregister ($15 on the day of the show).  For information on registering your car, whether you just want to show off your classic and/or antique car or you want to be entered for the prizes, call 802-752-8835 or email falcon65futura@gmail.com.

And remember, the event benefits Meals on Wheels, Watershed Mentoring, Franklin County Steelers, and the Rick Manahan Scholarship Fund.  Sponsors include J&L Service Station, SAL, Robbie Martell Excavating, Shooters Saloon, Hometown Beverage, handycars.com, Timothy S. Hawkins, and Dussault Enterprises.
2011 Farmer's Market (Update)

Are you looking for fresh food, home made clothing, and other small business goods?  Look no further than the Farmer's Market in St. Albans, Vermont's own Taylor Park, every Saturday this summer.

From 9:00 a.m. through 2:00 p.m., stroll along the newly updated Taylor Park, complete with two new, stone-walled flower beds of various blooming, colorful flowers, the repainted Lady of the Park and gazebo, and new grass planted throughout--in general, the St. Albans Recreational Department has gone above and beyond for summer 2011.

In between your walk around the lovely park, stop along several shops owned by local vendors and farmers alike:  tie dyed shirts, knitted goods, fruits, vegetables, and all sorts of nick knacks are ripe for the plucking.

Support your local commerce by stopping by the Farmer's Market any Saturday this summer!

The 32nd Great Race - 2011 Bay Day

One of St. Albans, VT's finest traditions relates to America's birthday.  Bay Day, nationally called the Fourth of July, not only has food, fun, and a raucous fireworks show, but it also has a local legend in the Great Race, a biathlon and triathlon.

Originally planned for the annual date of July 3rd or July 4th depending on the week, the 32nd Annual Great Race at Bay Day 2011 has been postponed until September 4, 2011 due to flooding in the area.

For more information, contact the Franklin County Regional Chamber of Commerce at 802-524-2444 or info@fcrccvt.com.
Ilze Luneau's Playing For God

Do you enjoy music, basketball, juggling, showmanship, and/or religion?  Then be sure to join Ilze Luneau and Playing for God, and inspirational event for the whole family.  Though no religious affiliation is necessary, Ms. Luneau has spent time performing for college basketball games, the NBA, and the WNBA with her brand of skillful basketball in the vein of the Harlem Globe Trotters as she dribbles six basketballs at once and joins her performance with motivational speeches for all types of people. 

Along with Ms. Luneau's performance travels a band that performs background music and even takes center stage.  This is light rock music for all ages folks, and whether you enjoy the inspirational message within the lyrics or just like to groove in the cool summer air of Taylor Park, all are welcome to this free event.

To learn more about Playing for God, click here.
The Farmer's Market - Taylor Park, St. Albans, VT

Do you support local business?  We know that some of you do, as many of our customers are from the St. Albans area and come to Handy's for all their car needs.  Others of you perhaps buy cars here but go out of town to do your other various types of shopping.  Don't worry--we're not judging.  St. Albans doesn't have everything after all.  But now, and for many Saturdays this summer, it does have a little bit more... variety!

It doesn't matter if you need a tie-dyed shirts to fruits, vegetables, picture frames, and nick knacks, you can find it at the St. Albans Farmer's Market which started this past weekend in Taylor Park.

View photos from the event by clicking here.
2011 St. Albans VT Maple Festival

The 2011 St. Albans, VT Maple Festival took place this past weekend, and if the number of folks along Main Street and just outside of our sister store Handy Toyota's front door that were braving the less than ideal weather were any indication the event pulled in hefty tax dollars, many smiles, and good times all around.

As always, the midway was in the old Federal Street Business Parking lot, just across the street from the People's Trust Company on Kingman in St. Albans, but the majority of people--at least those of us without kids or only harnessing our inner child--took part in the plethora of activities across Main Street such as musicians, magicians, and dance troupes.

For a full story on the St. Albans Maple Festival's 2011 outing, click here.
The 2010 Harvest Festival - Celebrating Vermont's Beauty

On October 23, 2010, organizer Derek Brown and several local sponsors, one of which was Handy Cars, hosted the 2010 Harvest Festival on Har'dack Hill in St. Albans, Vermont, an all-ages event of live music, snowboarding and skiing, horse-drawn carriage rides, and of course great Vermont day with some amazing foliage all around.

The main event at the 2010 Harvest Festival was a Rail Jam, which is a skiing and snowboarding competition wherein the riders slide ("grind") along a slippery metal rail ("rail") in an attempt to do tricks of all kinds:  360 degree spins, jumps, and anything else with which the participants invent on the spot.

The Harvest Festival was also a display for three local bands:  Concious Roots, Amozen, and Workingman's Army, all of whom were excellent performers.
 The Kingman Street Klassic - Free Food, Free Face Painting, Free Fun

This past summer on July 25, 2010, organizer Kathleen Manahan and several local businesses-sponsors, including Handycars.com, put on the first annual Kingman Street Klassic, a classic automobile show for the local St. Albans denizens.

For the "first annual" Klassic, I mentioned to Kathleen Manahan that the event was nothing if not stellar.  The sheer number of folks who showed up was astounding, making the event seem as though it was in a third or fourth year.  I asked Dylan Berno, friend of several Handy employees and volunteer at the Klassic how this was obtained and he just shrugged and said plainly "well our crew and Kathy just did a great job promoting it.  We put together a webpage, hung up fliers all around town--and I hung them all over Burlington, so that really helped.  Yeah, it just came together nicely!"

Click here for more information, photos, and video from the 2010 Kingman Klassic.
The Civil War Reenactment - Remembering the War at Home

On July 10, 2010 in Taylor Park in St. Albans, Vermont, the Civil War, one of America's saddest yet most important moments in our young history, was reenacted by a talented group of gentlemen and ladies from the 55th Virginia Infantry (Company D) and the 118th New York Infantry (Company F) Historical Reenacting Unit displayed the tragic events that took place during said War.

Click here for more on the Civil War Reenactment from July 10, 2010

The 2010 Franklin County Field Days - Handy Cars and Jack Chamberlain Put on a Show!

Thursday, July 29, 2010 through Sunday, August 1, 2010, Highgate Airport in Swanton, Vermont, just past MVU high school on Thunderbird Drive, played host to the annual Franklin County Field Days, a celebration of all that makes Franklin County great.

Demolition Derbies, Truck and Tractor Pulls, carnival rides, fair food, and games were all present in full fashion, along with countless exhibits from local companies such as Handy Toyota and Handy Chevrolet of St. Albans, your destination for a new Chevrolet or used vehicle in the Northern Vermont and greater Burlington, VT area.

Hopefully you witnessed the Handy Cars booth first hand as well as Jack Chamberlain's fantastic work--but if not you're in luck! 

Check out the Franklin County Field Days' exclusive page by clicking here.
The 2010 CVPS Cow Power Awards - Honoring Producers, Users, and All

As you all are hopefully aware by now, Handy Chevrolet has taken a pledge to fight pollution and take part in sculpting a better tomorrow for our Earth.  Not only do we carry many used, fuel efficient, and eco-friendly Toyota Prius vehicles and new Chevrolet Volt EV's, Chevrolet Cruze sedans, and hybrids like the Tahoe Hybrid and Silverado Hybrid, but we opt to pay a slightly higher premium for a program that the Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS) power company has dubbed Cow Power.

But what is Cow Power?  Simply put, Cow Power is electricity derived from cows, something Vermont has an abundance of.  The waste that was once sitting in lagoons, necessitating expensive disposal by farmers is now used to make electricity.  What's more, this waste was giving off high levels of methane gas, a gas that is produced when organic matter decomposes, which in turn is released into the atmosphere.  Even though Vermont ranks in the lowest percentile of greenhouse gasses, the methane gas released from this waste was a substantial portion of that small percentage.  As stated, not only were the farmers responsible for the removal of this waste, they were paying premium price for sawdust to line the cows' beds.

Enter CVPS and Dave Dunn, who started a coalition of sorts named Cow Power.  The idea was to take this manure and turn it into electricity.  Methane is a highly flammable gas, and under the right circumstances, and a lot of studying, Mr. Dunn was inclined to believe that it could be used as a fuel for our lights, refrigerators, televisions--as stated, for electricity.
Click here to read more about the 2010 Cow Power Awards at Middlebury, Vermont's Farmer's Insurance Cooperative.
The 2009 Franklin County Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner and Silent Auction - One of Handy Automotive's Crowning Achievements

The Franklin County Chamber of Commerce held it's annual Dinner and Silent Auction on Friday, May 7, 2010, which honors several businesses from the County that have made major contributions to our small community.  Members of the Handy Toyota and Handy Chevrolet team, together as Handy Cars, came in droves with the intent of celebrating our award as Business of the Year, a great honor in any community.

Click here for more media and a brief commentary on the event.
More About St Albans, Essex, Burlington, and Franklin County VT Community Events

Handy Chevrolet, Vermont's finest Chevrolet dealership, knows one thing for certain that is just as important than any other:  we wouldn't be where we are today without the mutual support of our friends, family, customers, and business associates around our community.  That is why we are active members of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, interested in Franklin County High School sports, and engaged in events such as the 2010 Harvest Festival, 2009 St. Albans, Chamber of Commerce Award Banquet & Silent Auction, and much, much more!

So this re-designed page is put forth to allow our customers and general website users the option of getting to know what's happening in our neck of the woods.  Because as we said, without this small-town vibe that St. Albans and Franklin County, Vermont has in spades, Handy Chevrolet becomes just another dealership, and we like to think that's a large portion of what sets us apart.

For those of you who would like to post something on our Community Events Page, contact Chris Dugan at cdugan@handycars.com, use our handy contact form by clicking here.

Thanks for stopping by and we hope to see you here often!

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