A Tale in Granville
Susannah Kerest
November 20, 2025
Front Porch Forum hosts online newsletters in every town in Vermont. Neighbors, nonprofits, businesses, and government officials can post messages, share news, get advice, make recommendations, announce events, sell items, and much more. It's all about helping neighbors to connect and build community.
Each week, one posting is selected for its humor, storytelling, or community-building, and then shared throughout the state. And, now you can read it here in The Bridge Weekly.
William shared the following tale in the Granville Forum. We thought it was well worth a share:
"Tonight I was working in my office. It is typically very dark and quiet here, except for the sound of the White River and the wind. Some strange lights caught my eye, and I thought maybe some guests had arrived at one of my cottages. After a while, I heard a noise and thought maybe I should go investigate. Sure enough, a gent named Juan, hailing from the Bronx, had gotten lost.
Juan was pulling a 48' mobile dental unit to a VA facility in Middlebury. He obviously got lost, drove up West Hill in Granville for who knows what reason, decided to turn around in my driveway, and got hopelessly stuck on the side of my mountain. He had a 4WD dually RAM, but it was useless. He had tried to back down my steep, narrow driveway (with a pond on one side and a steep bank on the other - unsuccessfully, I might add.)
Juan found his truck stuck deep in the mud over the embankment leading to the pond, with his trailer high-centered on the crown of the road and the tail end wedged 15' out into the woods in a bank. I tried in vain to pull him out with my tractor. No dice.
I decided to call in the cavalry. I called up my buddies, Duke and Charlie. Being the Samaritans they are - they dropped what they were doing and came to help a neighbor in need. First Duke tried pulling the trailer back into the road with his Ford. He broke my logging chain in half and almost went for a swim in my pond. Strike two.
Charlie decided to call in the heavy artillery and fetched his front-end loader. Duke and Charlie worked together and picked that dental office up like it was a child's toy and gently deposited it back on the roadbed, only somewhat worse for wear. Charlie then respectfully asked the former pilot if he might take a shot at backing it down the driveway for him. Juan accepted gladly. Well, the boys got everything pointed in the right direction, and Juan went on his way to Middlebury. I hope he made it.
I'm proud of my friends and my state. I'm not even sure if Juan understands just how stuck he was and just how much this would have cost him if he had to call the enormous wrecker required. Not to mention he probably would have been here for hours at best.
This wasn't the first time either. Both of these fine gentlemen have gotten me unstuck, taught me important lessons, and generally delivered the education with good humor. They always reserve the right to give you a good ribbing first and at each subsequent meeting for quite some time."
For more stories and useful connection in your own Vermont town, join Front Porch Forum by visiting frontporchforum.com.
Each week, one posting is selected for its humor, storytelling, or community-building, and then shared throughout the state. And, now you can read it here in The Bridge Weekly.
William shared the following tale in the Granville Forum. We thought it was well worth a share:
"Tonight I was working in my office. It is typically very dark and quiet here, except for the sound of the White River and the wind. Some strange lights caught my eye, and I thought maybe some guests had arrived at one of my cottages. After a while, I heard a noise and thought maybe I should go investigate. Sure enough, a gent named Juan, hailing from the Bronx, had gotten lost.
Juan was pulling a 48' mobile dental unit to a VA facility in Middlebury. He obviously got lost, drove up West Hill in Granville for who knows what reason, decided to turn around in my driveway, and got hopelessly stuck on the side of my mountain. He had a 4WD dually RAM, but it was useless. He had tried to back down my steep, narrow driveway (with a pond on one side and a steep bank on the other - unsuccessfully, I might add.)
Juan found his truck stuck deep in the mud over the embankment leading to the pond, with his trailer high-centered on the crown of the road and the tail end wedged 15' out into the woods in a bank. I tried in vain to pull him out with my tractor. No dice.
I decided to call in the cavalry. I called up my buddies, Duke and Charlie. Being the Samaritans they are - they dropped what they were doing and came to help a neighbor in need. First Duke tried pulling the trailer back into the road with his Ford. He broke my logging chain in half and almost went for a swim in my pond. Strike two.
Charlie decided to call in the heavy artillery and fetched his front-end loader. Duke and Charlie worked together and picked that dental office up like it was a child's toy and gently deposited it back on the roadbed, only somewhat worse for wear. Charlie then respectfully asked the former pilot if he might take a shot at backing it down the driveway for him. Juan accepted gladly. Well, the boys got everything pointed in the right direction, and Juan went on his way to Middlebury. I hope he made it.
I'm proud of my friends and my state. I'm not even sure if Juan understands just how stuck he was and just how much this would have cost him if he had to call the enormous wrecker required. Not to mention he probably would have been here for hours at best.
This wasn't the first time either. Both of these fine gentlemen have gotten me unstuck, taught me important lessons, and generally delivered the education with good humor. They always reserve the right to give you a good ribbing first and at each subsequent meeting for quite some time."
For more stories and useful connection in your own Vermont town, join Front Porch Forum by visiting frontporchforum.com.
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