From BMU to Celery Man: Alan Bisson Finds Joy in Making People Laugh

By Joshua Smith

Alan Bisson, a Blue Mountain Union School graduate, Bisson is the creator of “Celery Man.” (Courtesy Photo)

There is a certain kind of courage in being willing to look a little ridiculous.

For Alan Bisson, a 1990 graduate of Blue Mountain Union School, that courage has involved poetry, live performance, social media and, more recently, getting hit in the face with pies, ranch dressing, peanut butter and other assorted food by a stalk of celery.

Bisson is the creator of “Celery Man,” a comedy character that has attracted an audience well beyond Vermont. His short-form videos have earned millions of views and tens of thousands of followers, with viewers tuning in from across the United States and around the world.

The videos are brief, strange and intentionally silly, but behind the comedy is something more heartfelt: a man who enjoys making people laugh and who has rediscovered his own creative voice through poetry and performance.

“Celery Man is a comedy character who lives with celery,” Bisson said. “And Celery has his own mind. He talks. He has a mind of his own and he likes to hit me in the face with pies and, you know, anything — ketchup, ranch dressing, peanut butter, you name it, and it’s going in my face.”

The character began almost accidentally. Bisson had gone on a diet and found himself eating a lot of celery. As a poet, he decided to write about it.

“I decided to write a poem about celery and a lot of people liked it,” he said. “So I put out another one and it just started evolving. And then all of a sudden I’m on TikTok getting millions of views. It’s crazy.”

What started as a simple creative experiment soon became something much bigger.

Bisson said his TikTok audience had grown to roughly 53,000 followers, with viewers coming from Greece, Australia, Canada and many other places. He has also been recognized locally by people who know him only as Celery Man.

“It’s so much fun to walk into a Maplefields store and everybody knows me and I don’t know them,” he said.

Still, Bisson said the most meaningful part is not the follower count or viral attention. It is hearing from people who say the videos made them smile.

“I’m just glad that I can make people’s days,” he said.

Some viewers have told him they look forward to seeing the videos when they are having a difficult day. Others simply appreciate the silliness.

That sense of joy seems to be at the center of what Bisson is doing. There is also a certain bravery in it.

Posting comedy online means taking a chance. There is no guarantee people will understand the joke or enjoy what you create. Bisson said he gets some negative comments along with the positive ones, but he keeps making the videos.

He has always enjoyed humor and said people have encouraged him to try stand-up comedy over the years. The thought of performing in that setting, however, made him nervous.

Celery Man became another way to perform.

“This is my opportunity to do that behind the scenes,” he said. “It’s just me and the camera.”

That creative courage goes back much further than social media. Bisson’s love of poetry began during his senior year at Blue Mountain Union. In English class, he watched Dead Poets Society and immediately connected with it.

“I was hooked instantly,” he said.

He started keeping a notebook beside his bed. Sometimes he would wake up at one or two in the morning and write whatever came to him.

“Maybe it was something I dreamt or whatever, and I would just write this whole poem,” he said.

Then, like it does for many people, life took over. Bisson served in the Army, married and spent roughly 20 years living in Colorado Springs. He said he went about 30 years without seriously writing poetry. When he returned to Vermont in 2019, something changed.

He began writing again. “That’s when I realized, dang, I actually can write really well,” he said.

Bisson describes his poetry and songwriting as somewhat “Bob Dylan-ish,” with hidden meanings and layers beneath the surface. He also credits being back in rural Vermont with helping him reconnect to that creative side.

“There’s just something about being in the woods,” he said. “This is where I find peace and solace. It’s easier to write here than in the city.”

One of the most meaningful moments in his return to poetry came when he wrote about the Blue Mountain English teacher who had inspired him years earlier.

He decided to perform the poem at a live reading in Providence, Rhode Island. He was nervous enough that he asked to go first. Then he got on stage and read. The response was a standing ovation.

“That really excited me a lot,” Bisson said. “And that got me to start writing more and more and more.”

That moment says a lot about the larger story behind Celery Man.

Confidence does not always come before the risk. Sometimes it comes afterward.

Sometimes courage means stepping onto a stage while you are nervous. Sometimes it means returning to a creative passion after 30 years away. Sometimes it means posting a strange 15-second video and accepting that not everyone is going to understand it. Bisson has done all three.

The Celery Man videos are generally 10 to 15 seconds long and are often improvised. His theater background helps him make quick choices and connect with an audience in a very short amount of time.

Not everything goes according to plan.

In one video, the tripod holding his phone began collapsing in the middle of the scene, forcing Bisson to grab it while staying in character. Viewers praised the “cameraman.” Bisson was the cameraman.

Another early video involving whipped cream required three attempts because he kept making mistakes.

“I forget to yell ‘Celery Man’ at the end, or I go to hit my face and I miss my whole head,” he said.

Then there is the cleanup.

Bisson sometimes prerecords several videos in one night, meaning multiple showers between takes. He estimates that the series has gone through somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 to 300 bunches of celery.

The character continues to evolve. During the first season, the celery did not talk. In the second season, it does. Fans now send Bisson ideas for new characters, including suggestions that broccoli should join the cast.

There is also merchandise, autograph signings and a growing presence on Cameo, where Bisson records personalized greetings, roasts, birthday messages and anniversary videos.

But he is quick to point out that Celery Man is only one part of who he is.

“I want them to realize that I’m a real person,” he said. “I’m not a celery man. I’m actually a nurse. I’m a veteran of a foreign war. I’ve done a lot of things in my life for people, and I’m not that character in real life. That’s just a character.”

His poetry is now beginning to return to his online presence as well. In a way, the whole story has come full circle. A poem about celery helped create Celery Man, and Celery Man may now introduce thousands of people to the poetry Bisson has carried with him since his Blue Mountain days.

He also believes there is something about rural life that encourages people to be inventive.

“We in the country have to find our own fun,” he said.

That may be one reason Celery Man feels so at home here. There is no large production crew, no elaborate studio and no team of writers. There is Bisson, a phone, a tripod, a sense of humor and a willingness to try something unusual.

When asked whether people need more harmless weirdness in the world, Bisson did not hesitate.

“Absolutely.”

There is a larger lesson in that answer. Not everyone needs to make celery videos, but perhaps more people could use the courage behind them.

The courage to write the poem. The courage to share the idea. The courage to return to something you once loved. The courage to make something simply because it brings you joy.

Most of all, the courage to be yourself without waiting for everyone else to approve.

“If you’re laughing, life is good,” Bisson said.

That may be the best explanation for why Celery Man works.

It is ridiculous, but it is sincere. It is silly, but it comes from a real desire to make people happy. For now, Bisson plans to keep writing, keep creating and keep seeing where the character takes him.

If you could use a little more laughter in your day, look for Alan Bisson on Facebook, Celery Man on TikTok, and Alan’s personalized videos on Cameo.

And when you do, look beyond the celery. There is a poet there, too. More importantly, there is a reminder that sometimes the thing you are nervous to share with the world is exactly the thing that may bring somebody else joy. So write the poem. Try the idea. Make the thing.

And do not be afraid to be yourself.

The Bombardment of Bees

Many people are scared of bees, mistakenly perceived as dangerous when in reality, bees are the ones in danger. In the winter of 2024-2025, in the U.S., honeybee losses totalled between 60% and 62% –  the highest winter losses ever recorded. For context, normal winter honeybee losses run within the range of 30% - 50%. Sadly, wild bees are under just as much strain as honeybees, with “about half the bee species that have been monitored… in decline” says Bee Regenerative Board Secretary Bridgett Burns. 

This percentage is important because bees are an indicator species, which means they represent the overall health of all pollinator insects. More specifically, when bees struggle - all pollinators struggle. Currently, bees -- both commercial and wild – are dying at an unsustainable rate, placing themselves and all pollinators at equal risk of extinction. 

Why should you care? Approximately 35% of all food requires pollination to grow. Here in Vermont which has a rich farming history, (note the myth that Vermont has more cows than people.), farms rely on pollinators.  To better address this crisis, it is important to understand the causes for the bee population decline, including: parasites, pesticides, invasive species, climate change, and their struggle to recover.

Parasite Pandemic

Within the last few decades, the spread of Varroa Mites has become a dangerous problem for bees. Varroa mites originated in the United States bee population when the Asian Honeybee spread them to Italian Honeybees, the most common species for making commercial honey. This invasion is so serious that nearly (if not all) hives are currently infested with mites. They target the larvae of the hive and “suck the energy out of the brood,” says  Burns. When mites feed from the larvae, many larvae die, impeding population growth within the hive. 

Another common problem associated with mites is the diseases they carry; mites can spread diseases such as the Deformed Wing Virus, which disables the bee’s ability to fly. Hence, they are unable to provide for the hive. However, the biggest problem varroa mites present is carried out by humans who use pesticides to keep their numbers low. These poisons are harmful to the localized environments bees use to feed themselves. 

Pesticides = Poison

Another recent issue bees face is neonicotinoids. Neonicotinoids, also known as neonics, are “derived from a neurotoxin,” explains Burns. This pesticide is not applied directly to bees and instead has a secondhand effect on the bees that come into contact with it. Neonics are applied directly to plants like crops, seeds, lawns, and the soil to keep insects considered “pests” away. When bees land on these plants, they absorb some of the insecticide and are poisoned from the inside out. This poison can kill bees and make the bees’ daily functions difficult to achieve. Neonics are especially harmful because they impact both wild bees and honeybees and the pesticide can take months to years to break down. The largest use of neonics that we still have in Vermont relates is used for soybeans and cereal grain seeds.

Invasive Species

Invasive species have a crippling impact on many animals, including bees. Invasive species are particularly harmful threats to bees because there is no way to “stop” or fully contain these plants. They spread like wildfire, collapsing entire ecosystems. Why? Invasive species often have few to no natural predators in environments where they do not originate. They also have an easy time outcompeting native species for food and space because the competing species are not adapted to protect themselves from invasive species. Some common invasive species in Vermont are: Japanese knotweed, bush honeysuckle, buckthorn, and purple loosestrife.  These species reduce the amount of flowering plants that bees can feed from, making it difficult for bees to get enough food to sustain them through winter.  

Pollution and Unstable Winter Conditions

Climate change and pollution have a profound impact on bees. Bees cannot smell flowers covered in pollutants. These flowers are visited by insects 70% fewer times versus untarnished flowers, showing a clear sign that pollution directly impacts a bee’s ability to find food. 

Climate change itself also negatively impacts bees. Bees survive the winter by surrounding their queen and vibrating all winter to keep the queen in the center warm. When winters become warm, bees wake up and begin searching for flowers. Because they spread out and are not surrounding their queen, when the temperature drops again, the queen is susceptible to freezing to death. This destroys the only way that bees have to repopulate once the worker bees die. 

At the same time, the change in temperature can cause flowering plants to bloom prematurely, leaving fewer plants blooming for when the bees begin looking for them. This is a serious problem because at this point in time, it is nearly impossible to completely avoid the effects of pollution and climate change. In Vermont, we have experienced the fluctuation of winters going from freezing temperatures to warm and back to freezing again overnight. Sadly, the destruction caused by pollution may never be undone.

Continual Deficit

Both wild bees and commercial honeybees face a new struggle: recovery of their recent population loss. Over time there has been a “45% increase in human managed bee colonies globally over the past 50 years” (Coallier et al.). Many of these beekeepers buy new hives every year and by the end of the season, they create new hives out of what they bought. With the recent heightened loss of hives, there are not enough bees to go around, making it difficult for beekeepers to repopulate. If the trend of bee deaths continues, bees may never see a full recovery. 

Unless Vermont winters become safer for bees, the population may continue to drop. The same trend holds true for wild bees. When there are fewer wild bees, they have a difficult time repopulating and recovering from their losses. This is dangerous because it is the culmination of all of the threats bees face, causing a situation that could be the sign of a decline for years to come in pollinator health and population.

You Can Help

How can you help Vermont bees? Some of the simpler and easier ways to help can still make a difference.  1) Plant native flowering plants such as: Wild Geranium, Wild Bergamot, Goldenrod, and New England Aster. 2) Leave old stumps, stems, and leaves in your lawn because “70% of all bee species are ground nesting species” (“10 Ways to Save the Bees”). This allows bees an ideal environment to create homes for the summer and winter.  3) Raise bees yourself and/or buy local honey from one of our many independently owned apiaries.  4) Lobby for change to help bees. Contact your state representatives and tell them that you are against pesticides and want money allocated toward Vermont’s invasive species problem. 5) Support local bee conservation efforts to preserve our local wildlife. Some local organizations that participate in research and efforts to conserve bees are: The University of Vermont’s Vermont Bee Lab, the Vermont Pollinator Working Group, and the Vermont Beekeepers Association.

Your effort in conserving bees can make all the difference in whether these necessary creatures will continue to support us and the environment. Remember that while bees have stingers, they are the ones being stung.

Kurtis Brooks is a Senior attending Blue Mountain Union High School. He is a native Vermonter who lives on a three acre field with many kinds of bees.

NES and BMU After School Programs learn about starting up a business

By Bernie Marvin

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Newbury, VT – When the students of Newbury Elementary School and the Blue Mountain After School Program wanted to learn about starting their businesses, they chose to study how Don and Shelly Drew founded and now operate their popular Three Bears Country Barn on Route 302 in Wells River.
The best way for kids to explore career options when they are older is to learn more about a retail establishment, and for this, they chose the Three Bears Country Barn. That began with a trip to the store, an interview with the Drews that provided the kids with information and answers they had formulated during a session with After School Director Paul Jewett.
Director Jewett said the exercise was an opportunity to open their minds to different ways of looking into and pursuing a career when they were older. The 3 Bears Country Barn was an ideal way to learn more about the Drews and how they work closely with the community to make their store a success.
Director Jewett said the students’ questions were interesting, as they probed just what it would take to start a business similar to what Don and Shelly Drew had done to launch their store.
Director Jewett said, “We had a spirited discussion during a recent afternoon with the children about starting a store! I thought I would pass on some specific questions they would like the Drews to think about before their visit from BMU and NES After School Students.”
1. How did you come up with the idea of running a store?
2. How did you come up with a name for the store?
3. Have you considered expanding the store?
4. How do you determine the prices for the items you sell?
5. How much money do you have to bring in to cover your costs?
6. What steps do you need to take to secure the store?
7. Where does your store's stock come from, and do you store extra stock somewhere?
He said, “As you can see, lots of questions which will lead to a good discussion and understanding of all the things that go into making and successfully carrying out a business! Everyone involved was looking forward to a fun and learning experience,” he said.
Don and Shelly Drew told The Bridge Weekly they are presently operating their fifth season at their store. They offered that it all started after they bought the lot, cleared it, and then built the country barn. They had some assistance but did most of the work themselves. It is a beautiful building, reminiscent of a timber frame structure, and packed with a fantastic array of merchandise found in a typical small Vermont Country store.
They are locals, in that Shelly lived in Woodsville as a youth, and Don lived in Woodsville. Before opening the store, he was the head maintenance director for the Precinct of Mountain Lakes for 18 years.
They said during a tour and interview in the store that After School Program Director Jewett asked them about working with the students on what they did to set up the store, stock it, and maintain it as a country store.
The kids said they were amazed to find such a diverse assortment of foods, cheeses, wood products, books, music programs, and even a café featuring fresh coffee, baked goods, and other types of refreshments.
As the children toured the store, the variety of goods on display made it easy for them to ask Don and Shelly plenty of questions about starting the store.
Director Jewett said that the exercise provided an opportunity to open the students’ minds to different ways of pursuing a career in the future. He said the store was an ideal place for the kids to visit in order to find a well-managed, successful retail store in the area that was open from May through December each year.
Before their visit, the After School group gathered to discuss ways available to plan for a successful venture, similar to Drew’s store. Each After School Program group visited the store and was given time to wander around, examine the items for sale, and ask questions of the Drews who were on hand for the visits.
While in the store, Jewett had allowed each student to make a $5.00 purchase so they could appreciate some of the value of what the store carried and just how important it was for them to make a purchase and to talk about how the merchandise got onto the shelves, where it came from, the price markup and other considerations a store owner must have when carrying the hundreds of items that the Three Bears Country Store has available for the public to consider.
Jewett said that about 30 After School Program students, between the ages of five and 12, participated in the exercise. There have been many other types of life experiences that the students have or will explore. For instance, they investigated their ability to fly and use drones. They spent time with the magician and entertainer, Marko, and will travel to a local medical office to speak with a general practitioner about their educational needs, the process of seeking medical training, and how they plan to operate a medical business.
They have also worked on the required phases of constructing various wood projects, including a small library for Wells River and recreating a historic water box that was installed for cattle over 100 years ago. The after-school classes have successfully rebuilt one to replace the old one.
They will also learn what it takes to be a helicopter pilot, as a relative of the class is the owner of a local helicopter company. The students will learn from a local author and writer about the importance of reading books and writing stories, starting at the age of five or six years.
As the After School Program for BMU and Newbury Elementary School grows, so does enrollment from other towns, Jewett said. He will be including a new group of Bradford students in those programs that will be featured during the next school year and will also start a six-week summer program that will run into August.
The program, he said, is new and will include students from five to 12 years old, who will take field trips every week to something or somewhere different. He said it will provide an opportunity for the students to have new experiences in the area and learn something new over the summer, something kids from BMU, Newbury, and Bradford will enjoy doing.