The Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services set the annual holiday tree in front of the Statehouse Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020. Photo by Carla Occaso.
The State House got its annual tree Tuesday, Nov. 24. It is a 48-foot balsam donated by Len and Mary Ann Cadwallader of Wallingford, said Ira Moser, grounds supervisor for the Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services. Moser said the Cadwalladers also donated a tree to Dartmouth College.
To get the tree here safely, police trucks from the Enforcement and Safety Division of the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles escorted the very oversized load from Wallingford, said Anthony Facos, the division’s director of enforcement and safety and former chief of the Montpelier Police Department. Facos told The Bridge he used the occasion to “add a little much needed holiday cheer to have ‘Buddy the Elf’ join the procession in Montpelier.” Buddy rode an all-electric Harley-Davidson LiveWire from Wilkins Harley-Davidson in Barre.
“Buddy the Elf” shows off an all-electric 2020 Harley-Davidson LiveWire from Wilkins Harley-Davidson in Barre on Tuesday, Nov. 24 at the Vermont State House. He is accompanied by Anthony Facos, who became the director of enforcement and safety division for the Department of Motor Vehicles this past August after retiring from decades as chief of the Montpelier Police Department. Photo by Carla Occaso.
Later, Buddy stood at the top of the State House steps to promote the use of electric vehicles. “It’s the future of where transportation is going,” Facos said at the site. He later emailed, “The LiveWire is a great example of proven electric vehicle technology, which the DMV believes will play an important role in Vermont’s current and future transportation needs.”
According to the website harley-davidson.com, the LiveWire comes with BlueTooth and LTE connectivity and voice recognition via paired iOS or Android devices. In addition, it comes in three colors: orange fuse, vivid black, and yellow fuse.
The 48-foot balsam from Wallingford took up a lot of stair space before being set in front of the Vermont Statehouse Tuesday, Nov. 24. Photo by Carla Occaso.
