State Officers Elected

June 18, 2008

It's a very compressed time table to get to the point where the Boys' State delegates are now. Normally election cycles take months if not years. There is generally plenty of time for campaigning and getting the word about a candidacy for a position out to the voting populace. At Green Mountain Boys' State, however, the young men who have been selected by their schools to attend are dropped into the deep end of the election process. They arrive on Sunday, get petitions signed, conduct campaigns, a primary election, general election all before Wednesday at noon. This year's roster of state officers elected by Boys' State are as follows:

Governor Douglas Talks

June 16, 2008

Vermont Governor Jim Douglas spoke to the delegates of Green Mountain Boys' State this afternoon. The governor spoke about issues that he thinks concern the state, some of which were targeted specifically to the age of the delegates. One of the governor's concerns for the last few years has been the drain of young people from the state. He would like to see young men and women who leave the state for education or other post-high school activities return at some point. He has proposed initiatives which would encourage that. After some remarks, the governor took questions from the Boys' State delegates who kept him engaged in some lively discussion with generally well-informed questions and comments.

Boys' Nation Delegates Selected

June 22, 2007

A week packed with a lot of activity is capped off by the selection of delegates to Boys' Nation which is an American Legion sponsored activity held in the Washington, DC area in late July. Where Boys' State focuses on state and local government, Boys' Nation is targeted at the federal government. Boys' Nation delegates represent their home state as a senator in the structure of a mock Senate. The delegates organize party conventions, debate bills and resolutions and elect a President and Vice President of Boys' Nation. Former President Bill Clinton was a former delegate to Boys' Nation. While he was there, he met President John F. Kennedy just as this years delegates will meet President George W. Bush. To the left, the Boys' Nation delegates are Doug Clift, CT Spalding, Brendan Lewis and Sean O'Reilly. Lewis and O'Reilly were selected as the delegates with Clift and Spalding designated as alternates.

LSC Staff Honored

June 22, 2007

Lyndon State College director of summer programs, Donna Wheeler, and her staff were honored by the Boys' State counselors and delegates. Boys' State Director Norm Messier presented them with gift certificates as a thanks for all the help and support they provided to the program during the course of the week. Donna and her staff were able to remain flexible and manage multiple changes during the course of the week as we all adjusted to working in a new location after over sixty years at our previous location.

Boys' State Legislators Occupy State House

June 21, 2007

After a night of celebrating the election of 2006 officers for Green Mountain Boys' State, the Boys' State legislature took over the Vermont Statehouse today. Legislators organized themselves into committees and debated bills and resolutions. Meanwhile, Boys' State officers visited the Vermont state office that their elected office corresponds to in cases where the Vermont state office holder was available or able to spare the time. the senate chambers leading the Boys' State Senate at the time. The end of the day saw a joint session for the purpose of an address by Governor Kempton who provided a State of the State, summarizing the legislative activity that occurred during the day.

New Officers Elected

June 21, 2007

After a very whirlwind election cycle, the delegates of Green Mountain Boys' State elected their state officers today. The Wednesday morning elections were the culmination of a three and a half day campaign that began when the students arrived on the Lyndon State College campus on Sunday. The slate of candidates for the three parties -- Federalist, Nationalist and Independent Party -- were selected yesterday during the primary elections. The 2007 Boys' State officers are as follows:

Inauguration ceremonies are scheduled tonight on the campus of Lyndon State College at 7:30. The festivities begin with a band concert by the Boys' State band. O'Reilly's inauguration will be followed by speeches by last year's governor, Wesley Kempton as well as UVM professor Frank Bryan.

Town Officers Elected

June 18, 2007

Boys' State citizens met in their first town meetings after listening to counselors stage a mock town meeting first thing this morning. Delegates elected town officers and appointed positions were also filled.