Newport, Vermont, Spotlighted in Newport,
Rhode Island Based Magazine

Newport, Vermont is spotlighted in the spring issue of Newport Life Magazine, a magazine based in Newport, Rhode Island.
Anita Rafael, a writer for the Rhode Island based magazine, traveled to Newport, Vermont last fall in her ongoing journey to tell the story of some of the other "Newport's" around the country. The following is an excerpt from the four page article.
"Newport City, Vermont, sits one highway exit shy of the Canadian border, just a stone's throw off Interstate 91, so the place itself really is not difficult to find. It's not hard to get to if you like to drive, and just like our Newport, it is gracefully situated on the shores of a superbly scenic body of water. Today, the one thing it doesn't seem to have is enough people who appreciate all that it has to offer, although 25 years ago, it was said that the city was enjoying a renaissance when storefronts along Main Street began to fill with fresh new gift shops and fashionable clothiers.
Something, however, must have happened on the path to economic ecstasy back in the 1980s that held this Victorian-era city in a state of somnambulism since then: It is awake, yet still dreaming about reinventing the fun and excitement of its illustrious past. Luckily for the hardy, friendly folks who inhabit the seven and a half miles of Newport City and who refuse to relocate despite evident adversities, every single one of the natural attractions that first lured visitors to this portion of Vermont's "Northeast Kingdom" is waiting to be rediscovered - the wildlife, the mountains, the forests and countryside and, in particular, Lake Memphremagog. The fact that all its resources remain pristine, unpolluted and underdeveloped led to the region's being included in National Geographic's new ecotourism initiative, and that may be the morale booster it has been waiting for."
In addition to Rafael's personal observations at life in Newport, and research into the history of the community, she also spotlights three local residents working in their own ways to better Newport. She interviewed Bill and Nancy Cook of Newport, and Scott Wheeler of Derby.
The Cooks have been among some of the strongest drivers behind the revitalization of Newport's Main Street. Last year the couple placed the beautiful lighthouse at the lower end of Newport's Main Street on the shores on Lake Memphregmagog. Later this year they will bring the days of the grand tour boats of an earlier era back to the lake when they launch their 70 passenger tour boat, the Newport Belle, is launched on the lake.