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VPR PHOTOS: A Look Back At A Long 2020

Vermont Public | By Elodie Reed
Published December 31, 2020 at 12:09 PM EST
Twelve photos in a grid
Photos by Elodie Reed, Abagael Giles, John Dillon and Sarah Priestap
Before bidding 2020 adieu, a look back at the year in VPR news photographs.

On this last day of 2020, VPR digital producer Elodie Reed has gathered a visual summary of a very long year of news.

January

Xusana Davis, smiling, looks off camera
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
First-ever Vermont Director of Racial Equity Xusana Davis is welcomed at a reception in the office of Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman during the opening day of the 2020 legislative session on Jan. 7.

Three people stand below a portrait of George Washington.
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Standing under a portrait of George Washington that hangs in the Vermont House chamber, Lucy Cannon-Neel, left, Carol McGranaghan, center, and Carol Irons, right, who identify as Nulhegan, Nulhegan and independent, respectively, lead the devotional exercise at the opening of the House on Jan. 7. According to Cannon-Neel, it was the first time Abenaki people performed the exercise.

See more: Back In Session: Photos From The Legislature's Opening Day

A person holds a dachshund.
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
On Jan. 14, Peggy Sumner holds onto Lena, who belonged to Peggy's daughter, Samantha, before she died in a car crash in 2016. Peggy said she often holds and pets Lena when she's grieving her daughter.

Read/hear more: 'Our Moms Have To Talk': Pocket Dial Connects Grieving Moms

February

A person sits and pets brown and white cows.
Credit John Dillon / VPR File
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VPR File
Earl Ransom of Rockbottom Farm in Strafford sits with one of his Guernseys, a breed he said makes the best-tasting milk and ice cream, on Feb. 12.

Read/hear more: Strafford Organic Creamery Keeps On In Vermont's Troubled Dairy Industry 

Madeleine Kunin sits for a portrait in a tan chair against yellow walls.
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Former Gov. Madeleine Kunin sits for a portrait in her home on Feb. 12. She's the only woman to hold the gubernatorial office in Vermont, and says she hopes to see the day when her state elects women to higher office, such as U.S. Congress.

Read/hear more: Why Has Vermont Never Sent A Woman To Congress?

A blackboard advising people to talk to the health department if they've recently travled to China
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
On Feb. 24, a sign in the office at Colchester Dental Group tells people to alert the Vermont Health Department if they recently traveled to China, where the novel coronavirus outbreak began.

March

Two people stand outside a village store.
Credit Angela Evancie / VPR File
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VPR File
Thetford Select Board candidate John Bacon and Dennis Donahue share a chat at the village store. Tuesday, March 3, was Town Meeting Day in Vermont, and it was also Super Tuesday, when 14 states and one territory held presidential primary contests.

Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine and Gov. Phil Scott.
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine and Gov. Phil Scott at a March 8 press conference, where state officials discussed the first case of the new coronavirus in Vermont.

Read more: Health Officials Announce First Coronavirus Case In Vermont

A shelf sparse with cleaning products.
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Cleaning products are wiped out along the grocery shelves of Market 32 in Burlington on March 14.

Read/hear more: A Late Night Visit To A NEK Grocery Store As Hoarding Takes Hold

Cafeteria worker packs lunch
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Lakshmi Zourcy packs a lunch for delivery to local students from the closed Burlington High School cafeteria on March 19.

April

Caution tape around a swing set.
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Caution tape and signs warn people to stay off the playground at Calahan Park in Burlington on April 2. City officials temporarily limited use of dog parks, tennis courts and basketball hoops to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

A hand holding a brown block with a large grey fish swimming towards it.
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Curly the sturgeon gets hand-fed by animal care and exhibit coordinator Shannon Kane at the ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain on April 9 while it was closed to the public due to the coronavirus.

Read/see more: 'Pleasant, Chaotic Experience': Caring For ECHO's Animals Through The Coronavirus 

Two people wearing masks and blue gloves, filling clear bottles from larger jugs.
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Burlington Probation and Parole employees Maria Godleski, left, and Glenn Boyde fill bottles with hand sanitizer on April 14.

Read/hear more: How Are Vermont Prisons Handling COVID-19?

Three people in a window.
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
TJ Maynard, his partner Fallon and their daughter Ophelia pose for a portrait in their Colchester home on April 21. TJ, who was laid off in March, started getting unemployment benefits in late April. He was one of thousands of Vermonters stuck in a backlog.

Read/hear more: 'I Ran Out Of Money At The Grocery Store': A Tough Month For Laid Off Vermonters 

A person in a hood and ventilator mask picks up a paper bag at a table.
Credit Peter Crabtree / For VPR
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For VPR
Clients of The Kitchen Cupboard food pantry pick up groceries in Bennington on April 21.

Read/see more: Look Through A Photographer's Lens: Bennington County During COVID-19 

May

A woman in a head scarf sits with her eyes closed, as seen through a window.
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Saifa Hussain, an associate chaplain and Muslim advisor for Middlebury College, prays at home at sundown on Saturday, May 2. Hussain was among the thousands of Vermont Muslims observing Ramadan during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read/hear more: 'An Emptying Of That Community': Observing Ramadan During A Pandemic

A person wearing a mask and goggles looks into a rearview mirror of an ambulance.
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
On May 7, Patrick Crowley sits for a portrait in an ambulance at Essex Rescue, where he volunteers. He kept an audio diary for VPR about what it's like to respond to medical emergencies during a pandemic.

Read/hear more: A Vermont EMT Chronicles The 'New Normal' For First Responders

A person in a face mask hands creemee cones to a woman in a car, with a goldendoodle dog looking out the backseat window.
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Essex resident Melissa Weston receives curbside creemee service from Paul Palmer as Mookie the dog looks on at Palmer Lane Maple in Jericho on May 7.

Read/see more: Vermont's Maple Creemee Season Appears Immune To Pandemic

Tul Niroula looks past an image of a Nagas, or a snake, in a window
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
On May 9, Home School Liaison Tul Niroula stands for a portrait and looks past an image of a Nagas, posted in a window of his Burlington home in honor of the Nepali festival Nag Panchami. During the pandemic, he's worked remotely as an interpreter for Winooski schools.

Read more: 'We Don't Not Pick Up The Phone': Working As A Community Liasion In A Pandemic 

Omar Somow opens minivan door outside Islamic Community Center of Vermont
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR
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VPR
Omar Somow of Essex spent hours assisting friends and community members with translation and technical support during the heart of the governor's Stay Home, Stay Safe order. Traveling by minivan with a mask and gloves, he continues to do the work. He is pictured here on a trip to Winooski on May 13.

Read more: When A Conference Call Becomes A Lifeline

A woman wearing a face mask and scrubs
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
University of Vermont Medical Center nurse Annie Graziano stands for a portrait on May 14.

Read/hear more: 'Kind Of Freaky': Health Care Workers Reflect On Starting Careers Amid A Pandemic

A volunteer with the Civil Air Patrol carries a box of MREs to a car
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Civil Air Patrol Staff Sgt. Hannah Smith carries a box full of Meals Ready-to-Eat into a car at the Farmers to Families food distribution site along the Burlington Beltline on May 26.
Two friends sit on the steps of Burlington's City Hall
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Childhood friends Famma Abukar, left, and Riziki Kassim, right, launched a grassroots fundraiser in the spring to supply food to refugee families living in Kakuma, Kenya during Ramadan. Here, the two friends sit on the steps of Burlington's City Hall for a portrait on May 28.

Read more: Supporting Refugees In Kenya — And Receiving Their Prayers — Through COVID-19 

A person with a megaphone with a Black Lives Matter flag in the background.
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Organizer Harmony Edosomwan leads a May 30 protest in Burlington days after police killed George Floyd in Minneapolis. Demonstrators marched to the Burlington Police Department and raised a Black Lives Matter flag there.

Read/hear more: Crowd Confronts Burlington Police During Protest For George Floyd

June

Artists paint "Black Lives Matter" mural on Burlington building
Credit Abagael Giles / VPR File
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VPR File
On June 4, Patrick Man (left) and Audrey Mertes of the University of Vermont Art Club assisted designer Jamie Bedard in painting a mural facilitated by Arts So Wonderful on a wall destined for demolition on Burlington's South Union Street.

Youht activist walks next to protest with fist raised
Credit Abagael Giles / VPR File
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VPR File
Emma Marden graduated from Shelburne Community School in June 2020, and on Friday, June 19, or Juneteenth, she led a rally for racial justice through the village.

 

Read/see more: Shelburne, Charlotte Teens Lead Village In Rally For Racial Justice

A man uses exercise equipment while wearing a mask
Credit Peter Crabtree / For VPR
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For VPR
Gary Whiting, 84, pedals a stationary bicycle at the Bennington Recreation Center on June 16 after the gym reopened following a months-long shutdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kid jumps off diving board into Northwood Pool
Credit Aliya Schneider / For VPR
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For VPR
Gavin Treanor jumps off the diving board at Northwood Pool in Rutland Town as his aunt Sarah McMurdy watches with her son Alex McMurdy in her lap on the evening of June 24.

five young women in tights and face masks on steps outside a white painted building
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
From left, Izzy Wysockey-Johnson, Grace Garavan, Ava Devost, Macy Aikman and Samantha Witham rest between ballet and contemporary classes at the Jericho Community Center, which the Richmond-based Arabesque Etc. Dance studio rented on Monday, June 29.

July

A stuffed mountain lion with a mask on in a window.
Credit Sarah Priestap / For VPR
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For VPR
A masked mountain lion greets passers by from the window of Ken's Barber Shop in Randolph on July 1.

A young woman running in a green yard.
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Natalie Strand runs through her Randolph backyard on July 14. Over the summer, she trained for her first track season at the University of Vermont. While the 18-year-old is usually a camp counselor and part of a local theater, this year, she was home for the summer.

Read/hear more: 'We Have Nothing To Do': How Vermont Teenagers Are Spending An Unusual Summer

Masked shoppers through paper hearts in a window
Credit Sarah Priestap / For VPR
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For VPR
Masked shoppers are reflected in the heart-filled window of the Vermont Flannel Company store in Woodstock, Vermont on July 17. The town of Woodstock has required masks when in public areas throughout the town.

August

A woman talks through a clear vinyl barrier to a poll worker in a room with an American flag.
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Laura Thomason drops off an absentee ballot at Bakersfield Town Hall on Aug. 11. Poll workers sat behind wood-and-vinyl enclosures built by select board member Joss Goss, and round rubber disks helped voters keep their distance.

Leaders of the Black Perspective march down Church Street
Credit Abagael Giles / VPR File
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VPR File
More than 150 people marched with leaders of The Black Perspective down Church Street to Burlington City Hall on Aug. 30. This was the seventh day of demonstrations calling for the firing of three Burlington police officers.

Read/see more: In Multi-Day Protest, Activists Demand Burlington Fire Three Officers

September

Staff screens student at Milton Elementary for a fever
Credit Abagael Giles / VPR File
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VPR File
A student at Milton Elementary School gets their temperature checked by a staff member before entering the building on Sept. 8, the first day of school.

Staff member sanitizes playground equipment at Milton Elementary
Credit Abagael Giles / VPR File
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VPR File
At Milton Elementary School, a staff member sanitizes playground equipment as students arrive for the first day of school on Sept. 8.

Read/see/hear more: Here's How The First Day Of School Looked (And Sounded) In Milton

People with arms and fists raised stand on a granite balcony with a crowd below.
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Protestors chant, dance and at one point, freestyle during Occupy Church Street in Burlington on Sept. 14. The action marked the 21st day of protestors demanding the city fire three police officers involved in use-of-force incidents in 2018 and 2019.

A woman wearing a mask in a green space
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Caitlin Morgan walks through the Intervale in Burlington on Sept.15. It's one of the places she goes for spiritual experiences in nature.

Read/hear more: What's The State Of Religion In Vermont?

A woman dances with a window behind her
Credit Shanta Lee Gander / For VPR
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For VPR
Middlebury educator, dancer, choreographer and coach Christal Brown on Sept. 15. She says dance is built around space, time, and energy, and that by taking deeper ownership of her space, she's been able to organize her time, and focus energy into visions of possibility.

Read/see more: Rooms Of Their Own: Working, Playing, And Creating During A Pandemic

October

Man wearing t-shirt packs up his tent under orange leaves at Battery Park
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
At Burlington's Battery Park on Oct. 1, Henry Trehub of Burlington packs up his tent and another he lent out during the 35 day encampment that concluded the evening before. Protesters marched daily, calling for three city police officers to be fired. One resigned after receiving a buyout from the city.

A silhouette of a woman in a head covering
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR
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VPR
Nica Whitmer in her Arlington home on Oct. 8. Speaking about the two month period when Vermonters were ordered to stay home for all but essential purposes, she said she enjoyed having more time with her family, but eventually grew depressed about not seeing the other women from the Green Mountain Mennonite Fellowship in Bennington.

Read/see more: How Bennington's Insular Mennonite Community Weathered Pandemic Isolation

A photo showing a view of a leaf underwater and trees above water
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
The Green River Reservoir on Oct. 22. The state and the Morrisville Water and Light utility are in dispute over how the water level is managed at the Hyde Park Green River Reservoir, and the utility has threatened to remove the reservoir dam, which would drain it.

Read/hear more: Ongoing Legal Challenges Threaten The Quiet Waters Of Green River Reservoir

November

A man in a mask going out a door reading official polling place
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Mike Nelson was one of the record-breaking 1,882 Williamstown residents to cast a vote on Election Day, Nov. 3. Nelson said he voted in person because it felt more personal. He and Town Clerk Barbara Graham got into a chat about Keto diets over the tabulator machine.

Read/hear more: 'Knee-Deep In Absentee Ballots': The Weeks Before Election Day With Williamstown's Town Clerk

People stand next to a sign reading were you unable to vote? do you need anything?
Credit Angela Evancie / VPR File
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VPR File
Kendra Colburn of Hartford, left, and Lucia Gagliardone of Sharon act as nonpartisan voter protection volunteers at Hartford High School on Nov. 3. The Upper Valley chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice, or SURJ, worked with Rights and Democracy Vermont and New Hampshire to organize local volunteers in both states.

A person in a face shield, rubber gloves and a cloth face mask wipes down a voting booth with the word vote on the side
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Ballot clerk Madeline Beede sanitizes a voting booth in the Washington, Vt. town offices on Nov. 3. Election officials there said they were being careful after a couple in town posted on Facebook that they had tested positive for COVID-19.
Two people on a motorcycle, one man smiling, one woman with her arms raised up in the air
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
People spontaneously gathered in downtown Burlington on Nov. 7 to celebrate former Vice President Joe Biden's win in the presidential election.

Read more: 'We're Here To Celebrate': Vermonters Respond To Biden's Win

A woman gets a swab stuck up her nose by another woman in full protective gear.
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
South Burlington resident Lena Ginawi gets tested for COVID-19 at the Winooski Armory on Nov. 9.
A person wearing an orange hat walks past the Roxy Theater in Burlington with a green fight COVID sign out front.
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
A person walks by a poster by Liz Tea Thompson outside the Roxy Cinema in Burlington on Nov. 13. Gov. Phil Scott announced new restrictions the same day, including a ban on multi-household gatherings beginning at 10 p.m. on Nov. 14.

Read more: Scott Orders Lockdown On Social Gatherings As COVID Cases Spike 

A sign reading good luck deer hunters closed again covid sucks
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
The Newport Eagles Club Aerie 4329 lets the community know it is closed on Monday, Nov. 30.
A ski mountain in the background with a white and blue house and field in the foreground
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Jay Peak is visible from Route 105 in Newport Center on Nov. 30. In a normal winter, about 50 percent of its customer base comes from Canada.

Read/hear more: How Are The U.S.-Canada Border Restrictions Affecting Vt. Businesses And Families? 

December

Six people in masks stand in a window
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
Four Seasons Care Home residents from left, Judy West, John Williams, Shirley Scribner, Lillian Corriveau and Maude Ducharme, plus co-owner Ashley Hudson, stand for a portrait on Dec. 10. Everyone in this photo contracted COVID-19 in the fall.

Read/hear more: Vt. Works To Slow COVID-19 Outbreaks At Nursing Homes As Vaccine Approaches 

People in inflatable chicken, unicorn, T. rex, mouse and alien costumes dance outside a building
Credit Elodie Reed / VPR File
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VPR File
The volunteer group The Inflatables dance in inflatable costumes outside Elderwood long-term care facility in Burlington on Dec. 13. The group formed after its leader, Jenny Rooke, received a T. rex costume from her friend Regina Patterson.

Read/hear more: Coronavirus Shut Down Her Business In The Spring. Now She Dances In A T.Rex Costume

Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or tweet digital producer Elodie Reed @elodie_reed.

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Local News Local NewsRace & IdentityCoronavirus
Elodie Reed
Elodie is a reporter and producer for Vermont Public. She previously worked as a multimedia journalist at the Concord Monitor, the St. Albans Messenger and the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript. Email Elodie.
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