CAPTIVE IN COVENTRY




Greetings from behind the lines.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AUG 11:

We are captives in our hometown of Coventry, Vermont (pop. 1012).
Up to 100,000 'Phishheads' are expected to converge on our town to
attend the concert making us the largest populated town in the state
for about 4 days.


Downtown Coventry - Wednesday 5:24PM


We live on Rt.5 about 4 miles south of Airport Rd. Every single one
of the 30,000 cars going to the concert will pass by our driveway.
They say RT 5 will be bumper to bumper traffic starting tomorrow morning.
from Exit 26 on the interstate all the way to the concert site. They say
traffic will be backed up 15 miles on the interstate all the way to
Sheffield Heights by friday.



RT.5 - Wednesday 7 PM










Some of my neighbors are FREAKING out.
















But a lot of them are taking advantage of the situation.


Vermont Beef Jerky Co., Orleans



Croteau Auto Repair, Irasburg



Road Commisioner Dave Gallup with his kids Cailyn and Taylor preparing
to make a killing in the beverage business.



Kingdoms Playground, Irasburg



Scalpers (with out-of-state accents) making a living in Irasburg



Martha's Diner, Coventry



Friends and neighbors from Troy selling T-shirts in front of the
European Auto Repair place in Coventry













I won't be able to get back to work until Tuesday morning. Emma and her
friend Olivia have their Red Cross swimming test on friday morning up in Derby.


Emma and Olivia


How long will it take us to drive the 10 miles to get there?
Will we be able to get there at all?





Karen is on emergency call for mental health services during the concert


Karen proudly showing off her emergency response beeper


and she'll also be on site serving bagels to
important famous people at the VIP tent. How
is she going to get there? Who's going to show
up in the VIP tent?


RUMORS ABOUT WHO IS SHOWING UP AT THE CONCERT
(AS OF 10:12PM WEDNESDAY NIGHT)

Santana
Shania Twain
Grateful Dead
Willie Nelson
Dave Mathews Band
Ricky Martin







and Rosa just wants to "dance at the Phish concert".


Rosa




I've got a ticket. But I'm not a fan. I don't know if I will go.


Me and my ticket


I'm not going to sit in the car for a few hours to drive to
the airport which is only 6 miles away by road. I could hike
through the woods. It's only about a mile and a half as the
crow flies, but I'd probably get shot at by some of my freaked
out neighbors, or one of the 503 security officers that are
keeping us safe from the hordes of strangers with backpacks who
are starting to turn up in our town. I could ride a bike but
they tell us no one will be allowed to walk or travel on the
closed roads inside the green-zone without an authorized sticker.
Which I don't have.

I don't know, we're a little bit on edge here in Coventry. We're
wondering what the next week is going to bring us. Mona
Rounsville says they're stocking up on fresh milk in the
cooler in the basement of the Congregational Church in case some
of us run out and can't get to the store for the next few days.
Neighbor taking care of neighbor in times of trouble.
But what exactly is the trouble everyone says we're headed for?
I guess we're going to find out.




Thursday AM