Vermont Business MagazineSeven Days, Vermont’s free, independent newsweekly, today released the 500th episode of Eva Sollberger’s video series, Stuck in Vermont. Since 2007, Sollberger has been documenting Vermont people, places, events and traditions in her videos, which are published each Thursday on sevendaysvt.com. Her Stuck in Vermont stories have been viewed nearly four million times on YouTube. Since 2012, Sollberger and her videos have also appeared weekly on the WCAX local news.
For her 500th episode, Sollberger wrote, directed and starred in a 22-minute musical, featuring several well-known locals, including actor Rusty DeWees, Vermont cartoonist laureate Alison Bechdel, Burlington police chief Brandon Del Pozo, Festival of Fools creator Woody Keppel and VPR’s Friday Night Jazz host Reuben Jackson. The video can be viewed on sevendaysvt.com, and on the Stuck in Vermont YouTube channel. It will be broadcast in its entirety Sunday, August 20, on the WCAX news program “You Can Quote Me.”
Many members of the production’s sizable cast and crew attended an invitation-only premiere at Hotel Vermont on Thursday, August 17; the Burlington boutique hotel has sponsored Stuck in Vermont since 2013. General manager Hans van Wees addressed the crowd of 75, along with Cindy Morgan of New England Federal Credit Union, also a current Stuck in Vermont sponsor. Representatives from past sponsoring entities — Coldwell Banker Hickok and Boardman Realty and the Vermont Department of Tourism — also praised Sollberger before the screening.
Steve Cook, deputy commissioner of tourism and marketing for the State of Vermont, said he has heard from numerous people who have visited and even moved to the state after discovering Sollberger’s videos.
Before the screening, Seven Days associate publisher Cathy Resmer noted that the national Association of Alternative Newsmedia recently honored Sollberger with its top multimedia prize at its July convention. Over the past two years, the New England Newspaper and Press Association has recognized her work with five first-place awards. Sollberger also won last year's Best Video award from the New England Society of News Editors.
Resmer detailed the astounding amount of work that goes into each episode. “From finding and vetting the stories, to setting up the shoots, to packing and schlepping the cameras, mikes, gimbals and lights, to shooting the footage, to editing … Keeping this up year after year after year requires incredible drive, stamina, persistence and passion,” she said.
In a letter to Sollberger, Gov. Phil Scott echoed that praise. “I commend you for your exceptional drive and dedication to documenting Vermont culture,” he wrote. “Stuck in Vermont serves as a celebration of values Vermonters have always held dear — our cherished independence and strong sense of community — and it serves the public by being made available, for free, to anyone with an internet connection.”
All 500 of Sollberger’s Stuck in Vermont videos can be viewed at sevendaysvt.com.
Da Capo Publishing Inc., dba Seven Days, was founded by Pamela Polston and Paula Routly in 1995, and is now owned by Polston and Routly, as well as associate publishers Don Eggert, Cathy Resmer and Colby Roberts. In addition to its seven free publications, the Burlington-based company also produces several annual events, the Stuck in Vermont video series and hosts a ticketing website, job board and dating service. Its editorial staff has received numerous journalism awards from entities including the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, the Parenting Media Association, the Vermont Press Association and the New England Newspaper and Press Association, which in 2017 named Seven Days the best large-circulation newsweekly in the region.
Seven Days has been named Business of the Year by both the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Burlington Business Association. In 2013, Editor & Publisher selected Seven Days for inclusion in its annual feature, “10 Newspapers That Do It Right.” In 2015, Polston and Routly were inducted into the New England Newspaper Hall of Fame. The same honor was bestowed on Seven Days’ consulting editor, Candace Page, in 2017.
Source:August 18, 2017 - Burlington, Vt. -Seven Days