--------(Townshend, VT)------- The public is invited to a free screening of "Bills Lumber," a 45-minute documentary about the last days of the Bills family's beloved 86-year-old sawmill in Wardsboro, Vermont. Dutton Gym is next to Leland and Gray High School at 2030 Vermont Route 30 in Townshend. Showtime is 7 pm on Saturday, 5 April 2025. Snow date is Sunday, 6 April.
The video follows octogenarian brothers Alan and Everett Bills and their co-owner niece, Debbie Bills Bauer, after the mill sold along with 433 adjoining wooded acres, as they prepare to demolish the working sawmill that their late father, Melbourne Bills, had established in 1936. Great storytellers, Alan and Everett talk about what it was like to grow up on "Bills Hill," their family compound on Route 100 in Wardsboro, recounting harrowing tales of fire and flood with equanimity and a good laugh.
"These are amazingly resilient people," said video maker Theresa Maggio. "I feel lucky to know them."
Free admission but any donations will be split 50/50 between my sponsoring non-profit, Brattleboro Community Television, and Leland and Gray High School's theater department. The Dutton Gym is where they put on their plays. I will be selling DVDs of the movie for $10 at the screening.
