BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – The Miss Bellows Falls Diner is – quite literally – about to be on the move. The volunteer team at Rockingham for Progress (RFP) wants to tell you all about it at the next Diner Dinner, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Bellows Falls Moose Lodge, 59 Westminster Street in Bellows Falls, Vt.
Things get underway at 5 p.m., with a cash bar and conviviality. At 5:15 p.m., Rockingham for Progress board members will provide an update on exactly what has been happening as the project inches along. At 6 p.m., Moose chef Aime Theroux busts out the buffet line with his tribute to a classic diner comfort meal: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, string beans, and apple crisp.
“The Diner Dinners have proven to be an excellent way to keep the community informed about the project,” says RFP President Jeff Dunbar. “Phase 1 – the permitting process – has proven to be far more complex than we – as laypeople – imagined when we took the project on, but we are at the point now where the final I’s are being dotted and T’s crossed. As soon as the last wording is agreed on, we can get the move underway.”
Phase 2 of the project entails moving the historic diner, shuttered since the Covid pandemic, off site, where the porcelain enamel metal panels will be removed and the restoration begun. Concurrently, the site will be cleared and prepared for new foundation work. Phase 3, with the diner returning to 92 Rockingham Street and an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant ramp, bathroom, and new construction installed, will follow.
This is a grassroots project dependent on community support, Dunbar emphasizes. Diner Dinners are meant to be informative, affordable, and fun. Demand for tickets is strong, with fewer than two dozen remaining two weeks prior to the dinner. To purchase Diner Dinner tickets and learn more about the Miss Bellows Falls Diner project, visit www.missbellowsfalls.com.