Vermont priest sees Green Mountain State as part of 251 Club

Published: 2004-02-06

ARLINGTON, Vt. (CNS) -- In 1954, four years after his ordination as a priest of the Burlington Diocese, Father George H. Dupuis read an article in Vermont Life magazine in which commentator Arthur Wallace Peach suggested a plan to visit every town in the Green Mountain State. "Years ago, before the auto, I knew men who had never been 50 miles from their village or farm; now, there is no excuse for a Vermonter's saying that he does not know his state from top to bottom," Peach wrote. "I propose to organize a 251 Club to be made up of Vermonters and others who can show that they have visited, not merely driven through, the 251 towns in the state," he added. So Father Dupuis, who grew up in Springfield, Mass., and wanted to know Vermont better, decided to send in his 50 cents to become a charter member of the 251 Club of Vermont. That was 50 years ago. As the club prepares to celebrate its golden anniversary this summer, Father Dupuis, now pastor of St. Margaret Mary Parish in Arlington, still has to get to the eight or 10 locales he has not visited. "I'll get there eventually," he said with a smile. "I'm just not taking the time to do it. I should."

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