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Episode 8: Identity, Part 3
By 1979, Andrews Inn, now operating as a “gay nightclub” as well as a sit down restaurant and bar was doing well and though locals didn’t always understand and weren’t always happy about the LGBTQ+ crowd it attracted, they were inclined to leave well enough alone. That year, the Moisis family were looking for buyers and found some: Thom Herman and Jeremy Youst, an openly gay couple. Openly gay business owners was a first for this town and it wasn’t clear how people would respond.
Radical social change doesn’t happen in places like Bellows Falls, VT, does it?….or does it?
TranscriptTSLOD Newspaper References
The introduction to the article “The Gay Experiment” in the April 1979 of Blueboy. Photo courtesy of Blueboy. " data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794399042-NOPGAZ77BAJLU5SBZ7Y6/Blueboy_Apr1979_BF_gayexpt+1.jpg" role="button" class="
image-slide-anchor
js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Blueboy April 1979
The other half of the opening to the article about Bellows Falls becoming an accepting place for gays. Photo courtesy of Blueboy." data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794426546-GI5USLVT7SHKRS8FUDED/Blueboy_Apr1979_BF_gayexpt+2.jpeg" role="button" class="
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content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Blueboy April 1979
In 2021, outside the Hotel Windham. Photo courtesy of Kate Buckman." data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794352590-N89OM2KNO6IG46QM7BKS/IMG_20200729_181447.jpg" role="button" class="
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"
>
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Hotel Windham
The entrance to the ballroom at the Hotel Windham. Photo courtesy of Kate Buckman." data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794322876-V35YL1TG52EKMEGSBN1K/IMG_20200729_172443.jpg" role="button" class="
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js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Looking Into the Ballroom
The basement used to house a bar. In the Andrews Inn days, this was the lesbian/ladies bar. Photo courtesy of Kate Buckman" data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794316430-ZMXMV2JQDO9LYH0Y5MQ6/IMG_20200729_174106.jpg" role="button" class="
image-slide-anchor
js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Ladies/Lesbian Bar
The bathroom in the basement bar had a lot of “lady themed” graffiti from back in the Andrews Inn days, still visible. Photo courtesy of Kate Buckman" data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794320490-JUI8OOZW1T5JB46MVJPW/IMG_20200729_173646.jpg" role="button" class="
image-slide-anchor
js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Bathroom Grafitti
The second floor hotel hallway, showing an endless corridor of rooms. Photo courtesy of Kate Buckman" data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794786176-ZU35GATAG6QZ2B6IMZPP/IMG_20200729_175931.jpg" role="button" class="
image-slide-anchor
js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Dramatic Hallway
The rooms on the west side of the hallway overlook the village Square….Photo courtesy of Kate Buckman" data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794326344-XMABNW29P39EP2E6YM8M/IMG_20200729_175011.jpg" role="button" class="
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"
>
View fullsize
Overlooks The Square
…and the rooms on the east side overlook the canal and Fall Mountain. Photo courtesy of Kate Buckman" data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794329510-H1C8T93BVE2123505BXS/IMG_20200729_180557.jpg" role="button" class="
image-slide-anchor
js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Overlook the Canal
The May 1979 anti-gay protests also attracted people who supported the Inn and “gay rights”. Photo courtesy of the Brattleboro Reformer" data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794347270-OQS3TS8NQXB4GK5A4GYI/May+7+1979+Brattleboro+Reformer+Protest+Quakers.png" role="button" class="
image-slide-anchor
js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Quaker Meeting Support
After the sale to Thom Herman and Jeremy Youst, the Inn underwent some more upgrades but continued to operate as a gay nightclub. Photo courtesy of the Brattleboro Reformer" data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794343906-63QCG3RRNE67AKYDAPLN/Sept+1979+Brattleboro+Reformer+Article+about+renovations.png" role="button" class="
image-slide-anchor
js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Thom Herman: New Owner
Acknowledgements:
Segment Participants:
Kate Buckman
Jon Midura
Myles Mickle
Michael Bruno
Adam Gearhart
Interviewees:
Ain Gordon
Jeremy Youst*
Thom Herman*
Special Thanks:
HB Lozito, Out In the Open: for giving us permission to use clips from their *audio
clips from their 2017 Andrews Inn Oral History Project and for acting as a sounding board for the
concept of this show and reading through the scripts for content and tone. For more information
about OITO, check out their website, www.weareoutintheopen.org.
Alan and Pat Fowler, owners of the Hotel Windham
Music and Sound Effects: provided with permission by Epidemic Sound, LLC
George’s Sandbox- Magnus Ludvisson
In the Spirit of Cannes - The Flax
Some Autumn; His Old Lover - Leimoti
Something to Someone - Bireli Snow
Happy Minor Waltz - Franz Gordon
Bobby Swing - Bladverk Band
Morning Dew - Heath Cantu
PREL Dron 16; 57; 80
Photos:
Kate Buckman
Blueboy
Brattleboro Reformer
Follow us on the social medias!
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View all episodes
By Gail Golec
4.9
3838 ratings
By 1979, Andrews Inn, now operating as a “gay nightclub” as well as a sit down restaurant and bar was doing well and though locals didn’t always understand and weren’t always happy about the LGBTQ+ crowd it attracted, they were inclined to leave well enough alone. That year, the Moisis family were looking for buyers and found some: Thom Herman and Jeremy Youst, an openly gay couple. Openly gay business owners was a first for this town and it wasn’t clear how people would respond.
Radical social change doesn’t happen in places like Bellows Falls, VT, does it?….or does it?
TranscriptTSLOD Newspaper References
The introduction to the article “The Gay Experiment” in the April 1979 of Blueboy. Photo courtesy of Blueboy. " data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794399042-NOPGAZ77BAJLU5SBZ7Y6/Blueboy_Apr1979_BF_gayexpt+1.jpg" role="button" class="
image-slide-anchor
js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Blueboy April 1979
The other half of the opening to the article about Bellows Falls becoming an accepting place for gays. Photo courtesy of Blueboy." data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794426546-GI5USLVT7SHKRS8FUDED/Blueboy_Apr1979_BF_gayexpt+2.jpeg" role="button" class="
image-slide-anchor
js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Blueboy April 1979
In 2021, outside the Hotel Windham. Photo courtesy of Kate Buckman." data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794352590-N89OM2KNO6IG46QM7BKS/IMG_20200729_181447.jpg" role="button" class="
image-slide-anchor
js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Hotel Windham
The entrance to the ballroom at the Hotel Windham. Photo courtesy of Kate Buckman." data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794322876-V35YL1TG52EKMEGSBN1K/IMG_20200729_172443.jpg" role="button" class="
image-slide-anchor
js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Looking Into the Ballroom
The basement used to house a bar. In the Andrews Inn days, this was the lesbian/ladies bar. Photo courtesy of Kate Buckman" data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794316430-ZMXMV2JQDO9LYH0Y5MQ6/IMG_20200729_174106.jpg" role="button" class="
image-slide-anchor
js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Ladies/Lesbian Bar
The bathroom in the basement bar had a lot of “lady themed” graffiti from back in the Andrews Inn days, still visible. Photo courtesy of Kate Buckman" data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794320490-JUI8OOZW1T5JB46MVJPW/IMG_20200729_173646.jpg" role="button" class="
image-slide-anchor
js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Bathroom Grafitti
The second floor hotel hallway, showing an endless corridor of rooms. Photo courtesy of Kate Buckman" data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794786176-ZU35GATAG6QZ2B6IMZPP/IMG_20200729_175931.jpg" role="button" class="
image-slide-anchor
js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Dramatic Hallway
The rooms on the west side of the hallway overlook the village Square….Photo courtesy of Kate Buckman" data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794326344-XMABNW29P39EP2E6YM8M/IMG_20200729_175011.jpg" role="button" class="
image-slide-anchor
js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Overlooks The Square
…and the rooms on the east side overlook the canal and Fall Mountain. Photo courtesy of Kate Buckman" data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794329510-H1C8T93BVE2123505BXS/IMG_20200729_180557.jpg" role="button" class="
image-slide-anchor
js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Overlook the Canal
The May 1979 anti-gay protests also attracted people who supported the Inn and “gay rights”. Photo courtesy of the Brattleboro Reformer" data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794347270-OQS3TS8NQXB4GK5A4GYI/May+7+1979+Brattleboro+Reformer+Protest+Quakers.png" role="button" class="
image-slide-anchor
js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Quaker Meeting Support
After the sale to Thom Herman and Jeremy Youst, the Inn underwent some more upgrades but continued to operate as a gay nightclub. Photo courtesy of the Brattleboro Reformer" data-lightbox-theme="dark" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578e8604e58c624ebf08623c/1684794343906-63QCG3RRNE67AKYDAPLN/Sept+1979+Brattleboro+Reformer+Article+about+renovations.png" role="button" class="
image-slide-anchor
js-gallery-lightbox-opener
content-fill
"
>
View fullsize
Thom Herman: New Owner
Acknowledgements:
Segment Participants:
Kate Buckman
Jon Midura
Myles Mickle
Michael Bruno
Adam Gearhart
Interviewees:
Ain Gordon
Jeremy Youst*
Thom Herman*
Special Thanks:
HB Lozito, Out In the Open: for giving us permission to use clips from their *audio
clips from their 2017 Andrews Inn Oral History Project and for acting as a sounding board for the
concept of this show and reading through the scripts for content and tone. For more information
about OITO, check out their website, www.weareoutintheopen.org.
Alan and Pat Fowler, owners of the Hotel Windham
Music and Sound Effects: provided with permission by Epidemic Sound, LLC
George’s Sandbox- Magnus Ludvisson
In the Spirit of Cannes - The Flax
Some Autumn; His Old Lover - Leimoti
Something to Someone - Bireli Snow
Happy Minor Waltz - Franz Gordon
Bobby Swing - Bladverk Band
Morning Dew - Heath Cantu
PREL Dron 16; 57; 80
Photos:
Kate Buckman
Blueboy
Brattleboro Reformer
Follow us on the social medias!
The Secret Life of Death Podcast
Facebook and Instagram