Williston
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Permit #15 Williston,VT 05495 POSTAL CUSTOMER
MAY 15, 2025
WILLISTON’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985
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Tuesdays won’t be the same The former VSECU branch at the corner of Route 2A and Alpine Drive will become the new offices of Rieley Properties.
Rieley buys former credit union branch
OBSERVER PHOTO BY JASON STARR
When New England Federal Credit Union merged with Vermont State Employees Federal Credit Union to become EastRise last year, the organization took a strategic look at all of its branch locations. The former VSECU branch at the corner of Route 2A and Alpine Drive was a casualty of that streamlining. EastRise vacated the building about one year ago, and it has been empty since. But last month, prolific Williston land developer (and Development Review Board member) Scott Rieley purchased the building. Rieley plans to consolidate the offices of his Rieley Properties into the building. It’s an ideal location, just to the north of the Finney Crossing development Rieley and partner Snyder Homes have constructed over the past decade, and on the access road of the Annex neighborhood that the partners broke ground on last year. “This is us getting all of our people under one roof,” Rieley said. “Currently we are spread all over the place, some in Burlington, some in Williston, some working out of their apartments.” EastRise left the building “in great shape,” he said. Still, some upgrades are planned. “I’m sure we’ll be doing some things to it, but we haven’t gotten that far yet,” said Rieley. — Jason Starr
Adams Farm Market, left, drew hungry neighbors to its weekly Truckin’ Tuesdays food truck event, but dwindling attendance has convinced market owners to discontinue the series. The Ishams have also decided not to continue the weekly Isham Farm Market, right, this summer.
Farmers market, food truck festival simultaneously dissolve OBSERVER FILE PHOTOS
BY JASON STARR Observer staff As operators of two of Williston’s landmark farms, Helen Weston and Kim Antonioli occasionally talk business. So it was in early 2020 when they both discovered they had chosen Tuesday to launch weekly summer evening events. The Isham Farm Market that Weston helped produce and Antonioli’s Truckin’ Tuesdays food truck festival at Adams Farm Market both had strong starts, with the Covid pandemic enhancing demand for outdoor gatherings. Five years later, the pair had another conversation. Attendance at both events had been f lagging for two summers, and their return on time and money had evaporated. During a mid-winter chat, both Weston and Antonioli realized they had made the same difficult decision: Their events would not run in 2025. “I popped over in February to talk to Helen,” Antonioli recalled, “and I said, ‘oh, by the way, we’re not doing Truckin’
Tuesdays,’ and she grabbed me by my arm and goes, ‘by the way, we’re not doing the farmers market.’” The Isham Farm Market had become a place for people to have an outdoor evening meal in a rural setting while listening to live music among friends and neighbors. The traditional farmers mar-
“The vendors really struggled here. It’s a lot of work for them to come. ” Mike Isham Isham Family Farm
ket aspect of meat and produce sales had taken a back seat, Mike Isham said. “The vendors really struggled here,” said Isham. “It’s a lot of work for them to come here. It takes 2-3 hours packing their vans, cars and trucks and preparing for the market, and then they’re here for 2-3 hours, and then it’s an hour cleanup, a
long ride home, unloading. It just wasn’t very profitable for them.” It was a similar story for the food trucks that frequented Truckin’ Tuesdays. Adams lost some of its vendors to broken down trucks, and others moved on to opportunities out of state. “We were having a hard time making sure we had enough trucks to draw enough crowd,” said Antonioli. “We were kind of down to one or two trucks, and that’s tough.” By the fall of 2024, she knew the event had run its course and she told the vendors it wouldn’t run in 2025. “We felt it wasn’t fair to them to have them feel beholden to be here when they have other opportunities that might have a bigger audience elsewhere,” Antonioli said. Both events were impacted by the excessively rain-soaked Julys of 2023 and 2024. “I’m very sad because having the music here was wonderful. Seeing the see TUESDAYS page 2
Pizza is Back!
Dinner Starts at 4:00 Nightly, on the Church Street Marketplace
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