by Carol Milkuhn
As you read this article, imagine a Vermont with half its present population, a state without computers, mobile phones, internet connections, a state held together by winding roads, radio stations, and TV antenna. This was Vermont in 1957, the year that the PSOV sponsored the first of its annual poetry contests for high school students–so beginning a fifty-year commitment.
For ten years the PSOV was the sole sponsor of these contests. Open to all students in grades 9 through 12 of any public or private school in Vermont, these early contests had moderate success at first, averaging 175 to 200 entries a year. Winners received prizes ranging from $10.00 (valued at $90.00 today) for first place to $2.00 ($20.00 today) for fourth place. The winning poets also received public recognition; local papers like The Times Argus and The St. Albans Messenger printed articles naming judges and winners. And, despite the fact that these young poets were not members of the PSOV, their prize-winning poems were published in The Mountain Troubadour.
But in 1969 the Vermont television station, WCAX-TV stepped in, supporting these contests and stimulating their success by increasing both the number of awards and the size of the cash prizes. The television station also underwrote a special issue of The Mountain Troubadour, one designed to highlight the students’ prize-winning poems.
These cash awards funded by WCAX-TV were indeed generous. In 1970 the first prize winner received $50 ($450 today). And the television station continued its support in the following years, increasing the size of the cash prizes to offset the effects of inflation. By 2003, WCAX-TV was giving $1000 in prizes: a first prize of $300; a second, $150; a third, $125—and so on, finally awarding contestants winning prizes from sixth to tenth place $50 each.
Also WCAX-TV honored these young poets by telecasting the presentation of these awards; for years, the chosen venue was the Charles Lewis “People Program” which aired Saturday afternoons on Channel 3. Then, in 1992, the winners of the High School Poetry contests were presented on their own program, a special edition of “Across the Fence.” To quote from Ken Greene, then director of Public Affairs at the television station, “Across the Fence enjoys a very large daytime audience, and has for 37 years.” Appearing on “Across the Fence” allowed these young poets a chance to share their prize-winning poems with a large, statewide audience.
All this came to an end in 2007 when WCAX-TV abruptly ended their sponsorship of the High School Poetry contests. In her letter to then PSOV President, Jane Wollmar, Meredith Neary, the Programming Director of WCAX-TV, explained that “the contests were attracting fewer and fewer participants.” She continued, “we’ve also experienced an influx of ‘stage parents,’ those who think the judges are wrong and do not hesitate to express their dislike of the arbitrary decisions made by others. And, last, the contests simply became too expensive for us to continue.”
And what has been the effect of WCAX-TV’s decision on The Poetry Society of Vermont? In the eighteen years since the termination of the High School Contests, the PSOV has moved in new directions. Yes, we still encourage young poets. We offer a student membership and recently we have had the benefit of student interns. And, because these young poets are members of the PSOV, their poetry has been published in The Troubadour.
But the abrupt ending of the support of WCAX-TV did give the PSOV much to think about. In response to such abrupt change, we have become financially more independent; we no longer depend on outside funds for award monies or publishing costs. We have also embraced our identity as a membership organization, now requiring that all poets published in The Troubadour be PSOV members. And, as we know, The Mountain Troubadour has continued to thrive, evolving into a publication that showcases the work of an ever-increasing membership.
Still, thinking about the years of commitment to these High School contests, I turn again to Meredith Neary’s letter severing the connection between the television station and the PSOV. In her last line she stated, “Keeping the contest around for over 40 years was a great feat, and one that both the poetry society and WCAX-TV can be proud of.”
I agree.