Newport did a phenomenal job of opening up our proud City for the eclipse. I have been receiving nothing but wonderful statements and compliments, whether from emails or calls to the Mayor, from the visitors who were here on Eclipse day. They were at Prouty Beach, Gardner Park, Main Street, and all along the City. To begin, I would like to present this statement from our Senator, Russ Ingalls: “Mayor Sullivan, I want to express how proud I am of what I just witnessed yesterday. Yes, the Eclipse Totality and the weather didn’t disappoint but neither did Newport City! To lessen any traffic impacts, Deb and I walked from our home to Prouty Beach. It’s nearly 4 miles round trip that we walked through our city. Everywhere we looked, City Employees and Volunteers were dong everything they could to help the mass of people. Do you know how pleasant it is not to hear police sirens, disagreements, honking horns? All we saw were happy people being helped in every way. Thank you Mayor Sullivan and please express my deepest and sincerest gratitude to the people, yours and my people that made Newport City shine on such a beautiful day! Sincerely, Sen. Russ Ingalls”
I cannot agree more with Senator Ingalls. From joining Council Member Rick Ufford-Chase on the platform at Prouty Beach to welcome all to our City, to walking around and meeting with people from all over the United States and other countries, there was nothing but “thank you” “this is an amazingly beautiful city and we will be back” and the City people and business folk were so hospitable and thank you is all I have heard!
A huge shout out to all our volunteers, our City Police and Fire Department and EMS and Department of Public Works, Department of Parks and Recreation and all involved. A huge thank you to former airline attendant resident Heather McKeown for riding the shuttle bus with the passengers from the airport to our lovely City and back! Thank you to our NEKI airport! 91 prop planes and 3 jets! The airport that we need to enhance for the economic development of our city!
Our police chief and our team worked for months to be sure that the Eclipse event would be focused on safety. Our City Manager, also a firefighter, worked with the firefighter team. Exiting the City, took approximately four hours, but smooth with no incidents. Our visitors left the City immaculate. Our City Hall and businesses opened up their restrooms to accommodate our visitors. As Senator Ingalls said, it went off without a hitch. Newport is definitely the best kept secret in the Northeast Kingdom and now we have proven that it is not a “drive-through” city, but an absolute gem location to “DRIVE AND FLY TO!”
Again – Looking forward to see all these amazing visitors and their friends come back to Newport.
Thank you for your confidence – Your Mayor, Linda Joy Sullivan
