By Adam White
Observer staff
Helena Anderson Blair, a pioneer of Williston?s business district who passed away on Sept. 23 at age 89, used a three-wheeled bicycle ?as recreation, to do business (and) to reflect? as she rode around the Blair Park area, according to her son, Larry Blair. (Photo courtesy of Larry Blair)
As the matriarch of a family farm in Williston, Helena Anderson Blair had much to teach her eight children as they were growing up. But her lessons weren?t just about taking care of animals or handling chores.
?One of our first lessons in money management came when she brought us to the Champlain Valley Fair,? said her son, Larry Blair. ?She gave us each $5 for the day ? but whatever money we came back with, she would double it. It was a lesson we all took to heart.?
Using that acumen for dollars and sense, Helena Blair ? who passed away on Sept. 23 at the age of 89 ? helped lay the foundation for the growth center that largely defines the town of Williston today. Recognizing the business potential for converting her family?s farm at Taft Corners into commercial real estate, she didn?t hesitate to seize the opportunity.
?She was a woman who was ahead of her time in many ways,? said another of her sons, Ronald Blair. ?She was clearly a determined lady, with great business sense. She was extremely thorough, and that helped her persevere in any endeavor she got involved with.?
Helena Blair and her husband, Paul, purchased their farm at Taft Corners in 1950. Ronald Blair said that his parents were actually interested in several sites within the extended area, but chose the Williston plot because Helena saw its potential for future development. Larry Blair agreed, saying that his mother was perceptive enough to recognize shifts in both infrastructure and identity that signaled changing times in Williston.
?When the Interstate highway system went in during the 1960s and dumped an exit ramp onto an adjacent farm, she knew that things were going to start changing,? he said. ?The pressures on farming in Taft Corners were also increasing; many people who worked at places like IBM were turning Williston into a bedroom community, and they weren?t supportive of active farms in the area, doing things like spreading manure on the fields.?
From day one, Helena Blair played a proactive role in the development of what would become Blair Park ? personally navigating the planning and permitting processes, and making sure her vision and voice were a part of all negotiations. Beginning with an engineering firm and a furniture store, Blair Park evolved into the first commercial nerve center of Williston.
?She wanted us to be able to control our own destiny in terms of what was going on in there,? Ronald Blair said, adding that the addition of Vermont Technical College to Blair Park?s roster was one of his mother?s most memorable business achievements. ?She was very proud of the fact that a college ended up on our land,? he said.
Despite having left the agriculture business in 1978, Helena Blair maintained strong ties to others farmers and helped them transition to other endeavors just as she had. She allowed her home to be used as a de facto campaign headquarters when fellow farmer Herb Goodrich first ran for the Williston Selectboard in 1969, and remained a friend and advisor to Goodrich throughout the rest of her life.
?I couldn?t believe the knowledge she had. Where she got it, I have no idea,? said Goodrich, adding that Helena Blair never lost her love for farming even decades after she stopped doing it. ?She still got that feeling in her bones every spring, that it was time to go out and turn that dirt over.?
CIVIL UNION ACTIVIST
Blair?s most recent, high profile involvement was in the movement for civil unions in Vermont. Her son Larry, who is gay, said that Helena Blair?s status as a Catholic, farming mother of eight from rural Vermont ? combined with her insight and ability to communicate effectively ? made her a strong advocate for the cause.
?She was quite a campaigner for those who didn?t have as powerful a voice as the majority,? he said, crediting his mother with helping to challenge the ?deafening historical prejudicial silence regarding homosexuality.?
?It didn?t take long for people to catch on that this was a woman of voice and a woman of action,? Larry Blair added. ?She wrote enough letters, editorials and faxes that she became one of the major voices in the movement for civil union in Vermont. Reading through some of those (letters) now has helped turn my grief into smiles.?
Source: http://www.willistonobserver.com/blair-a-pioneer-for-business-in-williston/
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