Rural trust broken

Kermit Spaulding does business the old-fashioned way: relying on trust.

His farm stand on Barrows Road has a price list and a jug where customers deposit their payments for sweet corn, squash, pumpkins and other produce. This “honor system” worked fine for 60 years.

That changed last month when thieves hit on three separate occasions. They made off with about $50 in cash, but they also stole something priceless.

Sacred in rural America, the farm stand honor code has been broken repeatedly around here this summer, and not only at Spaulding’s stand.

“The first time, on Aug. 23, they took the whole jug,” Spaulding said. “On Aug. 26 and 27 they just took the money.”

Unattended farm stands are everywhere in Vermont. Most are simple affairs — little wooden shacks where customers select produce, maple syrup or eggs and leave exact change, or in some cases personal checks, in an unlocked cash box.

Others, such as the Pete’s Greens stand in Craftsbury, are small stores selling everything from organic meat to locally produced cheese and organic produce.

The unmanned stands reflect a sense of community and trust that’s common in small-town New England. When that trust is violated, it pulls at the fabric that binds a community together.

Spaulding’s stand was just one of the stands to be hit this summer.

Terry and Gail Spear sell eggs from their farm stand on Bouchard Road. Last month, a thief used a bolt cutter to remove a cash box and its contents, which totaled about $57.

The Spears, who monitor the farm stand from their home, didn’t see anything suspicious that day and estimate the theft took place sometime around 4 p.m. They believe the thief arrived on foot prepared for a quick heist.

“They were prepared,” Gail Spear said. “It’s not kids. No kid could cut through that lock.”

Thea Alvin sells eggs from a small stand in front of her home on Route 100 in Morristown for years. Last week a thief made off with a dozen eggs.

Alvin wrote a note offering to feed the thief or to trade eggs in exchange for barn chores and left it at the farm stand. The thief returned the next day, read and moved the note, and stole another dozen eggs.

Stowe Police Chief Donald Hull can’t recall any farm stand thefts prior to this summer.

He advises farm stand owners to collect money before dark, or to keep their cash boxes in a well-lit area.

Locked cash boxes with a slot for deposits offer less temptation than open ones, Hull said.

There are no suspects in any of the thefts. “If anyone has any information, we’d love to hear from them,” Hull said.

Spaulding estimates that he’s logged about 600 hours in his fields since May. He stops by the farm stand, located within view of his home, between chores to collect the cash that’s been left there and chat with customers.

The farm stand is particularly busy in the late afternoon when locals stop by on the way home from work. It’s also a popular stop for tourists who often snap photos of the classic Vermont scene.

“It’s kind of discouraging,” Spaulding said of the thefts. “But, so many people have enjoyed buying the pumpkins and corn over the years it overshadows this.”

Alvin has experienced other incidents where a dozen eggs disappeared and no cash was left to pay for them. In most cases, the person has either left an IOU or returned later to pay, often giving more than the posted $4.50 per-dozen price.

Alvin said the latest theft was particularly unnerving and led her to decide to close her stand.

She says she may also reconsider her current open-door policy where visitors can walk unescorted throughout her property, which includes an art gallery and several stone sculptures.

The Spears, who raise chickens as a hobby and run their stand to help pay for grain, have also considered closing. The theft has rattled their sense of security.

“There’s no profit,” Gail Spear said. “I don’t like having these type of people wandering around.”

She and her husband would miss the sense of community the stand provides.

“It’s a sad thing,” she said. “In all the time we’ve had this stand we’ve never been broken into. People are honest. You meet nice people. The tourists enjoy it.”

Spaulding, who is in his late 70s, says he sometimes thinks about retiring the stand, but the thefts haven’t convinced him to do that just yet. Nor have they led him to install a hidden camera or make other changes to the way he does business.

“Farming is a gamble anyway with the weather,” Spaulding said. “I’m not going to change anything and I can’t afford to hire someone to watch over it.”