VERMONT Magazine Winter 2023 | Page 58

A Slice of Life

A Slice of Life

Jean Andrew Heidi Tilley Pat Shepard
Sharon Gavin Brenda Eggsware
Memories and Musings
The interviews contained within Sonny ’ s Blue Benn wonderfully illustrate the pivotal role that the Benn played in the lives of many of its servers and customers . Longtime server Heidi Tilley recalled a storybook evening when two long-time customers came into the Blue Benn to celebrate Valentine ’ s Day . Heidi turned down the lights to set the mood , and the customers lit some candles and started slow-dancing in the aisles . In a later subsection of the book devoted to customer interviews , “ The Romantics ,” William Fisk & Cinda Morse recounted the same story : “ When we sat down , they turned the overhead lights down . We had the whole diner to ourselves . And they were great . It was so fun !”
Other interviews within the book share various recollections from staff members about the work culture at The Blue Benn . Bill Walsh , who cooked alongside Sonny Monroe in the diner ’ s kitchen for decades , described the way that Sonny fluidly waltzed through the kitchen while preparing meals as “ mythical .” Sharon Gavin , a seasoned Blue Benn server , says that working at the Benn was like being part of a big family . “ We were like brothers and sisters . I always looked forward to coming to work … it was like a second home .” Sonny ’ s sister , Pat Shepard , another established Blue Benn waitress , says that while her brother made working at The Blue Benn easy and enjoyable , the customers were the best part .
From an objective standpoint , the most consistent group of customers that dined at the Benn is certainly “ The Breakfast Club .” According to Randall and Crabtree , The Breakfast Club is an eclectic group of Bennington residents that meet at The Blue Benn on a daily basis . One member of The Breakfast Club , Norman LeBlanc , is a retired military officer . To celebrate his return to active duty , the servers at The Blue Benn opened up the diner at 2AM . “ We pulled into The Blue Benn and that place was wall-to-wall people ,” he says .
Artist Willard Boepple is an anchor of the Bennington creative scene — and he is also a proud member of The Breakfast Club . In the book , Boepple is quoted as saying that two of the greatest things about Sonny ’ s Blue Benn were the laid-back atmosphere and the unpretentious nature of the service . He is also grateful that The Benn provided a place where he could enjoy a meal with people who shared differing personal and political views without heated contention .
The “ Neighbors ” subsection in Sonny ’ s Blue Benn features interviews from two owners of neighboring businesses : Lynn Frost , the former owner of The Tuscan Sunflower , and Donny Wassick , owner of Wassick Tire . Both frequented The Benn and formed deep connections with Sonny and Mary Lou . Donny Wassick says that he would run into someone he knew every time that he went into the Benn . “ I ’ d walk in there … and have a quick conversation with all kinds of people before I even sat down . Everybody seemed to be on the same page … For a lot of us , going there was an experience , not just going to the diner .”
Throughout the course of Sonny ’ s tenure at The Blue Benn , numerous noteworthy celebrities came to dine there , including Gwyneth Paltrow , Marisa Tomei , Rob Lowe , Ben Affleck , and James Gandolfini , among many others . Although apocryphal tales surrounding the behavior of celebrities at The Blue Benn has spawned a number of persistent local legends , recurrent customers insist that The Blue Benn ’ s service staff always greeted everyone with equal respect — regardless of their level of fame . To that end , Maggi Randall , a talented artist and frequent Blue Benn customer , says that The Benn was “ a beautiful snapshot of what egalitarianism should be . I loved the way they treated celebrities the same as all their other customers .”
The Family Afterward
While interviewing with Mary Lou Monroe and her daughter , Lisa LaFlamme , Randall and Crabtree were humbled by the amount of dedication that the Monroe dynasty applied to their work . In the earliest days after the acquisition , Mary Lou balanced her outside work as a
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