BILLS LUMBER:
45 minutes
documentary
DATE: APRIL 27, 2025
TIME: 4:30 pm
ADMISSION: by donation to be shared equally by Brattleboro Community Television and MHCA
a video by Theresa Maggio
Established in 1936, by Melbourne Bills, Bills Lumber was a cherished fixture of the Wardsboro community for 86 years. In 2022, the mill and the adjoining 433 wooded acres were sold. The video, by Theresa Maggio, was mostly taped during the summer and fall of 2023 and chronicles octogenarian brothers, Alan and Everett Bills, and their co-owner niece, Debbie Bills Bower, as they prepare to demolish the working sawmill, debarker and planer shed. Great storytellers, Alan and Everett reminisce about what it was like to grow up on “Bills Hill,” their family compound on Route 100 in Wardsboro, recounting harrowing tales of fire and flood with equanimity and a good laugh. Although it is the end of an era and a father’s legacy, the Bill’s buoyant spirits vanquish all.
