By GUY C. DENECHAD

The signs that read, “Town of Windsor: Birthplace of Vermont” have long been in place, but a rising tide of events and interest in promoting the town as a destination for both recreational and business travelers is also helping to elevate Windsor’s visibility outside of the Upper Valley.

Windsor has retained the rural character and attractions that continue to make it a popular destination for visitors. The number and quality of its attractions has grown in recent years, thanks to marketing and promotion.

Marketing Windsor has become easier, aided by attention from radio and television shows. For instance, Robert Dean, co-owner of the Juniper Hill Inn, said filming took place in late July at the inn for a Rachel Ray travel show called “Rachael’s Vacation,” set to broadcast on the Travel Network in late 2009 or early 2010. Ray, a television show host and chef, spent hours at the Juniper Hill Inn dining and filming in July. She, her husband and her dog stayed at the inn.

Dean also began a live radio show in July titled “Robert Dean’s At Your Leisure” on WTSL 94.3 FM and 1400 AM, another new feather in Windsor’s cap. The show is streamed live on the Internet through the station’s Web site, and is currently being considered for syndication.

“The show, which draws attention to significant events and attractions in the area, also features all sorts of travel, and destination travel-related segments are making it possible for us to highlight our region, including all of Vermont and New Hampshire, for potential visitors,” said Dean. “Our goal is to focus on growing our region’s tourism business.”

Windsor has absorbed the downsizing and departure of some key industries since 1980, but it hasn’t lost its community spirit and pride, and support of its museums and other attractions has increased. Windsor has several entrepreneurs including Dean and partner Ari Nikki, and the family of Nate Larson, which has opened a variety store.

There also is the NL Wilson fly fishing specialty store in town, with a new inn slated to open this summer. Developers Ted Hilles and Jane Osgood, as well as Gary Neil of Quechee Gorge Village fame, have helped to lead a new era of investment and support.

Gary Neil, who sold the Firehouse at Windsor building to the Cornish Colony Museum and owns the historic J.J. Newberry’s building downtown, said interest in commercial properties in the heart of Windsor continues to heat up.

“These are not investors who just plan to sit on properties over time, waiting for them to appreciate, but entrepreneurs who want to upgrade properties and turn them into flourishing businesses,” Neil said.

In addition to the opening of retail businesses and restaurants downtown, Windsor has attracted and retained two employers widely recognized for the quality of their products: Simon Pearce and the Harpoon Brewery. Located in a scenic, rural light-industrial district adjacent to the river, the active plants employ dozens of local residents and will soon be joined by a third when Vermont Spirits relocates to Windsor from St. Johnsbury.

The Harpoon Brewery opened in 2000, when Harpoon’s Boston brewery was already running at capacity. The Windsor plant brews Harpoon Beer and the Leviathan Series beers. The plant’s capacity was expanded in 2005 to 30,000 barrels a year. Harpoon runs frequent plant tours, and has proven to be a tourist destination. Its Riverbend Taps and Beer Garden restaurant is a popular spot with both locals and tourists.

Windsor’s pride in its history hasn’t gone unrecognized. During summer 2008, Rose Wilson, Windsor Main Street Manager, flew to Washington, D.C. to accept a $45,000 Preserve America grant award from then First Lady Laura Bush. The matching grant was used in the Welcome to Windsor Project, creating a unique opportunity for both residents and visitors to explore and to learn about the community.

For the project, “Welcome to Windsor” signs were installed at the north and south entrances to town, and interpretive signs were placed in front of selected historic sites. The project also complemented the construction of the Windsor Welcome Center, which was completed and occupied by the start of summer. The matching grant resulted in a collaborative effort between community members, local and regional businesses, local nonprofits, town administrators and a generous pledge from the Windsor Downtown Program that contributed funds, time and resources towards the necessary $45,000 match.

As the birthplace of Vermont, it is fitting there are three museums in Windsor highlighting the area’s rich history. The Old Constitution House on Main Street is a state historic site. The historic Windsor Firehouse, which houses the Cornish Colony Gallery & Museum, is less than a block away; the American Precision Museum also is nearby. Since Windsor was the only Vermont town that actually was part of the Cornish Art Colony, connections to the creative culture remain strong in Windsor, and the Cornish Colony Museum commemorates that.

Initially based in Cornish, NH, the museum relocated to Windsor in 2006; purchased the historic Windsor Firehouse in 2007; and moved to this historic downtown location last year. It features the works of famed colony artists such as Maxfield Parrish, Daniel Chester French, Willard Metcalf and Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Works by several other influential American artists are also featured in special exhibits.

Constructed to house the town’s fire department about 80 years ago, the Firehouse at Windsor also served as the Town Hall, the Police Department and a small courtroom for a period of time. It has two stories above street level, about 5,000 square feet each, and is located on the east side of Main Street a short distance from the Connecticut River.

Housed in the original Robbins & Lawrence Armory, The American Precision Museum pays tribute to the heritage of the region, once widely known for the production of machine tools. For decades before and after World War I, the machine tool industry formed the economic backbone for Windsor and the surrounding 20-mile area. Called “Precision Valley,” the region was home to a number of prominent industry-leading manufacturing companies during the peak of the American machine tool industry.

Founded in 1966, the museum retains the nation’s largest collection of historically important machine tools and is open from Memorial Day through October this year. This year’s main exhibit is Muskets to Motor Cars, an exploration of the road to mass production. A working machine shop is the center of the exhibit, thanks to a partnership with the River Valley Technical Center in Springfield and funding from the Vermont Department of Labor’s Next Generation internship program. Throughout the summer, high school and college interns demonstrate cutting metal using a variety of tools.

A three-year grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services enabled the museum to hire its first collections manager in 2007 to create an inventory of and improve care for the artifact collection of approximately 4,000 objects. In 2008, the National Endowment for the Humanities “Interpreting America’s Historic Places” program awarded a planning grant to work with a team of historians and exhibit specialists to outline a new permanent exhibition that highlights the role of people in the rise of the American system of manufacturing. A second proposal submitted in August requested funds to build the new exhibit: Shaping America: Machines and Machinists at Work, and develop related public programs.

“We are pleased to see that visitor attendance this summer has been steady, with 2009 numbers comparable to 2008,” said Nancy Hoggson, the museum’s development and communications manager. “In this current difficult economic climate, new and renewed memberships are down slightly, as is fundraising, but the bulk of our members and supporters are still maintaining their memberships and making annual gifts.”

More than most towns, Windsor has had success in landing grants to help improve its services and safety. Town Manager Steve Cottrell said a series of grants in Windsor this year range from the $610 Aquatic Nuisance grant for the control of milfoil to a grant of about $2 million for upgrading water lines along Route 5 from state and federal sources.

Improvements are being made in the Armory Square Apartments with help from a $1 million grant from the Vermont Community Development Program, and a Community Development Block Grant of nearly $850,000 from the Vermont Agency of Transportation is being used for the Union Street Enhancement Project and walking paths. The Windsor Police Department is getting computers in all cruisers, bulletproof vests and other safety upgrades with grants of more than $50,000 this year.

“The town of Windsor management staff and support agencies, such as SWCRPC (Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission), the Windsor Downtown Board, Windsor Improvement Corporation, Springfield Regional Development and others have been fairly aggressive and successful in obtaining a variety of grants and low-interest loans on behalf of the town,” said Cottrell.

“Collectively, these combined efforts have provided many substantive physical improvements for our town,” he said. “We will continue to pursue such outside funding opportunities if we are able to meet the sometimes significant matching requirements these may often require.” Cottrell added he hopes to help assemble a larger audience of local organizations, businesses and residents to support campaigns to raise funds and keep Windsor moving forward.

Special events

For its size, Windsor hosts more than its share of fall events that draw visitors from throughout the Upper Valley and beyond. A Wine and Jazz event was held at the Juniper Hill Inn September 17. Two days later, An Evening to Paws, with celebrity honorary chair actress Cloris Leachman, was held to benefit the Upper Valley Humane Society. The Vermont 50-Miler Bike Ride & Run was held here September 27.

October events include The Moondance festival, which will take place downtown from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. The Harpoon Brewery’s Octoberfest is slated for October 10-11.