Verandah Porche
Poet
Vermont
E-mail: verandah@sover.net

Yvette Reed

Local photographer Bill Hackwell accompanied Verndah Porche on her visits, shooting portraits of each subject in their working environment. Many of the resident's interviews were featured in the local press and broadcast on the cable NCTV "Guild Guys" program. Sharing the poems publicly proved an opportunity for the town to collectively reflect on their history, as well as their future. Above, Yvette Reed. Photo by Hackwell. All rights reserved.

True Colors in the Dye House: Yvette Reed (by Verandah Porche)

Yvette Reed, Dorr Woolen's Kettle Tender, lowers the visor OSHA mandates for a mixer of chemicals and smiles slightly for her portrait. Since 5:00 a.m. (it used to be 3:00), she's been on a roll in the Dye House, running around between the vats and controls.

A hand truck with 90 hefty cones of yarn wheels down from Dottie Thorton in Winding; the shade is a tinge too green. Reed checks her chart and adds reddish-orange powders prescribed by the Dye House Office to the vat. While the potion swirls, she nests cones of yarn snugly onto posts, secures them, hitches their platform onto a hook, and hoists up the load. It swings slightly across the Dye House. With precision, she positions it over the massive vat and lowers the yarn into the bath. Later, there's extracting drying, computing weight, checking color: 10 hours of mathematics, athletics, patience, concentration, and occasional surprises.

Once in awhile, while I'm loading the vat, I'll look out the window, While ago, we had a bird come in. I kept hearing it by the roof fan, kept hearing a chirping, but I couldn't find it. I went to check the temperature on the kettle and the bird was on the floor, alive but it couldn't fly...I put it out the back door by the Piece Dye...Had a cat come in here before, but most of the time, it's just me....