Village looking to boost Sunday-Monday food options

Jeremy Sigl, manager of The Lazy Cow, hands an ice cream to customer Steve Panouchek at the Woodstock Village Green on Monday. (Gareth Henderson Photo)

After a recent decision by the Woodstock Village Trustees, permits are allowed for up to two food trucks to serve the public at the Village Green on Sunday and Monday, from now through October.

One such permit was approved for The Lazy Cow, a "mobile ice cream cafe", which began serving customers Sunday and Monday this week next to the eastern end of the Green.

This new permitting for the Green was prompted by staffing shortages in the restaurant sector, resulting in fewer eateries being open on Sunday and Monday. The Trustees are hoping this new effort can help fill in that gap during the summer and fall. However, Trustees Chair Jeff Kahn noted this wasn't a permanent decision.

"It is not perpetual, it's an experiment to see how things go this summer," Kahn said. "Maybe we'll renew this permitting, maybe we won't."

The Trustees are hoping a food truck serving lunch will apply for a permit, but none has been able to commit to the two days in Woodstock, because a number of them are having trouble finding help, Kahn added.

The specific hours for Sunday and Monday are up to the food trucks themselves. The Lazy Cow plans to be there from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays and Mondays. (The schedule is different on Sunday, July 4, when they'll be at the Woodstock Fourth of July Celebration.)

The Lazy Cow is owned by Ashley Sigl, a 2015 graduate of Woodstock Union High School living in Hanover, NH, who said this past Sunday and Monday brought "perfect ice cream weather" and lots of customers.

"With the upcoming holiday weekend, and people wanting to go to the quintessential Vermont town, it all very much helps," she said. "We're happy to be back in the community again."

Her brother, Jeremy, manages the business on-site during the summer, and he's enjoying the two days in Woodstock early in the week.

"It's good to see some familiar faces," he said at the Green on Monday. Their full schedule is online, including hours in Reading and other locations in southern Vermont and New Hampshire.

— Gareth Henderson