Congratulations to Bob Hooker on 18 marvelous years at VT Folklife!
Bob in his family home in Pittsford.
After 18 years at VT Folklife, Bob Hooker is retiring! Bob’s ready smile, sunny disposition, ability to spin a yarn from almost any offhand remark, and his generosity—particularly with peppermint LifeSavers—will be familiar to all who have met him.
Bob has been an indispensable part of the organization for many years, filling more roles than we can count, a small number of which include: greeting everyone who walked through the doors of our Middlebury gallery; conducting mailings and thanking donors; organizing, decorating, and managing our building; and planning and executing our winter Gingerbread House exhibit.
Since joining his husband, folklorist Greg Sharrow, at Vermont Folklife in 2006, Bob has revealed an exceptional variety of skills and interests, along with a readiness to cheerfully take on tasks other staff members ran from.
The staff gathered to celebrate Bob in October, 2024
Bob’s titles at VT Folklife have included Office Manager, Shop Manager, Vision & Voice Gallery Manager, Administrative Assistant, Development Assistant, and, most recently, Administrative & Development Associate. Bob also took on a convenient conflation of multiple unrelated roles and responsibilities, including property manager to our Middlebury building. His remarkable talent for moving furniture many times his weight, without assistance, hugely lightened the load of our recent move. We very literally could not have done it without him.
Bob’s infectious enthusiasm, stories, and remarkable institutional memory will be sorely missed, yet we know that he is embracing retirement with his usual energy: improvements to his family home (of four generations) in Pittsford; the kind of incessant revisions to his property that mark a true gardener; time away at his home in North Carolina (more improvements!); his beloved tropical fish, nearly 200 in number; and many other interests.
Bob, we’ll see you soon!
If you’d like to make a gift in Bob’s honor, please consider giving to the Sharrow Fieldwork Fund. You can make a gift online or by check, just note that your gift is for the Sharrow Fund and in honor of Bob in the memo line or comment box.
