Political Quotes

“On November 20, 2019, only 3 weeks ago, Vermont lost a great Vermonter and an inspiring American, Jake Burton Carpenter, the person who started Burton Snowboards, the person who actually created the whole sport of boarding. Jake was a great Vermonter and pioneer of snowboarding. He was a great husband to his wife, best friend, and business partner for decades, Donna Carpenter, and the proud father of George, Taylor, and Timi, snowboarders or riders all. Jake's life was one of great effort, inspiring originality, perpetual decency, and deep love of the snowboarding sport Jake created, deep love of the people who came to the sport, and deep love of his community and all the people who worked in his company. Snowboarding in 2019 is a wildly popular sport that Jake started. It has a prominent place in our Winter Olympic Games, and it has extraordinary champions. It was once shunned and prohibited in all our ski areas. Mr. Speaker, you couldn't bring a board to a mountain, and it was because the kids who wanted to do this were rambunctious, energetic, and Jake would sometimes say disrespectful of their elders. But they loved to ride, loved to be outdoors, and loved to be with each other. It was this culture of community that Jake created as much as this extraordinary sport that allowed people to demonstrate amazing physical skills. He started this company in Stratton, Vermont. He worked as a bartender at night.…”