There's a 'Simpsons' frenzy in Springfield, Vt.

By Marisol Bello, USA TODAY

SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — It didn't take long for the word to spread through town that Springfield will host The Simpsons Movie premiere.

The town has, after all, only 9,300 people. And for a burg with one movie theater and a main street anchored by the public library, the news was big.

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Liz Clapperton, a local waitress, heard the news on the phone from her excited 14-year-old son, Jordan.

"My son was yelling, "We won, we won, we won,' " Clapperton said. "We won what? The megabucks? That's what I thought the way he was screaming."

Vermont's Springfield and 13 other Springfields across the country submitted videos to convince voters on USATODAY.com that they should host the premiere.

Judi Martin taped giant yellow letters on the Springfield Copy Center's front window announcing, "We won," in case there was any doubt.

Martin couldn't remember the last time anything created such a stir in town.

"I heard a little scuttlebutt at the bank," she said. "People were buzzing, not that it takes much to buzz in a small town."

Now its residents are planning to turn their town, granted a charter in 1761 in the Connecticut River Valley of southern Vermont, into their version of Hollywood as they host the official premiere of The Simpsons Movie July 21 at the76-year-old Springfield Theater.

Patricia Chaffee, vice president of the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the townsfolk have yet to plan premiere festivities. "We haven't gotten that far; we're still in shock here," she said.

Springfield, Vt., wasn't even among the original Springfields invited by Twentieth Century Fox to compete. Then Chaffee contacted the studio and rallied the town to submit a video.
Vermont's Gov. Jim Douglas, who voted on Monday, offered condolences to the town's 13 rivals:

"To all the other Springfields, I say, 'Don't have a cow, man.' "

The town could use the attention, residents say. Once a hub for Vermont's machine tool industry, Springfield fell into a slow decline in the 1980s and '90s as the plants shut down. Only one major machine tool company remains.

"This is an area that is fairly depressed," said Brad Blitzstein, a machinist who lives in town. He and his wife, Tiffany, were at the theater to see Transformers.

Transplants from Florida, the couple can see a similarity between their adopted home and the home of Homer Simpson and his zany family and neighbors.

"There are a lot of people here that make you go, 'D'oh!' " Blitzstein said.
"You've got a lot of characters, but people are pleasant. Not Ned Flanders pleasant. I'm sure if someone walks up to you and says, 'Hey diddledeedoo,' they might end up as a hunting trophy somewhere."