The town of Cambridge is best known for Smugglers’ Notch, home to a popular ski resort. The notch (mountain pass) got its name when President Jefferson, responding to aggression from both France and Britain during the Napoleonic Wars, implemented the Embargo Act of 1807, shutting down all foreign trade. But trade with Canada was essential to Vermont’s economy. Smuggling was rampant, and Smuggler’s Notch was one of the main overland routes to the north.

The black market commanded higher profits than everyday trade. As a result, shipments of some categories of goods nearly doubled over pre-embargo amounts, and the widely reviled Embargo Act lasted just a year. Jefferson lasted another twenty; on his death, Cambridge Center, one of Cambridge’s then three villages, was renamed Jeffersonville. So Cambridge owes two place names to Jefferson: one in his honor, and one in flagrant disregard of his authority.

Pianist Michael Arnowitt has played all over the state and has given many tips on places to perform. Michael reported that the Bryan Memorial Art Gallery in Jeffersonville had an old Steinway grand, in need of work but still decent. I called to see if they would host the Cambridge concert; director Stephen Gothard was glad to—and told me that the solid but run-down piano had just been rebuilt! Our concert was the first performance on the restored piano, while the Bryan Memorial was the first art gallery of the tour. Stephen scheduled the concert for the annual Jeffersonville Art Jam.