Calvis

In 1902 Joseph Calvi opened a small restaurant in Middlebury, Vermont . The original area restaurant started was in the mill section of town in Middlebury.

When Joseph Calvi passed away two other family members would own the business before the owner now Blaney Blodgett would get the family run business. His mother had the business before him but she was physically there but made no improvements to the restaurant itself.

In 1970 Blaney Blodgett took it over. Since then the restaurant has been remodeled four times. Blaney Blodgett has tried to keep the 50's look to the restaurant still.

Since Blaney Blodgett can remember the restaurant hasn't been closed for a very long period of time except when his grandfather ,Joseph Calvi, passed away and the restaurant was closed for a month or so.

I asked Blaney Blodgett if the cliental has changed since he has owned it and he said ,"No, not really." He went on to explain: usually Calvis gets the regulars in the morning, a mixed group of people in the afternoon, younger people after school, and a mixed group during the evening. So it seems they get a wide variety.

Blaney Blodgett told me that a long time ago when there were horse drawn carts and cars, one of the cars spooked a horse and the horse smashed into the front window of Calvis. The driver was okay but the horse might have been killed.

There was another incident when they got a shipment of something and there was a Tarantula inside. When the caught it they gave it to the Middlebury College. The college recently did away with it.

My grandfather Ralph Emilo worked at Calvis and recalls when he was younger in about the 1920's or so, he would roast peanuts in the basement of Calvis and he would know when they were done when they tasted good to him. He also told me that fruits and vegetables like oranges, grapefruits and other things were wrapped in tissue like paper and he brought it home and used it for paper towels instead of wasting it.

Calvis has been in two movies and a TV series that never aired. In the movies people might notice the fountain and other things from the restaurant. One of the movies is airing sometime in February.

By Sarah Price

Sources: the photograph is either a home photo or its from a local newspaper in the area. The people in the photo are of Joseph Calvi and maybe Ralph Genonni. The information came from Blaney Blodgett, Ralph Emilo and The Addison Independent.