The following was published in the May 1956 edition of Weather Bureau Topics.

The 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Weather Bureau Office at Burlington, Vt., was celebrated on March 29, 1956 by inviting the public to attend "open house" at the station. The day was proclaimed "Weather Bureau Day" by Mayor J. Edward Moran of Burlington.

Despite bad weather a large crowd turned out to inspect the station's facilities, services, and equipment. A carefully selected route through the offices, large visual aids, and the use of tape recorders facilitated the handling of the visitors with no serious interference to the normal station routine.

Messages of congratulations were placed in the local newspapers by firms commending the station on the good service which it has rendered to the community during the past 50 years. Congratulatory messages were also received from Governor Johnson of Vermont and U.S. Senator George B. Aiken. Two television programs on WCAX-TV and several radio programs featured the occasion. 

Robert E. Helbush, Meteorologist in Charge, commented that: "All of us here at the Weather Bureau thoroughly enjoyed the festivities and some of the local staff have even jokingly suggested that we begin plans for our 100 year celebration. Among other things, it gave us a chance to personally greet and briefly converse with some of the numerous friends and well-wishers of the Bureau with whom we have had

only telephone contact all these years. We believe that those who visited us not only found an interesting program, but that our guests went away with an appreciation of some of the problems we face and of the complexities of weather forecasting and observing.

For more information:

• The History of Surface Weather Observing in Burlington, Vermont, 1832-1973, by Stephen R. Doty
• History of 601 Main Street, Burlington, Vermont, by Erin Hammerstedt of the UVM Historical Preservation Program