Within minutes of meeting Don Wexler, you sense he is a man with a mission. Within an hour you realize we are talking missions! Perhaps his energy and commitments stem from his roots in the Boston area where, at age 10, he and his three older brothers lost their father. His mother committed herself to seeing her children were still able to have their family activities including ski outings and, to help her, her boys stepped up.
Some of his intense beliefs and the causes he champions may be attributed to college ecology courses he took that made him passionate about the environment. He also embraced the ’70’s “Back -to-the-Land” movement. In that period, people were starting to realize the impact of the human imprint on the world. The movement inspired him to grow his own food and to never ignore he dangers of plastic.
Working as a construction project manager in Boston, a job problem with a Canadian government contract allowed him to meet Lise Bedard, an employee working for the Quebec company. Don claims it was love at first sight, The job problem was resolved and the only thing left to do was to marry Lise. He reasoned that a good way to select a place to live with his new bride was for it to be halfway between his home in Newton, Massachusetts, and hers in the Canadian Laurentian Mountains. Drawn to rural Vermont and enticed by the prospect of proximity to skiing, the Mad River Valley seemed perfect.
In what Wexler describes as a “fluke,” they found their Moretown, 100-year-old home on property that continues to excite them. It was from their home that he travelled to wherever his work demanded and where they raised their daughters Chloe and Faye.
Not long after settling in Moretown he became friends with Liza Cain and Randy George owners of Red Hen Bakery who worked out of their cramped Duxbury location. Not one to sit back when he saw a need and an opportunity, Don set out to find a location that would allow the bakery to grow and also to add a cafe. Liza and Randy were doubtful it could ever happen and only dreamed of more bakery space. Don bought Middlesex’s Camp Mead giving several businesses a home including Red Hen. George stated, “Donny saw something for us that I could not have seen and our lives and the lives of dozens of people who have worked for us were changed because of Donny’s vision and determination,” Liza added, “Donny goes about serious projects with humor and true joy in making good things happen in the world.” After 12 years of being a landlord, he sold the property to Russ Bennett.
Reason seems to play a huge role in Wexler’s life. He preaches conservation and believes words have to be backed up with action. He and Lise, both retired, manage to share one electric car. It requires lots of logistics and planning for the very active couple, but they are happy to do it. Their e-bikes have been a game changer enabling them up to 60 miles per outing. To avoid plastics, they make their own yogurt and buy milk in glass bottles. Wrapping that comes on packaged items and all bags get washed and recycled at sites found on plasticfilmrecycling.org. “Every bit counts,” he stated. He is passionate about the earth and efforts to help sustain it permeate much of his life. Going for coffee with him entails getting the barista to use a mug and definitely not a plastic bag for his scone. Anything else is very problematic!
Don started riding the Pan-Mass Challenge and fundraiser for Dana-Farber in1983. He never imagined that in 2015 he would be their patient and treated for Stage 4 pancreatic cancer with a prognosis of 12-18 months to live. He asked for and was given three weeks off from chemo that year to enable him the ability to ride. Chloe and Faye rode by his side. He has not missed a year since and, in 2016, Lise, a devoted walker, became a biker to pedal along.
His refusal to waste any time and his professional career as a project manager undoubtedly pave the way for all the projects he has found as a retired community volunteer. He loves his town and is presently serving his second term on the Moretown Select Board. He is actively seeking ways to enhance town buildings including the Town Hall and the Moretown Community Library that both need love and attention to varying degrees. He usually finds friends and funds to make good things happen.
Troubled by low attendance at Town Meeting Day, he worked to change it to a more convenient hour and to offer free childcare and a pot luck supper, The 200 residents who came out last March seemed to like his idea. Recently the select board hosted a “Have Your Say Day” meeting in advance of the 2026 budget and Town Meeting in another effort to garner community input early on. Don also reasons that a great deal of work has to be done to address road safety. He is part of the Road Safety Team that garnered signatures to have VTrans change speed and usage on Route 100/100B and the team has taken the campaign to the Central Vermont Regional Planning Board.
He is passionate in his hope that Warren, Waitsfield, and Moretown will work together to advance the objective of traffic calming. His dream is to utilize the asset of Pony Farm Road, and North Road to the Common Road to E. Warren Road thinking that people love it for its beauty and that all know it is a very special place to hike, bike and walk. Just maybe, he believes with an aggressive “SLOW WAY’ campaign, the mentality of motorists can be changed and safety, kindness and respect can prevail. It is very clear Don thinks both day and night of exciting concepts and ways to bring people together for a better Valley.
Clearly a people person, he rarely fails to make a connection. Dana Jenkins tells the story of witnessing Don needing a phone charger at an airport. He asked a stranger if he could borrow his. She said the word ‘stranger’ is no longer applicable as Don now skis with him in Canada and has visited and stayed at his home in the Netherlands. They are in frequent trans-Atlantic touch – a testament to how Don values and maintains friendships. Don speaks with great fondness of the Boston oncologist, Brian Wolpin, he considers a friend and credits him, along with the entire staff at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, with saving his life. It is almost certain the doctor, in return, credits him with one of the most unique questions ever asked by a patient. Don, a veteran gardener and consummate environmentalist, was concerned that his urine might be toxic due the therapies he received. The answer was “No” but the follow-up question from Dr. Wolpin was, “Why?” Said doctor now knows that urine, when peed around a garden border, is a tried and true deer repellent and his patient is a rare character!
When he sits in the single chair at Mad River Glen, he expresses his gratitude for his life, his recent milestone birthday, and 10 years in recovery. He is committed to skiing his age this winter, sharing quality time with Lise, Chloe and Faye and their husbands Amos Horn and Jamie Stewart, as well as his long list of friends, In addition, he will be doing all he can for the community that has given them so much more than a home – saying, “I’m so lucky, I just can’t help it!’
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