George Estes, the heart of Montpelier

My name is John, the owner of Julio’s.

I first met George eighteen years ago when I bought Julio’s. He was Steve Everett’s (my landlord) handyman. And man was he handy, working harder, faster, longer and more efficiently than anyone I ever met. A master of creative solutions, he is responsible for business renovations, retaining walls, flood cleanup, flood preparation, church repairs, how cool Julio’s looked before the flood, caring for abused and abandoned dogs, knowing how to make people smile and making Montpelier a better place to live. He knows everyone and everyone knows George. Not too long ago George’s Dad passed and left him a few bucks which he used to buy a building on State St, just past the Bailey Avenue bridge. He bought it to build something he could pass on for his grandson, a legacy of sorts so future generations might not have to work quite as hard as he has. His investment got slammed during the recent storm. His wife Sharon’s business, Althea’s Attic, also got slammed. While he has flood insurance he is struggling. He is working tirelessly to save both and still finds time to come to Julio’s and answer my stupid questions so we can work towards reopening sooner rather than later. Odds are if you live in Montpelier or Central Vermont, George has helped you. Now it’s time to help him. So get out your checkbooks, or credit cards, or however this GoFundMe stuff works and dig deep. Dig deep for one of the most real and hard working people you’ll ever meet. If you wanna help Julio’s, please give to George. If you love Althea’s Attic, please give to George. If you want to help Montpelier, please give to George. Some of you he has helped are wealthy, dig deep and make it count. Some of you aren’t rich, give five bucks, odds are he has impacted you that much. Make a difference in a truly decent human’s life.