Although she is in her mid-90s, Lola Aiken is far from “old”. She still lives on her own, and if you’re in Montpelier you’re apt to find her walking Main Street on her way to one of her favorite coffee shops. 

Lola, along with other members of the Aiken family, plan to attend the 60th Birthday celebration of the Northeast Kingdom. 


The event, which is hosted by Scott and Penny Wheeler of Derby, the publishers of Vermont’s Northland Journal, and the Goodrich Memorial Library, is planned for Saturday, November 14 at 2 p.m. at the Goodrich Memorial Library in Newport. 


Mrs. Aiken, who prefers to simply be called “Lola”, is the widow of the late great Vermont governor turned U.S. senator, George Aiken. Senator Aiken is credited with giving birth to the phrase –Northeast Kingdom to convey his love of Orleans, Essex, and Caledonia Counties.


Although Aiken is credited with popularizing the slogan, it is believed the phrase was the brainchild of at least two local men, Wallace Gilpin of Newport and W. Arthur Simpson of Lyndonville. However it was the use of the phrase by Aiken during a meeting in 1949 at the Darling Inn on Depot Street in Lyndonville that introduced it to the rest of the state, and in time, to every corner of the United States and beyond.