MiniBury, a Website for Addison County Parents, Gets New Owners

Six years ago, Eliza Eaton of Weybridge was a stay-at-home mom of two kids under 2. “Most of my waking hours were spent trying to figure out what to do with those children,” she recounted. After driving past a sign for a spring carnival at a Middlebury church, she realized there was no central place for local parents to find information about family-focused happenings in the area. So she started one. In the spring of 2012, Eaton launched the website MiniBury, an online calendar of kids’ events in and around Middlebury. Over the years, the site evolved to include listings for afterschool activities, a blog and a popular summer camp guide. In early 2017, Eaton, now with three children and an additional job, decided she was ready to move on from the site she singlehandedly maintained. “I was in a different place from when I started it,” she said. A team of local parents — Middlebury resident Megan James and Cornwall residents Conor Stinson and Linda January — recently decided to pick up where Eaton left off. James, the former managing editor of Kids VT and mom to 1- and 3-year-olds, explained that Stinson, a longtime friend, encouraged her to team up with him to purchase the site, which he relied on as a stay-at-home dad. The pair eventually joined forces with January, a parent of a young daughter and director of Middlebury’s Otter Creek Child Center. The trio acquired MiniBury in the fall of 2017. James said they’re currently working to keep the events calendar updated and to figure out how to divide responsibilities. Eaton “built a really incredible resource for this community,” James said. “We are all really excited to be keeping it alive.”