On a bright fall day, surrounded by Vermonters working to strengthen their own communities, Brandon Deputy Town Manager and Recreation Director Bill Moore received the 2026 Vermont Community Leadership Award Tuesday for his years of service to Brandon and communities across the state.

The award recognizes Vermonters whose dedication, integrity, and service has had a transformational effect on their communities.

Jessica Brodie, executive director of the Vermont Recreation and Parks Association, highlighted Moore’s many roles in Brandon, including his service as recreation director, economic development officer, interim town manager, and town moderator.

“Bill has consistently found ways to bring people together and move his community forward,” Brodie said.

She pointed to Moore’s work expanding free and low-cost recreation programs and events, supporting local businesses during the Route 7 reconstruction, promoting Brandon’s history as the birthplace of the electric motor, and helping strengthen the town’s flood resilience.

Moore has also served for about a decade on the board of the Vermont Community Development Association and is currently its vice president.

Julia Connell, the association’s president, said Moore readily stepped into the vice president’s role when she became president in 2024 and described him as someone who can be counted on to help with everything from setting up tables and chairs to providing technical support and contributing ideas.

“That’s who Bill is,” Connell said. “He is someone who is always willing to step up and help.”

In accepting the award, Moore traced his commitment to community service back to his parents. His father was a volunteer firefighter, he said, and both his parents were the kind of people who would stop whenever they saw someone broken down on the side of the road.

Moore’s path to municipal service wasn’t exactly conventional. “I got into this role, as most of us normally do, by working direct-mail marketing for nine years,” he joked. 

He later worked for a school district as a behavior interventionist before taking a part-time job as Brandon’s recreation director. That position eventually became full-time and expanded to include economic development.

Moore said that although he could have made considerably more money by staying in the private sector, he wanted something more meaningful. 

“I really wanted my community to be the kind of place that my kids wanted to come back to,” he said. “And that’s the reason why I do this work. It’s the reason why I’m a public servant.”

Moore said he feels he accomplished that goal. His older daughter, Bonnie, is now a recreation professional in Middlebury. His younger daughter, Sophie, is a junior at Vermont State University and hopes to become a history teacher and to work with College Steps, a program that gives people with disabilities the opportunity to have a college experience.

“So I feel fulfilled,” Moore said. “I feel great.”

Moore ended by encouraging others involved in community work to look for opportunities rather than obstacles.

“Find the ways to say yes,” Moore said. “That’s how I live my life as a municipal employee.”