The story in Monday's Brattleboro Reformer about the Brattleboro Rat, a unique rat mutation that has been useful in medical research, prompted considerable banter in the office about what to do to celebrate this claim to fame.
Ultimately, the idea of Ratfest came up, and I think it's a winner. Pick a weekend or three or four days and devise events both serious and good-natured to celebrate the Brattleboro Rat. There could be music (Bob Weir and Rat Dog comes to mind, or the band Ratt), and food (there are many artisan cheesemakers who could "bait" tasty traps), as well as some scholarly presentations on the Brattleboro Rat and the latest research associated with it. There could also be fun events, like a Rat Race, where speedy little rodents, or more humanely, people dressed in costumes, could compete against each other. No doubt, the folks from PETA might want to weigh in, and I'm sure the Brattleboro community would respond to a chance to engage in a first-class ethical debate.
While this is mainly a joke, there's no reason to think it couldn't turn into something. After all, look what we've done with the heifers.