There is a new granite monument at Barre's Hope Cemetery not far from a string of headstones dating to October 1918 when what became known as the Spanish flu swept Vermont, killing about 1,700 people in the state in a matter of weeks and 50 million to 100 million worldwide over its nearly three-year pandemic.
Among the Hope Cemetery headstones is one of Germinio Zecchinelli, a 35-year-old Italian immigrant who moved to Vermont to work in granite, what the area is known for. He contracted the flu early on and died just a few days later, leaving behind a wife and two young children.
