![\"PAUL](\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/bernieheroswelcome.jpg\")
<\/a>PAUL HEINTZ Sen. Bernie Sanders and his wife, Jane O’Meara Sanders, at a rally in Reno, Nev. | GABBY TIMMS<\/p><\/div>\n
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is the proud new owner of a summer home in the Champlain Islands, Seven Days<\/em> has confirmed.<\/p>\n The Burlington resident last week plopped down nearly $600,000 on a lakefront camp in North Hero.<\/p>\n Sanders\u2019 new crib has four bedrooms and 500 feet of Lake Champlain beachfront on the east side of the island \u2014 facing Vermont, not New York. The Bern will keep his home in Burlington and use the new camp seasonally.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve traveled up to the islands many times over the years \u2014 almost always on day trips,\u201d Sanders\u2019 wife, Jane O\u2019Meara Sanders, told Seven Days<\/em> in a written statement. \u201cWe\u2019ve been impressed with the North Hero community, eaten at the North Hero House and Shore Acres and have suggested them to friends who were looking for a beautiful place to stay or have dinner. St. Anne\u2019s Shrine in Isle La Motte is my favorite church and it is nearby.\u201d<\/p>\n Last Tuesday, the day of the closing, a relaxed-looking Bernie Sanders posed for a photo at Hero\u2019s Welcome General Store on Route 2. The store, a bit south of his new abode, serves a sandwich called \u201cFeel the Bun\u201d in the senator\u2019s honor. The $6.99 deli delight consists of a \u201cHUGE\u201d homemade roll, sliced turkey, fresh apple chutney, hot pepper relish, lettuce, tomato and provolone cheese.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not fair that the Billionaire Class controls 99 percent of the bread,\u201d the menu description reads. \u201cHere\u2019s a sandwich for the rest of us \u2026 to keep us nourished until everything cool is free!\u201d<\/p>\n Sanders ordered the sandwich during his visit last week. Hero\u2019s Welcome owner, Robert Camp, told Seven Days\u00a0<\/em>the store once offered a Sanders sandwich that poked fun at the senator, but later pulled it. The new version captures the essence of his rise to national prominence, Camp said.<\/p>\n The popular general store has a line of chairs out front \u2014 one side labeled \u201cRepublicans,\u201d the other \u201cDemocrats.\u201d In the middle, until recently, sat a lone \u201cSandernistas\u201d chair, Camp said. That chair will be back \u2014 as long as the new neighbor doesn\u2019t mind, Camp joked.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s just been great,\u201d said Camp. \u201cThis is going to be his home, so we won\u2019t encourage autographs.\u201d<\/p>\n The small Grand Isle County town has been abuzz for the last several days with the news. O\u2019Meara Sanders said: \u201cThe entire family is very excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n