By Lani Duke
posted
Dec 5, 2012
COMMUNITY CLEAN-UP
WEST PAWLET-A team of Green Mountain College students, headed by
Ben Smith, recently organized a clean up day for the burned barn at
Pine Woods Farm in West Pawlet. Students were to remove charred
wood that had collapsed on top of the foundation so that the
foundation damage can be evaluated. Thanks to all for helping a
farm family in need.
LOCAL SUSTAINABILITY
POULTNEY-GMC professor Philip Ackerman-Leist's op-ed
article Open-Ended Turkey recently appeared in the
Thanksgiving issue of GOOD Magazine. He wrote about "re-envisioning
foodsheds" and developing food-based businesses to support a
variety of dietary options. Ackerman-Leist is also the author
of Rebuilding the Foodshed: How to Create Local, Sustainable,
and Secure Food Systems, published by Chelsea Green, and
scheduled for release on March 1, 2013.
Business and
economics prof Matt Mayberry and provost Bill Throop gave a joint
presentation on "Setting Stretch Goals: Sustainability as the
Organizing Principle for a Strategic Plan." Throop is chair of the
AASHE Board of Directors and gave an additional presentation at the
AASHE member meeting.
Yet another representative of GMC also
contributed to the meeting's educational content. New
sustainability coordinator Aaron Witham presented a poster on the
Power of Three Partnership, showing how recycled office paper
collected from the Poultney campus is processed through a local
supply chain before returning to the school in the form of hand
towels, napkins, and toilet paper.
SUCCESSFUL WALK
BENSON-Thanks to sponsors and participants in the not-so-long-ago
Fair Haven Crop Walk. It raised $9,577.13.
RENEWED PARADE
CASTLETON-Shirley Seguin has begun organizing a renewed parade for
the upcoming Castleton Colonial Day. She plans an organizational
meeting after the New Year celebration.
NOT ENOUGH
CASTLETON-Town manager Charles Jacien has thanked the Alma Gibbs
Donchian Foundation for its $240,000 grant offer to help renovate
the Bul building at 556 Main St. as the town offices. However, the
town won't be able to use the money for that purpose; the town
lacks the $1.2 million necessary to pay for the remaining
renovation cost.
TEA PARTY
CASTLETON-Castleton Free Library recently held a tea party with the
theme Remembering Castleton Women; Nancy Ruby and Mary Waite were
to relay some of the oral history they know and solicit more from
their audience.
SANDY VOLUNTEERS
PAWLET-Firefighters from the West Pawlet Fire Department recently
drove six hours to deliver post-superstorm Sandy support in
Meadowmere Park, NY. They carried food, blankets, children's toys,
cleaning supplies and gift cards to their contemporaries at the
local fire department, which is providing two meals and shelter,
much needed in its community.
The West Pawlet group has developed a relationship with the New
York department over the past 30 years, since selling a
decommissioned 1950 Chevrolet pumper truck to the folks to the
southeast. Locals who took part in the delivery are amazed at the
damage they saw around them, with many of the community's homes
unable to be repaired without being completely gutted and
rewired.
LANI'S PICKS
Friday, Dec. 7- The town of Castleton celebrates its 225th birthday
with the debut of Big Heart, the history of the town as told by
Ennis Duling, Marjorie Ryerson, Andre Fleche, Tony Marro, Chris
Boettcher, and Burnham Holmes. Reception is at 4 p.m. in the
Castleton Campus Center's 1787 Room.
Saturday, Dec. 8 - Vermont tracker and ecologist George Leonaki
teaches wildlife track ID skills, animal behavior interpreting from
tracks, and observation techniques in a workshop at the Benson
Community Hall on Stage Road from 9 a.m. through 3:30 p.m. Call
Monica Erhart, 431-5061, to reserve your seat.
Saturday, Dec. 8- Merck Forest and Farm Center hosts a
wreath-making workshop from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Joy Green Visitor
Center. Call 394-7836 for limited reservations.
Tuesday, Dec. 11 - Russian music, dance and song ensemble Barynya
presents Russian, Cossack, Ukrainian, Jewish and Gypsy Roma
traditional dancing, music, songs, and virtuoso performances on
instruments, in Castleton's Casella Theater at 7 p.m. Call
468-1119.
Tagged:
News Briefs, Lakes Region
