Motorcycle ride benefits food pantry
WEST DOVER - The second annual Deerfield Valley Food Pantry Benefit Motorcycle Ride will be held on Saturday, Aug. 25.
Registration is 9-10 a.m. at the Valley View Saloon on Route 100 in West Dover. The self-guided, 110-mile ride will take riders through southern Vermont and New York.
The suggested donation for the ride is $5 plus five cans of food, or $10 per motorcycle. There will be raffle tickets and event t-shirts for sale. An after-the-event party will be held 3:30-5:30 p.m. at the Valley View Saloon, when the raffle prizes will be drawn.
All donations benefit the Deerfield Valley Food Pantry. For more information, contact Deb Boyd at 802-464 8520.
Nature Museum hosts mushroom walk in Grafton
GRAFTON - On Saturday, Aug. 25, from 10 a.m. to noon, third-generation mushroom forager Dick McCarrick will lead a mushroom walk through a wooded area. This event is presented by The Nature Museum at Grafton and will take place at Grafton Ponds Outdoor Center at 783 Townshend Rd. McCarrick will teach participants about safe mushroom hunting techniques, show specimens of poisonous and nonpoisonous mushrooms, and explain mushroom morphology.
The walk is free to Nature Museum members and $7 for nonmembers. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged, as this event has a limited enrollment. To pre-register, visit www.nature-museum.org or call The Nature Museum at 802-843-2111. Information about other upcoming events at The Nature Museum at Grafton can be found on their Facebook page.
Compass School seeks host families
WESTMINSTER - The Compass School has international students seeking home placements for the school year.
There is a stipend paid to the family to cover expenses. It is a great opportunity to open your home to an inernational student. You do not need to have a teenage peer in the home, only a safe a comfortable home for them during their 10 months in the United States. Also, they can find places with other students for weekends or conflicts in one's schedule.
For more information, contact Betsy Jaffe, director of admissions and development, at 802-463-2525 or [email protected].
Mushroom walk offered in Vernon
VERNON - The Putney Mountain Association presents a mushroom hunting walk with Trudy Crites on Saturday, Aug. 25, at 10 a.m.
This informative walk with a veteran mushroom hunter will take place at Indian Point Park on Route 142, 3.7 miles south from the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center. The park is on the left, with plenty of parking available.
For more information, contact Jacquie Walker at 802-387-5387 or [email protected].
Irene anniversary parade is this weekend
NEWFANE - The villages of South Newfane and Williamsville will host a parade and barbecue on Sunday, Aug. 26, to mark the one year anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene. The parade begins at noon on Dover Road in South Newfane.
Flooding from Tropical Storm Irene severely damaged large swaths of the Rock River valley on Aug 28, 2011, sweeping away houses, decimating roadways and isolating many sections of the community.
The parade will start at the “rubble pile” on Dover Road in South Newfane, at the spot where a house was washed away by floodwaters. It will travel approximately a half mile east on Dover Road, cross the Williamsville covered bridge, and continue another half mile to the Williamsville Hall.
Brattleboro's Top of the Hill Grill will be serving lunch immediately after the parade at the Williamsville Hall. Side dishes, a drink and dessert will complement pulled pork and barbecued chicken for $12 per person. Vegetarian and kids' meals are available. All proceeds will benefit the South Newfane/Williamsville and NewBrook Volunteer Fire Departments, both of which were instrumental in evacuating residents during the flooding.
Dozens of businesses, organizations and community groups have signed up to march in the parade, including a Queen Irene Float, Ollalie Daylily Farm, the Leland & Gray Samba Band, Rock River Artists, Amazing Planet Farm, Newfane Cafe, and many more. The Buzzards Brass Band will be playing their New Orleans-style music along the route.
Parade-goers can park for free in a mowed field in Williamsville, 200 feet before the Williamsville covered bridge on Dover Road. Police officers and parking volunteers will be on hand to direct traffic and answer questions. All through-traffic will be detoured around the parade route from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the day of the parade. For more information about the parade, contact Chris Triebert at [email protected].
Items needed for upcoming Hospice auction
BRATTLEBORO - Brattleboro Area Hospice is sponsoring the Chair-ished Goods Auction on Saturday, Nov. 3 at the VFW Hall on Black Mountain Road.
In addition to the usual auction items, a creative, artistic event has also been added to the evening. This fun fundraiser is your chance to help Hospice in return for the many ways they help our community.
Hospice particularly needs pieces of good furniture to be auctioned off by Kit Martin in order to make this a successful fundraiser. So scour your attic, basement, garage and dresser drawers for high quality, good condition jewelry, paintings, china, glassware, decorative items and, particularly, furniture.
A unique touch for the Chair-ished Goods Auction is the addition of specially selected chairs put up for bidding that have been refurbished, hand-painted, and otherwise embellished by local artists. There will also be both silent and live auctions, while guests enjoy wine and hors d'oeuvres. All proceeds directly support the free hospice care and bereavement services provided by Brattleboro Area Hospice.
To donate an item, call Greg Moschetti at 802-254-8714 or Gordon Bristol at 802-257-5594, or you can drop off smaller items at the Hospice office, located at 191 Canal St. Do not drop items at the Hospice Experienced Goods Thrift Shop on Flat Street.