Whitingham library to hold annual Fall Book Sale
JACKSONVILLE - The Whitingham Free Public Library will host its Annual Fall Book Sale on Friday, Oct. 9, from 4 to 7 p.m., during the Whitingham Farmers' Market, and on Saturday, Oct. 10, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
They are offering a large selection of hardcover, softcover, fiction, non-fiction, children's books and more. The Whitingham Library is located in the Whitingham Municipal building, Jacksonville, VT. For more information, call 802-368-7506.
AARP Driver Safety Class offered in Townshend
TOWNSHEND - The AARP Driver Safety Program, a classroom driver refresher course, will be offered at the Grace Cottage Wellness Building on Saturday, Oct. 10, beginning at 9 a.m. Participants may wish to bring a lunch since class time will extend through the noon hour.
The program, now called Smart Driver, was rewritten in 2014 and is a refresher course for mature drivers that addresses changes that occur in vision, hearing, and reaction time as one ages. It provides useful driving safety tips for handling these changes. The course also reviews the impact of changes in vehicles and roadways that impact driving safety.
Persons interested in taking the course or having questions regarding the AARP Driver Safety Program should contact Elliott Greenblott at 802-254-4489 or [email protected].
Open house weekend at Round Schoolhouse
BROOKLINE - The Brookline Round Schoolhouse (c.1821) in conjunction with the Historic Brookline Church (c. 1836) will host an open house weekend at both buildings on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 11 and 12, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This is a chance to meet others who are passionate about Brookline's historic buildings and who want to preserve them for generations to come.
Community/committee members will be on hand to give tours as well as point out interesting features of these beloved historic buildings. The Historic Brookline Church, 632 Grassy Brook Rd., is 2.5 miles from the Newfane Flea Market. The Historic Round Schoolhouse is just a half-mile up the road from the church, at 733 Grassy Brook Rd.
Tag sale benefits Twin States Network
BRATTLEBORO - Twin States Network will hold a tag sale on Sunday, Oct. 11, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., on the lawn of the First Congregational Church on Western Avenue.
Based in Guilford, Twin State Network provides support and services to people living with HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C in Vermont and New Hampshire. All proceeds from the tag sale will go toward client services, especially holiday presents for affected kids.
The sale will be held rain or shine and includes quality books, toys, kitchen and housewares, games, and more. For more information, call 802-254-6716 or 802-254-2443.
Salsa-Cise classes begin
TOWNSHEND – A new session of the Latin Dance Salsa-Cise class, with instructor Judy Rivera Harrigan, starts Oct. 12. Classes are held twice a week, Mondays 6:15 to 7:15 p.m., and Thursdays 6 to 7 p.m., in the Grace Cottage Community Wellness Center, 133 Grafton Rd.
No experience is necessary; everyone is welcome. The fee is $60 for four weeks (8 sessions) or $10 per class to drop in. Call 802-365-3649 to sign up; class size limited to 20.
Osher lectures on working in Africa and water law
DUMMERSTON - The Brattleboro Chapter of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) will hold the second in its series of fall lectures, on Monday, Oct. 12.
In the morning program, Tom Toleno will discuss working in Africa today. Tom, of the Marlboro College faculty, has lived, traveled, and worked extensively in Africa, particularly in the Republic of Malawi. In the afternoon lectures, David Deen, of Westminster, will discuss law governing water use.
Lectures are held on six successive Mondays. Morning lectures run from 10 a.m. to noon; afternoon lectures, from 1 to 3 p.m.
All lectures will be held at the Vermont Learning Collaborative, 471 US Route 5. Parking and handicapped access are available, and light refreshments will be served at the lectures. For further information, call 802-257-8600 or toll-free 866-889-0042; or go to www.learningcollaborative.org.
Rock River Players to hold planning meeting
WILLIAMSVILLE - The Rock River Players (RRP), the newly-formed Williamsville-based community theater group, will meet Monday, Oct. 12, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., at the Williamsville Hall on Dover Road.
Having launched the RRP with a near sell-out production of Our Town in August, the inaugural group welcomes all interested in acting, directing, design, lighting, sound, management, PR, and running crew to help choose and plan for upcoming productions. A basic modus operandi will be discussed and a schedule of regular meetings will be established. All are welcome.
For more information, directions and an agenda, contact Annie Landenberger at [email protected], or 802-348-7156.
BF Woman's Club to meet
BELLOWS FALLS - Members of the Bellows Falls Woman's Club, member of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, will meet on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at the United Church on School Street, beginning at noon for a luncheon hosted by the Executive Board.
Attendees will pay $5 for a meal of soups, salad, dessert, and beverages. Guests of the club will be Fran Derlinga, president of the GFWC-VT and Deanna (Dee) Beckman, Southeast director of the GFWC-VT. Club member Nancy Bazin will present a program on her food business, “Signature Sauces.”
Membership Chair Barbara Comtois can be reached at 802-344-0025 for information about joining the club and participating in its projects.
State chamber president to visit area
BRATTLEBORO - Betsy Bishop, president of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, will be the guest speaker at a breakfast sponsored by the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 7:30 a.m., at the Brattleboro Retreat Education Conference Center.
Bishop will present a 2015 legislative wrap-up on the key business issues including new taxes and fees, funding for tourism and economic development marketing, labor mandates and economic growth, as well as give a preview of what to expect next year.
The public is invited to attend. The cost is $10 which includes a full breakfast. To make a reservation or for more information contact the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce at 802-254-4565 or [email protected].
Film on addiction, recovery to be shown in Wilmington
WILMINGTON - On Thursday, Oct. 15, the Deerfield Valley Community Partnership presents a community screening of The Anonymous People, a feature documentary film about the 23.5 million Americans living in long-term recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. The film will be shown at Memorial Hall in Wilmington from 6 to 8 p.m.
Deeply entrenched social stigma and discrimination have kept recovery voices silent and faces hidden for decades. The vacuum created by this silence has been filled by sensational mass media depictions of people in active addiction that continue to perpetuate a lurid public fascination with the dysfunctional side of what is a preventable and treatable health condition.
The moving story of The Anonymous People is told through the faces and voices of those in recovery. This passionate new public recovery movement is fueling a changing conversation that aims to transform public opinion, and finally shift problematic policy toward lasting recovery solutions. For more information on the film, call 802-464-2202.
GCH hosts annual Poker Walk
TOWNSHEND -- October is National Physical Therapy Month. To encourage everyone to get out and exercise, Grace Cottage Hospital's Rehabilitation Department will hold its 17th annual Poker Walk on Wednesday, Oct. 14.
This free, fun, two-mile walk/run is held each year, rain or shine. No pre-registration is required.
Playing cards are distributed along the way; a prize for the best poker hand is awarded at the end. All participants are also eligible for door prize drawings. You may do the course as often as you wish, collecting a new poker hand each time.
Start any time 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Register at the Grace Cottage Wolff Outpatient Building on Route 35. The course goes north for one mile on Route 35, then back again to the Wolff Building. For more information, call 802-365-3637.
Bald Hill Hike set for Oct. 17
WESTMINSTER - Get to know another interesting trail system on a guided hike offered by the Windmill Hill Pinnacle Association [WHPA] on Saturday, Oct. 17 from 2 to 4 p.m.
This free activity will introduce nature lovers to a marvelous regional resource: the combined trail system on the Rockingham/Westminster lands of the 50-acre WHPA Bald Hill Reserve and the 200 acres of the Bellows Falls Union High School, which has more land than any other public high school in Vermont.
Randy Major, a member of the Bald Hill Committee of the Pinnacle Association and a former WHPA Board Member, will lead this moderate jaunt to familiarize hikers with the combined trail system. Hike attractions will include a trail along the top of steep slopes above the Saxtons River, a visit to the south side of Twin Falls, and Bald Hill viewpoints.
Participants should dress warmly and bring water. Hikers should meet at the trail gate at the uppermost end of Cemetery Road in Westminster, right next to the St. Charles Cemetery entrance. Contact Randy Major at 802-387-5737 for information and registration. A visit to www.windmillhillpinnacle.org will yield a map indicating the trailheads and give information about other upcoming Pinnacle programs.