Child care available at Representative Town Meeting
BRATTLEBORO - Town Meeting representatives, Windham Southeast officials, and town officials will offer free child care at Representative Annual Town Meeting on Saturday, March 24.
This year's service - considered a “trial run” for potentially providing this service for future meetings - will take place at Brattleboro Area Middle School near the Multi-Purpose Room where the meeting takes place from 8 a.m. until the end of the meeting (except during the lunch break).
Any child or ward between ages 4 and 13 (no diapers) of Town Meeting representatives, as well as town or school administrators, board members, or staff members who are required to be at the meeting, may use this service.
Parents will be asked to sign a registration/waiver form and will be expected to pick their children up promptly at the beginning of the lunch break and at the end of the meeting.
Staffing will be provided by Windham Southeast-certified teachers, paraprofessionals, and substitute teachers, assisted by teenaged volunteers earning community service hours.
Coalition looks at substance-abuse prevention in schools
BELLOWS FALLS - Greater Falls Connections will host its monthly coalition meeting on Friday, March 23, from noon to 1 p.m., at Parks Place Community Center on 44 School St. with staff members from Windham Northeast Supervisory Union.
The topic, school-based substance abuse prevention, will be presented by Heather Waryas, the student assistance program coordinator, and Orianna Baez, director of the AIM Afterschool & Summer Program.
These monthly meetings educate the public on issues related to substance-abuse prevention and updates on the work of area organizations. Lunch will be provided.
Childhood trauma focus of program
DUMMERSTON - Transition Dummerston will hold its monthly gathering on Friday, March 23, from 6 to 8:30 p.m., in the basement of the Dummerston Congregational Church in Dummerston Center.
This month's program will explain the effects of childhood trauma across a lifetime and explore how efforts toward compassionate care become hallmarks of support in our community.
Speakers include Mike Mrowicki, a state lawmaker and family services worker; Lisa Newell, private practitioner of body and sensory-focused therapies; and Dr. Susanne Booth, a practitioner at Sojourns Community Health Clinic.
Topics will include a 2018 legislative report on childhood adversity, with a focus on impacts on Vermont children and families; an explanation of adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress, including what it looks like in children and adults; and how being trauma-informed enhances the support that can be given to friends, family, and community.
There will also be an opportunity for questions and discussion. Potluck supper begins at 6 p.m., and the free program is from 7 to 8:30 p.m. For more information, email [email protected]
Pet vaccination clinic planned
WHITINGHAM - The town clerk's office will sponsor a pet vaccination clinic on Saturday, March 24, from 10 a.m. to noon, at the Jacksonville Fire House.
Dr. Miles A. Powers of East Dover will vaccinate both dogs and cats. This clinic is open to anyone. Town Clerk Almira Aekus will be present to issue licenses.
Fees will be $15 for rabies and $25 for a distemper-complex vaccine for either a dog or a cat. The cost for both vaccines together is $35. Have your dogs on a leash and cats in a carrier. For further information, call Goose City Veterinary Clinic at 802-348-7918.
Grange takes over sugar-on-snow supper
DUMMERSTON - Evening Star Grange in Dummerston Center is taking on the Sugar-on-Snow Supper formerly sponsored by the West Dummerston Volunteer Fire Department.
After many years of putting on the town's annual Sugar On Snow Supper, the fire department decided to call it quits. Evening Star Grange members voted at their January meeting to organize one on Saturday, March 24.
If this dinner is a success, Grange members hope to do it again next year.
Organizers say the menu is staying pretty much the same - homemade baked beans, ham, potato salad, cole slaw, deviled eggs, and sugar on snow with pickles and a doughnut for dessert.
Someone different will be making the baked beans and deviled eggs, but those who attend the Grange's summer suppers will recognize the recipes. Lester Dunklee's homemade doughnuts will be part of the offering.
The meal will be served at the Grange Hall and will be restricted to two servings, one at 5 p.m., and a second seating at 6:30 p.m. Reservations are required. Call Carol Lynch at 802-254-2517 with questions or to make your reservations. The cost is $6 for children ages 12 and younger, and $12 for everyone 13 and older.
Sugarhouse tour in Marlboro
MARLBORO - On Saturday, March 24, at 1 p.m., Windham Regional Woodlands Association will present a tour of Dave Matt's sugaring operation, in its 38th season, on 308 Hall Farm Rd.
The farm has been in his family since it was first settled in the 1770s, and Matt has sugared there since 1980. His father, both his sons, and his grandkids all help.
The sugarhouse is the third to be built on this property. Over the years, they've done three major rebuilds as needs and equipment aas changed.
They set about 1,800 taps and make 450 to 500 gallons a year. About 1,200 taps run directly to the sugarhouse and are on vacuum. The other 600 taps are gravity lines that empty into three tanks and are gathered with a 500-gallon tank on a pickup truck. They do not have a reverse osmosis machine, but do have a 5-ft.-by-16-ft. wood-fired evaporator.
From Brattleboro, take Route 9 west into Marlboro, and turn right onto Hughes Road, which is about 1 mile past the Golden Eagle Motel; from Wilmington, take Route 9 east past Hogback Mountain approximately {1/2} mile and turn left onto Hughes Road. Go on Hughes Road about {1/2} mile and turn left onto Hall Farm Road. The farm and sugarhouse are at the end of the road.
Easter breakfast, egg hunt planned
CHESTERFIELD, N.H. - Come out for breakfast with the Easter Bunny at the Town Hall at 504 Route 63 on Saturday, March 31.
Starting at 9 a.m., enjoy a hearty free breakfast, with crafts and activities for kids and plenty of time to visit and take pictures.
The event starts promptly at 9:45 a.m., rain or shine, with a separate hunting area for ages 4 and under. Consider bringing a nonperishable food donation for Joan's Pantry, and bring a basket or bag for hunting eggs.
For more information, check out @AsburyChurchNH on Facebook, or visit ChesterfieldUMC.org.