BRATTLEBORO — When Nancy Braus, co-owner of Everyone's Books on Elliot Street, decided last year to create a new kind of Vermont calendar, she had no idea what kind of reception she would get.
Instead of pretty pictures of pastures, covered bridges, and church steeples, she published “We Are Vermont,” a full-color calendar that featured donated photography of activists, agriculture, and people enjoying the outdoors.
And more than a few people agreed with Braus that it was time for a calendar that shows what she called “the creativity, passion, diversity, and progressive activism of Vermonters.”
The 2018 calendar sold more than 1,200 copies, and Braus is confident that the 2019 edition will top that.
Once again, the calendar together through the volunteerism of Dede Cummings, founder of Green Writers Press in Brattleboro. It was printed in Vermont by the Springfield Printing Company on 100-percent recycled paper using soy-based ink.
Braus wrote the text and reached out to photographers to come up with the images for the calendar.
And, once again, all proceeds will go to 350Vermont, a statewide environmental organization devoted to finding positive solutions to fight climate change.
Braus said sales of the 2018 calendar raised about $7,000.
The 2019 calendar features images such as the 2018 Women's March in Montpelier, a community organic garden at Turning Point in Brattleboro, a high school nordic ski race in a snowstorm in Woodford, and the 350Vermont “bike-in,” also in Brattleboro.
Braus said that “it is very difficult to decide on the right balance of photos.”
From interactions with the purchasers of the calendars at the bookstore every year, “we know that people want an image they can live with for a full month,” she said.
She says the We Are Vermont team is already looking for images for the 2020 edition.
They are seeking “organic/permaculture approaches to agriculture, renewable energy, statewide activism, good images from any of Vermont's downtowns, outdoor activities like hiking, biking, non-motor boats, skating, etc., and alternative homestead and lifestyles,” Braus said.
Braus said anyone who has images to share are welcome to email them to [email protected].