Candidates sought for Guilford offices
GUILFORD - The Board of Civil Authority reminds all legal residents that they are both eligible and encouraged to run for a town position via the Australian ballot at Town Meeting.
To appear on the ballot, go to the Town Office (open Mondays through Thursdays), get a petition for the office you'd like to seek, and get at least 18 signatures of registered voters. Turn it in by the close of the day on Monday, Jan. 27, and you're a candidate.
Offices on the ballot: town clerk, 3-year term; treasurer, 3 years; Selectboard, one 3-year term, one 2-year, and the remaining year of an unexpired term; lister, 3-year; auditor, 3-year, and town agent, 1-year.
Guilford no longer has a school board, so those usual positions are no longer on the ballot. Seats on the Unified District Board are up for election this year.
You can also run for some offices by floor vote at Town Meeting, and you don't need to sign up early for those. They include library trustee, trustee of public funds, grand jurors, and cemetery commissioner.
Stroll hosts fermented food fair
BRATTLEBORO - Strolling of the Heifers is hosting its second annual Fermented Food (And More!) Fair on Saturday, Jan. 18, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the River Garden, 157 Main St.
Winter is the time to appreciate all the ways we preserve food. From kombucha to kimchi, salsa to sriracha, pickles to preserves - if it's in a jar, can, or bottle, you'll find it at the fair.
Come learn about and purchase a wide array of fermented, pickled and preserved food at this free event. For more information, visit strollingoftheheifers.com.
Free supper, karaoke night in Townshend
TOWNSHEND - On Saturday Jan. 18, from 5 to 8 p.m., Community Hope & Action will host a free supper and night of karaoke at the Townshend Town Hall.
The evening begins with a chili cook-off, with dinner served from 5 to 6 p.m. Karaoke will happen from 6 to 8 p.m. If you can, bring a side dish or dessert to share.
This event is substance free and is open to people of all ages, from all towns. Contact the organization at 802-365-4700 if you'd like to bring a crock of chili or corn bread.
Rec. dept. offers lunchtime Zumba classes
BRATTLEBORO - The Recreation & Parks Department offers a lunch time Zumba class with Adrasteia Andrews every Tuesday from 12:10 to 1:10 p.m., in the Gibson-Aiken Center Blue Room. Classes will run until April 21.
Organizers of the class write that Zumba is “a total workout, combining all elements of fitness and is perfect for everybody.”
The program features “a contagious blend of Latin and international rhythms blended to create a fun aerobic workout,” they add, noting that it is “a great way to boost your energy, increase flexibility, and condition one's muscles.”
The class is open to anyone 16 years old and older. Parents of participants 16 to 18 years old must sign a waiver.
The fee is $5 per class for Brattleboro residents and $7 for non-residents. Showers are available for after-class use.
For more information, or if special needs are required, call the Recreation & Parks Office at 802-254-5808 or visit brattleboro.org.
Library hosts poets Butterfield, Mayo
BRATTLEBORO - Poets Charles Butterfield and Tim Mayo will be reading at the Brooks Memorial Library on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. from their respective new collections as well as new poems.
A retired teacher from Keene, N.H., Butterfield is the author of three poetry collections.
His chapbook Morning Watch came out in September 2019 from Finishing Line Press, and his collection Field Notes was a finalist in the Encircle Publications' 2012 chapbook contest and published in 2013. His first collection, Another Light, with nature photographer, Larry Richardson (2008), is out of print.
A resident of Brattleboro, Mayo's first full-length collection, The Kingdom of Possibilities (Mayapple Press, 2009) was a finalist for the 2009 May Swenson Award. His second volume of poems, Thesaurus of Separation (Phoenicia Publishing, 2016) was a finalist for the 2017 Montaigne Medal and a finalist for the 2017 Eric Hoffer Book Award.
His most recent collection, Notes to the Mental Hospital Timekeeper, was published by Kelsay Books in November 2019. His poems have received seven Pushcart Prize Nominations.
Problems of growth is topic of WWAC talk
BRATTLEBORO - The Windham World Affairs Council opens the new year with “Degrowth: How our blessings have become a curse,” with Dr. Julie L. Snorek of Dartmouth College, on Friday, Jan. 24, at 7:30 p.m., at Centre Congregational Church 193 Main St.
The talk is free and open to the public, with a time for coffee, tea, and conversation at 7 p.m.
Snorek, a social ecologist in Dartmouth's Environmental Studies department, has spent more than 15 years studying climate change, environmentally induced migration, and patterns of development, working mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.
She will talk about new patterns of development to build a future of regeneration, sustainability, and justice. She will also explain the new economics of degrowth by examining the flawed logic of continuous, constant growth as a solution to the problems of our era, which has become known as the Anthropocene.
For more information, visit windhamworldaffairscouncil.org.