Cornerstone Pediatrics on the move
BELLOWS FALLS- Cornerstone Pediatrics in Bellows Falls is celebrating its move to 22 Bridge St. with an open house and ribbon cutting at the new office site from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 8.
There will be refreshments and also activities for children. The open house and ribbon cutting event is sponsored by Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and the Bellows Falls Chamber of Commerce. This is a chance to meet (or re-meet) the staff, and to come see Cornerstone Pediatrics in their new home.
Pediatricians Susan Slowinski and Valerie Rooney provide pediatric care to hundreds of children in the Bellows Falls area. Owned and managed by BMH, the practice opened its doors in 1998. Cornerstone Pediatrics also offers literacy and early childhood education projects.
For more information, call 802-463-2020.
Summer reading program at RFPL
BELLOWS FALLS-The Rockingham Free Public Library's summer reading program, “Make a Splash – Read!” features dozens of free events: science, stories, crafts, a Read-A-Thon and more.
Signing up for the program is easy – just stop by the RFPL youth department any time on or after July 5, fill out your reading record, and then start reading! Participants will have their own log books and can record everything that they read or have read to them, including magazines, newspapers and audio books.
The program is not limited to readers only - toddlers, preschoolers and other pre-readers are encouraged to take part in the program.
For more information, contact the library at 802-463-4270, [email protected], or www.rockingham.lib.vt.us.
Construction update
BRATTLEBORO-Work on the Brattleboro/Main Street road improvement project begins on Tuesday, July 6, weather permitting.
Lane Construction Corp., the contractors for the project, say that night work is planned for Canal and Main streets between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., Sundays through Thursdays until November. Occasional Friday night work may be needed to stay on schedule.
Construction activities include milling existing pavement, repaving base and top layers of asphalt pavement, ditching, new pavement markings, sidewalk construction and traffic signal and sign work.
Questions on the project may be directed to public relations officer Debra Spaulding at 413-772-9912 or [email protected].
Library begins new hours
BRATTLEBORO- Because of the budget reduction voted at the 2010 Town Meeting, the Brooks Memorial Library will begin reduced hours on Thursdays and Saturdays.
Beginning July 1, the library will be open 1 to 6 p.m. on Thursday each week and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.
The schedule change is due to the elimination of 24 hours per week in part-time employee salaries.
For more information, contact Librarian Jerry Carbone at 802-254-5290, ext. 101, [email protected].
Town seeks creative bus shelter designs
BRATTLEBORO- The Town Arts Committee, in collaboration with the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, is looking for artists, designers, builders, and artisans to submit proposals to design and build a bus shelter for the Union Station project at Bridge and Depot streets behind the museum.
The multi-phase project is designed to reclaim the area beyond the railroad tracks and integrate it into the life of downtown. While the construction of a bus shelter has long been part of the plan, calling upon the creativity and skill of community members to create a work of art is new.
The Town Arts Committee will perform an initial review of all proposals for completeness and adherence to relevant policies and guidelines. Eligible proposals will then be forwarded to a jury assembled by the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center. The jury will evaluate the proposals from an aesthetic standpoint, as well as from the standpoints of adequacy of shelter, suitability of materials, ease of maintenance, and longevity/durability. The jury will then recommend several finalists to the Union Station Committee, which will select the winning proposal.
According to Matt Mann of the Windham Regional Commission and the Union Station Committee, the individual or team behind the winning proposal will receive $6,500 upon completion and delivery of the shelter to the site.
The RFP and all relevant policies and guidelines are available electronically and in hard copy.
Those interested in receiving the RFP via e-mail should contact Gail Nunziata, Town Arts Committee member, at [email protected]. Hard copy is available from Mann at the Windham Regional Commission (Room 501, 139 Main Street) and Danny Lichtenfeld at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (Union Station building, Brattleboro).
Proposals are due at the Brattleboro Town Manager's Office, c/o the Town Arts Committee, by July 16 at 5 p.m.
Route 5 road construction update
DUMMERSTON- Crews from Pike Industries are continuing road improvement work on the Route 5 repaving project, ditching on Putney Road and working south toward Brattleboro throughout the week.
Milling will continue on Putney Road from Walker Farm south to Brattleboro. Due to the Independence Day holiday weekend, crews will work until noon on Friday, July 2, and will not return to work until Tuesday, July 6.
Paving is scheduled to begin in Putney the week of July 6. Traffic control will be present while crews are working and will maintain one-way traffic at all times. Motorists can expect delays in and around the project.
Contact public relations officer Francine Perkins with any questions or concerns with regard to the road work being performed by Pike Industries at 802-479-6994. For a more up-to-date schedule, visit www.roadworkupdates.com.
Feast on the Farm tickets available soon
DUMMERSTON- Now in its fourth year, this year's Feast on the Farm will be held on Wednesday, July 28, at 6 p.m., at Sweet Tree Farm on Route 5.
The event raises funds for Vermont Fresh Network.
A dinner featuring Sweet Tree Farm's 100-percent-grass-fed beef and local vegetables will be prepared by Tristan Toleno, chef and owner of Riverview Café. A cash bar will be available this year. Tickets for the event will go on sale two weeks in advance, and they always sell out quickly.
Charlie and Deb Titus have owned and operated the historic farm since 2004 and began selling their beef in 2005.
For further information, contact Deb Titus at 802-254-4634.
Pancake breakfast and Firemen's Auction
HALIFAX- On Saturday, July 3, from 8-10:30 a.m., a pancake breakfast will be served at the West Halifax Community Hall.
Plain and blueberry pancakes will be served with sausage, scrambled eggs, juice, coffee and fruit breads. Tickets are $6 for adults, $3 for children under 12 and free for pre-schoolers and under.
After breakfast, the Firemen's Auction starts at 10 a.m. at the fire station on Branch Road in West Halifax. Lunch will be available.
For information on both events, call 802-368-7733.
Moore Library scholarships
NEWFANE- The Moore Free Library announces its three recipients of its 2010 Annual Scholarship.Heather Chamberlin (New England College), Eliza Gunther-Mohr (Bard College) and Morgan Mahdavi (Kalamazoo College) will each receive $4,000.
These scholarships, open to Newfane or Brookline students entering their first year of college this fall, are funded by the family of the late Robert L. Crowell, a former trustee of the library.
Celebrating the Fourth in Saxtons River
SAXTONS RIVER- With a theme of “Liberty and Justice for All,” Saxtons River will kick off its annual Independence Day celebration Sunday, July 4 with a 5K Firecracker road race at 8:30 a.m., followed by a parade at 9:30 a.m.
The day's activities include a street fair highlighted by water polo, a hula hoop contest and music on the bandstand. The day also includes miniature golf, an egg toss, a pie contest and a doubleheader baseball game with the Saxtons River Pirates taking on a team from Norwich.
This year will feature a live auction of a quilt created using 20 of the unique T-shirts from past Independence Day celebrations as a benefit for the fireworks fund. Auctioneer Sharon Boccelli will handle the bidding after the parade.
Afternoon activities move to the Saxtons River Rec Area and include bingo, swimming, square dancing and old-time fiddling with Andy, Laurie and Friends, and music for dancing with the Shakin' All Over band, all topped off with fireworks at dusk.
The Bellows Falls Rotary Club will sell hot dogs, hamburgers and drinks.
This year's t-shirt was designed by Conor McCardle, a local resident and recent graduate of the University of Vermont. It features a Vermont barn outlined by the word “freedom.” T-shirts will be on sale beginning July 3 in front of the Village Market and at the parade.
Information and updates are available at the Saxtons River Fourth of July page on Facebook.
Free heirloom tomato plants for young gardeners
TOWNSHEND-Is there a future master gardener in your family?
Gardeners younger than age 16 will get to take home a free heirloom tomato plant from the Townshend Common Farmers' Market on Thursday, July 1 and learn from Master Gardeners how to feed and care for their plant. These aspiring gardeners can sell the fruits of their labor at the second Youth Market Day later in the harvest season.
The Townshend Common Farmers Market, a project of Post Oil Solutions, is located at the intersection of Routes 30 and 35 on the Townshend Common. It is open every Thursday through Oct. 14, from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., rain or shine.
For more information about the market, contact Sherry Maher at 802-869-2141 or [email protected].
Small business finance workshops planned
WESTMINSTER- Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA), in conjunction with the Vermont Women's Business Center (VWBC), will hold a series of free business finance workshops for women entrepreneurs on three Thursdays in July from 9 a.m. to noon at the SEVCA office at 91 Buck Drive.
“Keeping Your Business Organized” on July 15 will teach participants to set up an effective, user-friendly, recordkeeping system and offer hands-on practice and demonstration of various bookkeeping systems.
In “Getting a Grip on Your Business Finances” on July 22, learn the basic vocabulary of accounting, the language of business. You will learn how financial statements are put together from accounting records and find out what financial statements can tell you about how your business is doing.
Both these workshops will be led by SEVCA's new business technical assistant, Susan Brace, who has more than 25 years experience in the financial management of small businesses and nonprofit organizations.
In “Tax Filing Responsibilities for Your Business” on July 29, local tax accountant Annette Spaulding, of Spaulding & Madden Tax Services, LLC, will teach you how to get and stay in compliance with federal and state tax regulations and deadlines.
To register for any of these workshops, call Brace at 802-722-4575, ext. 199.
Fireworks for the Fourth
WILMINGTON- The 33rd annual Mount Snow Area Independence Day celebration will take place Saturday at Baker Field, behind Twin Valley High School.
The celebration starts at 6 p.m. with a party, live entertainment and vendors on the field. The evening culminates with a fireworks display at dusk (about 9 p.m.)
Parking in town is very limited. Visitors can park at the Howe Farm on Route 100 North and Deerfield Valley Supply on Route 9 West and ride free DVTA MOOver buses. Buses will return you to the parking lots following the fireworks.
The rain date for this event is July 5. For more information, call 802-464-8092.
Who has the biggest tree?
WILMINGTON-If you think you've spotted the biggest tree in Wilmington, enter it into the Wilmington Old Home Week inaugural Big Tree Contest.
The Wilmington Big Tree Contest is designed to promote awareness of trees by searching for the largest tree in the town limits. The contest runs through Aug. 7. The winner will be announced on Aug. 14 during Old Home Week.
Pick up entry forms at the Boyd Family Farm or the Mount Snow Chamber of Commerce.