Speaking to inform: Toastmasters meeting July 25
BRATTLEBORO - If fear and shyness around public speaking are holding you back, or are holding someone in your organization back, then Toastmasters is the answer. BrattleMasters, the Brattleboro-based chapter of Toastmasters International, meets Thursday, July 25, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Marlboro College Graduate Center, second floor, 28 Vernon St.
The theme of this meeting is “Speaking to Inform,” focusing on what it takes to communicate your ideas in clear, nontechnical language that relates the topic to your listeners' knowledge and interests. The club meets the second and fourth Thursday of every month at the same time and location. Guests are welcome and refreshments are provided.
For more information, visit brattleboro.toastmastersclubs.org.
Manitou Healing Walk features guide Sylvia Blanchet
WILLIAMSVILLE - The Manitou Project will continue its summer series of Healing Walks on Friday, July 26, from 4 to 6 p.m.
The Healing Walks were begun by Manitou founder Pam Mayer and Sylvia Blanchet as an opportunity to facilitate the personal healing that comes in communion with nature and a sense of place. This meditative walk on Manitou's Sanctuary Trail will be guided by Blanchet, who lives most of the year in Bali. She will integrate the Manitou tradition with an introduction to the Balinese practice of prayer.
The Manitou Project seeks to foster community with nature on its 245-acre land preserve in Williamsville. Directions: Go 1.4 miles up Sunset Lake Road from Williamsville Village, sign on right. Healing Walks will be held every second and fourth Friday until the middle of October.
Meet at the parking lot at 4 p.m. For information, contact Fred Taylor at 802-387-2681, or Sylvie at 802-380-3126.
United Way to hold community yard sale
BRATTLEBORO - The United Way of Windham County will hold a yard sale on Saturday, July 27, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Elks Home on Putney Road. Bargains galore include furniture, household items, books for young and old, and Christmas treasures.
If you would like to support the United Way by donating items for sale, call Donna Jacobs at 802-579-6449 or email Kate John at kate@unitedwaywindham.org.
Fifth annual 'Rose's Rumble' raising money for Old Home Days
ROCKINGHAM - Saturday, July 27, marks the fifth year of Rose's Rumble, a motorcycle poker run to remember Rose Fowler and raise money for Rockingham Old Home Days and the Fireworks Fund.
Registration begins at the Vermont Country Store on Route 103 at 9 a.m., and the ride starts after a safety briefing at 10 a.m. The 60- to 70-mile ride along the scenic back roads of Southern Vermont and New Hampshire takes about two hours, with riders getting back to the Country Store for barbecue around noon. The lunch and prize drawing take another hour or so, and people are back on the road home by 2 p.m.
The ride is named for the late Rose Fowler, a Rockingham leader and a visionary who organized a motorcycle poker run to raise funds to save the annual fireworks and keep them free to enjoy, and is organized and sponsored by the Greater Falls Regional Chamber of Commerce.
For more information, call the GFRCC office at 802-463-4280.
Bridge at Townshend Lake closed for repairs
TOWNSHEND - Townshend Lake Bridge will be closed for construction Tuesday, July 30, through Monday, Aug. 19. Use State Forest Road as a detour. The recreation area can be accessed by State Forest Road during construction.
Sidewalk meeting planned for July 31
BRATTLEBORO - The town is planning to install new sidewalks on the east side of Main Street, starting at the Gilbert Memorial Bridge and continuing north to Walnut Street.
Sections of this sidewalk were replaced recently as part of a VTrans project. The Downtown Sidewalk Project will replace the sections that have not yet been upgraded. The project is intended to improve safety for pedestrians and create a more attractive Main Street.
Two FHWA Enhancement grants and a local match in the form of a bond fund this project.
Property owners, residents, and business owners along the Downtown Sidewalk Project route are invited to attend a public meeting on project objectives and design on Wednesday, July 31, at 6:15 p.m. in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Municipal Center, 230 Main St.
Contact the Department of Public Works at 802-254-4255 with questions or concerns.
GCH Fair Day jewelry booth seeks donations
TOWNSHEND - Look for a bigger and better presentation of child-budget-friendly jewelry priced from 50 cents to $10 and above at the costume jewelry booth at the Grace Cottage Hospital Auxiliary Fair Day on the Townshend Common on Saturday, Aug. 3. Donations of everything from earrings to necklaces to tiaras and wrist watches are sought, as donations for this popular booth have been slow.
Jewelry for $2, $5, and $10 will be the major focus this year.
Drop off donations of costume jewelry at the Grace Cottage Hospital nurses' station, on the upper level, or at the doctors' offices on the lower level.