Pet vaccination clinics offered in Newfane, Wilmington, Halifax
Pet vaccination clinics will be held at the NewBrook firehouse on Route 30 in Newfane on Saturday, March 8, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; in Halifax on Sunday, March 9, from 9 a.m. to noon,at the West Halifax firehouse on Branch Road; and in Wilmington on Saturday, March 15, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the firehouse on Beaver Street.
Dr. Miles A. Powers of East Dover will vaccinate cats and dogs in Newfane and Wilmington, while Dr. Ben Dow of the Hickory Ridge Animal Clinic in Putney will handle the Halifax vaccinations.
This clinic is open to all, and the vaccination costs vary by site and by the number of vaccinations. Dogs should be on leashes, cats in carriers. For more information, call 802-348-7918 for the Newfane clinic, 802-368-7390 for the Halifax Town Clerk, or the Wilmington Town Clerk at 802-464-5836.
Brattleboro Time Trade seeks new members
BRATTLEBORO - The Brattleboro Time Trade (BTT) is a service exchange network in which everyone's time is valued equally. Members accumulate hours earned and redeem hours spent through service exchanges with other members, connecting unmet needs through untapped resources.
BTT members will provide information and register new members at the River Garden, 153 Main St, on Sunday, March 9, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., as part of a community event sponsored by Strolling of the Heifers.
BTT will also be selling products made by Time Traders including homemade pies and other baked goods, “green” gift bags made from recycled cloth, handmade notecards, as well as raffling prizes including a one-year membership to BTT; a music CD by fiddler and folk singer Lissa Schneckenburger; children's mittens hand-knit by Lucinda McGovern, a handmade craft by Linda Weil; and a gift basket of farm products by Sarah Grant of Higley Hill Farm.
Fundraiser for Putney Central Jr. Iron Chefs to be held March 10
PUTNEY - Two teams of middle school students from Putney Central School will compete in the seventh annual Jr. Iron Chef VT Competition in Burlington next month.
On Monday, March 10, the students will cook up samples of their original recipes, highlighting local ingredients from High Meadows Farm and Lost Barn Farm in Putney.
The fundraiser will be held at The Gleanery restaurant, 133 Main St., at 6 p.m. This tasting is open to the public, with donations going to support the program.
This is the fourth year that the Putney Co-op has sponsored Jr. Iron Chef teams for Putney Central. The Gleanery has offered the use of their kitchen for practices. The 11 students will compete in the afternoon heat at the statewide cooking competition on Saturday, March 22nd at the Champlain Valley Expo center in Essex Junction. Three prizes will be awarded by the panel of 16 judges.
For more information, contact team coach Kristina Israel at 802-387-5866 or pcoopmarketing@gmail.com. Info about the competition is available at www.jrironchefvt.org.
AAUW program looks at how girls and women are portrayed in books
BRATTLEBORO - “The Portrayal of Women and Girls in Children's Literature” will be the focus of a program offered by the Brattleboro Branch of the American Association of University Women on Tuesday, March 11, at 7 P.M., in the upper level Meeting Room of Brooks Memorial Library.
The public is invited for this celebration of Women's History Month. Teachers are especially welcome. Members of the AAUW and friends will participate in the leadership, as this program will consider how girls and women were portrayed in books in years gone by, and how they are portrayed in contemporary children's literature. Bring your favorite children's book. Refreshments will be served.
AAUW is a national organization that advances education and equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy and research. Information is available by contacting Mary Hawkes at 802-254-6594.
Vernal pool presentation and training session on March 11
PUTNEY - What are vernal pools and why should anyone care about them? What are the tiny creatures that inhabit them? Are they important to the food chain? How can those ephemeral creatures be so hardy, and yet so sensitive to changes in the environment and the landscape? Why should people protect those pools and what can they learn from them?
Brett Thelen, Science Director of the Harris Center for Conservation Education, will answer those questions during a slide presentation on Vernal Pools on Tuesday. March 11, at 7 p.m., at the Putney Public Library, 55 Main St. Her talk will be the first hour in that evening's two-part program. Thelen will put vernal pools into the context of their surrounding landscape and talk about their importance to the many species dependent upon them.
After a brief break, the second half of the program, focusing on training participants for the Vernal Pool Monitoring Project, will be led by Phil Hamilton, Research Scientist for the John H. Prescott Marine Laboratory at the New England Aquarium in Boston.
Since the spring of 1999, the Putney Mountain Association (PMA) and the Windmill Hill Pinnacle Association (WHPA) have jointly monitored a series of vernal pools on their lands. Monitoring entails going to specific pools a few weeks after salamanders have migrated there to mate and lay eggs, and then once again a month or two later.
Monitors are trained to identify and count the eggs of various species of amphibians (mostly salamanders and frogs), and measure water temperature, depth, and pH. The program serves two functions: 1) getting people out in the woods and learning and caring about these ecologically important, ephemeral ecosystems and 2) collecting data that could capture potentially important changes in species presence and water pH.
Sponsored by the Putney Mountain Association and the Windmill Hill Pinnacle Association, this dual program is designed to increase awareness – on the part of landowners and land-use professionals – about vernal pools and how to protect them and also to encourage citizen scientists in collecting meaningful data that will establish scientific baselines and enable better evaluation of environmental changes.
For further information, contact Libby Mills at 802-387-5598.
Workshop focuses on 'zero energy' homes
BRATTLEBORO - A Zero Energy Home is one that generates as much renewable energy as it uses. Existing homes can become Zero Energy Homes with recent innovations in heating systems and cost-competitive renewable energy options.
Efficiency Vermont's Li Ling Young will talk about this year's pilot program to support Zero Energy Homes at a workshop on Thursday, March 13, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Marlboro College Graduate Center, 28 Vernon St.
For many homes, investing in radical efficiency and a renewable energy system is the most economical way to operate the home. Representatives from local financial institutions will be on hand to talk about financing options for home energy projects. Sponsored by Efficiency Vermont, Brattleboro Climate Protection, Sustainable Energy Outreach Network, and the Marlboro College Graduate Center.
BAJC to host Purim party on March 15
BRATTLEBORO - The Brattleboro Area Jewish Community will celebrate Purim, one of the most joyous holidays in the Jewish calendar, on Saturday, March 15, at the West Meeting House (All Souls Church), 29 South St.
The program begins at 6:30 with a Havdalah service marking the end of Shabbat, followed by a high-spirited reading of the Megillah, the Scroll of Esther that tells the story of Purim. Then the party begins, with the Wholesale Klezmer Band playing lively music for dancing and listening.
Everyone is encouraged to come in costume. Refreshments will be served, with the emphasis on hamentaschen. Tickets for raffle prizes will be sold to benefit the congregation's Families In Need fund. The party is open to all - young and old, Jewish or not, BAJC members or not - and there is no charge for this evening of megillah, music, and merriment; but please bring a non-perishable food item for the Drop-in Center.
For more information, e-mail faith@bajcvermont.org, call 802-464-2632, or check the BAJC website at www.bajcvermont.org.
Guilford Church Sugar-on-Snow Supper set for March 15
GUILFORD - The Sugar-on-Snow Supper at Guilford Community Church will be held on Saturday evening, March 15.
The menu features ham, baked beans, deviled eggs, potato salad, coleslaw, freshly-baked rolls, sugar on snow, homemade donuts, pickles, and coffee, tea or milk. A half a gallon of maple syrup will be raffled off during each seating.
There are three seatings to choose from, at 4:30, 5:45, and 7 p.m. Prices are $10 adults, $5 children age 11 and under, and $3 for preschoolers. For reservations, call 802-254-9562 or email guilfordchurchsupper@gmail.com.
From Interstate 91 Exit 1 in Brattleboro, go south on Route 5 just past Guilford Country Store, left on Bee Barn Road, then left again on Church Drive.
VTC nursing students to host bone marrow drive
BRATTLEBORO - The Alpha Delta Nu Honor Society for Vermont Technical College's Brattleboro Campus, ADN Class of 2014, will host a bone marrow drive on Saturday, March 15, from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., at Rescue Inc., 541 Canal St. (just off of Interstate 91 Exit 1).
ADNs are nursing students and Licensed Practical Nurses, who, upon completion of their studies and passing their national licensure exams, become Registered Nurses.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in children and the cure is in all of us: bone marrow.
“Bone marrow can be donated to anyone suffering from blood cell disorders, such as Leukemia,” said VTC Clinical Associate and ER Nurse Becky Steele. “When the patient gets healthy bone marrow, it replaces unhealthy stem cells with healthy ones.”
Because not all family members of those needing bone marrow transplants are able to donate, or may not be a good match, being a part of Bone Marrow Donor Registry can literally save lives. The VTC student nurses will be on hand to answer any questions, help complete one's registration application, and take a quick cheek swab.