Sheriff's Office plans 'party patrols' in Windham County for graduation season
Members of law enforcement from the Windham County Sheriff's Office will conduct party patrols June 14 through June 16 throughout the county.
According to a news release, the Sheriff's Office says these proactive patrols are designed to reduce the likelihood that a teenager will be involved in a crash during the graduation season. These additional patrols are part of a larger effort to prevent underage drinking and to ensure public safety.
Patrols will take place in Townshend, Bellows Falls, and Brattleboro, and will also cover the neighboring towns. This is a great opportunity for parents to talk with their kids about never getting into a vehicle with a driver who has been drinking.
Funding for this initiative is provided through the Windham County Regional Partnership Program, which includes Deerfield Valley Community Partnership, West River Valley Thrives, Greater Falls Connections, and the Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition.
Melrose Terrace hosts next WBA meeting
WEST BRATTLEBORO - The next monthly gathering of the West Brattleboro Association will be held Thursday, June 14, at 6 p.m. It will take place in the community room at Melrose Terrace. This is in the first building straight ahead after crossing the bridge on George F. Miller Drive.
One focus of this meeting will be hearing from Chris Hart, executive director of the Brattleboro Housing Partnerships, about the plan to demolish 11 of the Melrose Terrace buildings. Included in that plan is reconfiguring the grounds to help lessen the strength of future Whetstone Brook flooding. The fate of the buildings that will be staying will also be reviewed.
Before hearing from Hart - which will be about halfway through the meeting - there will be a more general discussion of underutilized commercial spaces in West Brattleboro. All ideas for addressing this major issue will be welcome.
There will also be presentation of an idea for a West Brattleboro Bike Corridor Steward. While this approach could be applied from the perspective of several roads in West B, Doug Cox's initial plan would be to use Sunset Lake Road as a pilot project.
WBA monthly meetings are open to all residents and business owners, and anyone else interested in West B. For more information call Michael Bosworth at 802-258-6475.
AARP meeting looks at hearing problems
BRATTLEBORO - The next Brattleboro Area AARP meeting on Tuesday, June 19 will feature Alex Tully, audiologist at the Brattleboro Hearing Center, speaking about some of the new breakthroughs in how to help those suffering from hearing loss.
The meeting will be held at 1:30 p.m. at the Senior Center at the Gibson-Aiken Center on Main Street. For more information, contact Jean Garrecht at 802-257-0048
Tick control is subject of Putney forum
PUTNEY - On Tuesday, June 19, there will be an information and public input forum, “Ticks: Prevention Strategies, Public Input on Tick Borne Diseases and Next Steps.”
The event will be hosted by State Rep. Mike Mrowicki, D-Putney, and held at the Putney Public Library on Main Street from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Bradley Tompkins of the Vermont Department of Health will present the first part of the forum, looking at the tick problem from a public health perspective.
The next part of the program invites the public to come testify to personal experiences with tick-borne diseases, leading to a discussion on next steps - including finding answers to the question, “Is it time to go on the offensive to reduce the tick population?”
For more information about the event or to sign up to offer your experience, contact Mrowicki at mmrowicki@leg.state.vt.us.
Brown-bag lunch series features ways to improve mindfulness
BRATTLEBORO - Learn how to fix anxiety and activate executive function at the River Garden Brown Bag Lunch Series from noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 19, Thursday, June 28, and Friday, June 29.
As part of an area Mindfulness Initiative, Daniel Foster will present a simple technique, 3 Steps Forward, that makes it easy to integrate a mindfulness practice into any daily routine.
Numerous university studies validate the effectiveness of these three steps, and taking these steps has proven to be helpful with facing all kinds of daily challenges. The presentations are also available to area schools and businesses for a nominal fee. For more information go to www.fosterbalance.com, or contact Foster at fosterbalance@gmail.com, or call 802-490-6447.
Board of Civil Authority to meet June 19
BRATTLEBORO - The Board of Civil Authority will have a meeting on Tuesday, June 19, at 9:30 a.m., in the Hanna Cosman Room on the second floor of the Municipal Center, 230 Main St.
On the agenda is a discussion of a plan to address emergency election procedures. According to Town Clerk Hilary Francis, the town is exploring contingencies in case of a natural or man-made emergency during Election Day.
For more information, contact Francis at 802-251-8129 or hfrancis@brattleboro.org.
National Historic Landmark opens for 2018 season
ROCKINGHAM - The Rockingham Meeting House has opened for the 2018 season and welcomes visitors daily through Columbus Day, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Constructed between 1787 and 1801, the meeting house is a designated National Historic Landmark and the oldest public building in Vermont that still exists in a condition close to its original state.
It served as both a place of worship and the town hall until 1869, and it was then abandoned for several decades.
In 1906, the building was restored to its current state - one of the earliest historic preservation projects in Vermont - leaving intact its king-post timber framing, finely detailed woodwork and its “pig pen” box pews. The building hosts an annual pilgrimage in August as part of the town's “Old Home Days” celebrations.
The meeting house is owned by the town of Rockingham and operated as a museum, with skilled docents on hand to offer additional information about the architecture and history of the building.
The adjacent cemetery, which continues in use today, contains more than 1,000 graves and is a treasure trove of information about the lives and deaths of the town's early settlers as well as some of the finest gravestone art to be found in New England.
The meeting house is located just north of the village of Bellows Falls and Exit 6 of Interstate 91, just off Vermont Route 103.