BrattleMasters meet at Brooks House
BRATTLEBORO - The local Toastmasters club will meet at the Brooks House on Thursday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m., in Room 245 at Vermont Technical College.
The emcee for the meeting will be Amy Bovaird. Early on, the grammarian will introduce a Word of the Evening, which members will attempt to use whenever they have an opportunity. Two speeches are scheduled, as well as two evaluations, extemporaneous speaking exercises, and refreshments.
The public is invited to participate in the extemporaneous speaking exercises. BrattleMasters members hail from the tri-state area. Guests are always welcome to visit, watch, and listen at no charge. For more information, visit brattleboro.toastmastersclubs.org.
Empty Bowl dinner comes to Chester
CHESTER - In preparation for its first Empty Bowl Dinner in May, the Chester-Andover Family Center is sponsoring a “Paint a Bowl-Make a Difference” evening on Friday, March 1, from 5 to 8 p.m., at Endless Creations, 23 Maple St.
Melissa Howe will share her pottery studio with the Center for folks to begin making bowls that diners will receive with their dinner at the Empty Bowl Fundraiser. There will be refreshments, including Howe's famous gourmet popcorn.
This is an opportunity to explore your inner artist and make a difference by donating your hand-painted bowl to the CAFC Empty Bowl Fundraiser. Make a Difference Bowls are $5. All proceeds raised at the dinner will benefit CAFC and art programs at Green Mountain Union High School. For more information, call Howe at 802-875-2008.
Sugar on Snow supper served in Guilford
GUILFORD - Broad Brook Grange's annual Sugar on Snow Supper will be held Saturday, March 2, at the Broad Brook Community Center in Guilford.
The meal features ham, baked beans, scalloped potatoes, deviled eggs, cole slaw, rolls, homemade donuts, and Guilford maple sugar on Guilford snow with Guilford pickles.
There will be three seatings: at 5, 6 and 7 p.m. At each seating, a half-gallon of Guilford maple syrup will be raffled.
This longtime annual fundraiser helps support the many activities of the Grange, which has transferred ownership of its hall to the new nonprofit Broad Brook Community Center, which will renovate and manage the building, with the Grange organization as a resident partner.
Tickets for the supper are $12 for adults, $5 for children ages 5-12, and $2 for kids age 4 and under. Reservations for a particular seating are recommended, as the earlier seatings often sell out in advance.
A waiting list also will be kept, and those with reservations who can't make it are asked to phone in their cancellation. There are usually a few unreserved seats left for the 7 p.m. seating, for those who show up without a reservation.
Reservations may be made by contacting Thayer at 802-257-5359 or by e-mail at thayertomlinson@hotmail.com. You will get a confirmation reply. The Community Center is at 3940 Guilford Center Road, four miles west of the Guilford Country Store.
Pet vaccination clinic in East Dover
EAST DOVER - The East Dover Volunteer Fire Department will sponsor a pet vaccination clinic at the firehouse in East Dover on Saturday, March 2, from 10 a.m. to noon.
Dr. Miles A. Powers will vaccinate both dogs and cats. This clinic is open to anyone. Fees will be $15 for rabies and $25 for a distemper-complex vaccine for either a dog or cat, or $35 for both vaccinations.
Dogs should be on a leash and cats in a carrier. The Town Clerk will also be present to issue licenses. For further information or specific requests, call 802-348-7918.
Pinnacle Association plans snowshoe hike
WESTMINSTER - A two-hour guided hike will take place on Sunday, March 3, starting at 1 p.m. It will be led by Windmill Hill Pinnacle Association Board members Tony Coven and Molly Wilson. Beginners are welcome.
Participants should wear layered clothing, bring water, and meet at the Westminster West Congregational Church. Bring your own snowshoes, get them at the Brattleboro or Westminster West Libraries or call Coven (802-387-6650) to reserve snow shoes through WHPA. There are snowshoes for children and adults in a variety of sizes.
This hike is held to highlight Windham on the Move, a community-based program that seeks to help increase opportunities for physical activity among Windham County residents.
Reps to provide mid-session update
PUTNEY - With the 2019 session of the Vermont Legislature at its midpoint, the legislators of the Windham 4 District, Rep. Nader Hashim, D-Dummerston, and Rep. Mike Mrowicki, D-Putney, will present a report to constituents on Sunday, March 3, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Putney Library on Main Street.
Hashim and Mrowicki said in a news release that the week after the Town Meeting recess is one of the more frenetic points in the session as “cross-over” looms. This is the deadline for bills to have passed out of a Committee of Jurisdiction for action by the full House (or Senate) so they can then move to the other Legislative body for action.
This being the first year in the 2019-20 biennium, Hashim and Mrowicki said bills that haven't been acted on are still in play for the following year. At this point, though, the legislative agenda becomes more certain.
Hashim and Mrowicki say they will let people know what bills are up for action and take a guess at which will make it to the Governor's desk for becoming law. There will also be time for questions and suggestions.
For more information about the event or a legislative question or suggestion, Hashim and Mrowicki can be reached at the Statehouse number, 800-322-5616, or at Nhashim@leg.state.vt.us and Mmrowicki@leg.state.vt.us.
Vernon Historians host annual food/bake sale
VERNON - The Vernon Historians will hold their annual food and baked goods sale at the Town Office Building in Vernon on Tuesday, March 5, from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m., during town voting.
Homemade doughnuts, cookies, pies, brownies, whoopie pies, goulash, and a variety of other baked goods and foods will be available for purchase.
In addition, the popular Vernon Historians booklets, “Voices of the Past and Present” and “A Word to the Wise is Sufficient,” beautiful notecards featuring historic Vernon buildings, informative and entertaining “History Tour of Vernon” DVDs, and Pine Top Ski Area posters also will be for sale.
UNH professor discusses hip-hop as tool for social change at Landmark College
PUTNEY - The spring 2019 Landmark College Academic Speaker Series continues with a talk by Marcos Del Hierro, titled “The Use of Hip-hop Rhetoric to Combat the Criminalization of Black, Brown, and Red Youth” on Tuesday, March 5, at 7 p.m., in the Brooks M. O'Brien Auditorium in the East Academic Building.
During the talk, Del Hierro will provide insight into how hip-hoppers produce sustainable models for recycling knowledge and technology to produce art, criticism, and pleasure, allowing these artists to respond to social discourses that represent young people of color as inferior and deviant.
Del Hierro is an assistant professor of English at the University of New Hampshire. He received his Ph.D. from Texas A&M in 2014. His research focuses on intersections among rhetoric and composition, race and ethnic studies, and hip-hop studies. He is currently working on his first monograph, Homegrown Critique Through Hip-hop Rhetorics.
This event is free and open to the public. For additional information, contact Eve Leons at eleons@landmark.edu.
UVM professor reflects on Wordsworth's influence in First Wednesday talk
BRATTLEBORO - UVM professor emeritus Huck Gutman will examine the profound influence of English Romantic poet William Wordsworth in a talk at Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St., on March 6, at 7 p.m.
His talk, “Wordsworth: Plain and Simple,“ is part of the Vermont Humanities Council's First Wednesdays lecture series and is free and open to the public. This venue is wheelchair accessible.
Gutman is professor emeritus of English at the University of Vermont, where he taught courses in 19th- and 20th-century American poetry and in modern poetry in translation. A former chair of the English Department, he has twice taught abroad as a Fulbright Fellow.
He has written or edited four books, has been a regular political columnist for major newspapers abroad, and spent six years in Washington serving as Chief of Staff to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Visit www.brookslibraryvt.org for more information.
Workshop looks at ways to reverse global warming
GRAFTON - Local farmer and activist Laurel Green will lead a two-hour workshop called “Reversing Global Warming: Introduction to Drawdown” on Wednesday, March 6, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Grafton Public Library, 204 Main St.
According to a news release, this workshop is designed to shift the conversation around global warming and is useful to anyone interested in climate crisis issues. It is meant to give people an encouraging place to stand and a clear idea of what actions they can take to contribute to reversing global warming.
The workshop, developed by the Pachamama Alliance in collaboration with Project Drawdown, includes several short videos, listening exchanges, and group activities. For more information about this program, which is free and open to the public, email librarian@graftonpubliclibrary.org, or call 802-843-2404.