Meeting considers plans for property
SAXTONS RIVER - The Saxtons River Village Trustees will hold a meeting to determine new uses for 37 Main Street, Saxtons River, once The Dish restaurant. Given the cost to rehabilitate the current structure, demolition seems inevitable.
A consulting team from UMass will lead the first event Thursday, Sept. 29, at 6:30 p.m., at Main Street Arts in Saxtons River, with food and drink offered at 6 p.m.
The team will also be on hand to hear local opinions, Saturday, Oct. 1, in front of the Saxtons River Post Office and the Village Market from 9 a.m.to noon.
The property at 37 Main Street has been a photography studio, automobile repair garage, hardware store, and restaurant before Main Street Arts used it to store stage property. Two brownfield studies and an engineering report determined that the site should be limited to nonresidential use.
The town of Rockingham applied for the municipal planning grant that funds the 37 Main Street project. For more information, contact project manager and village trustee Amy Howlett at 802-591-3418 or chairsrv@vermontel.net.
Pie bakers needed in Dummerston
DUMMERSTON - The Dummerston Congregational Church, UCC, is resuming the Apple Pie Festival this year and will need lots of help. The festival is Sunday, Oct. 9 from 10 a.m. until the pies sell out. Help is needed on that day with various tasks.
They also need lots of help in making the pies. Come on by the church in Dummerston Center, at the intersection of East-West and Middle roads, for weekday baking sessions through Oct. 6, in shifts running from 9 a.m. to noon and 5 to 9 p.m. Volunteers are invited to drop by for as many sessions as they can and to stay for as long as they can. No pie-baking experience necessary.
Town seeks to fill board vacancies
BRATTLEBORO - The town is seeking residents to serve on the following committees and boards: ADA Advisory Committee; Agricultural Advisory Committee (voting and ex officio members); Arts Committee; Citizen Police Communications Committee (CPCC); Conservation Commission; Design Review Committee (alternate); Development Review Board (alternate); Energy Committee; Fence Viewers; Hazard Mitigation Committee (citizen representative); Inspector of Lumber, Shingles, and Wood; Weigher of Coal; Traffic Safety and Control Committee (citizen representative); and the Senior Solutions Advisory Council.
Applications, along with more information on the town and town government, are available at brattleboro.org; or by calling the town manager's office at 802-251-8151. Submit your application online; send it by email to Jessica Sticklor, executive assistant, at jsticklor@brattleboro.org; or mail or deliver the application to Town Manager's Office; Attn: Committee Vacancy; 230 Main St., Suite 208; Brattleboro, VT 05301.
Open house celebrates historic meetinghouse
BROOKLINE - On Saturday, Oct. 1, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., there will be a free open house at the historic 1836 church in Brookline, located on 632 Grassy Brook Road.
The newly renamed Brookline Meetinghouse has recently been entered into the National Register of Historic Places as an excellent example of an early brick Gothic Revival church. It is considered one of the most intact and finest vernacular examples of this style among Vermont's religious structures.
According to a news release, “the proliferation of 1830s and 1840s Vermont churches that were primarily Greek Revival in style helps distinguish the Brookline church from its contemporaries, and the Brookline Church is the only church in Windham County with a design based solely on the Gothic Revival Style. The interior of the church is beautiful and well preserved. The floors are wide plank, the walls wainscoted and plastered. Most of the woodwork is grain painted in an artistic fashion.”
The vestry was added in 1895 in response to the community's need for a gathering place and has a working kitchen and bathroom. Today, the building is undergoing restoration with an eye toward becoming a welcoming community building and event location.
Memoir workshop offered at library
BRATTLEBORO - Author Shin Freedman will lead a three-part workshop to explore the craft of memoir writing at Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon on Oct. 1 and 22, and Nov. 5.
“Great memoirs deal with the subject of identity and lifetime quests by weaving cohesive stories from jumbled, imperfect memories. What propels people to write a memoir, and what motivates us to read them? Memoir writing is powerful, rewarding, and therapeutic for both the writer and readers,” Freedman said in a news release.
Elements of the program include what makes a memoir a memoir, writing a meaningful personal essay as a memoir, writing a memoir alone and with others, sharing one's writing with the participants, and making plans to publish work.
Freedman published her memoir A Doll for a Day: Growing up in Post-War Korea in 2019 and an anthology, Accidental American, in 2020. She is the recipient of many writing and literary awards and was a U.S. Fulbright Scholar to China in 2016–17.
The program is free of charge and open to the public. The venue is accessible to people using wheelchairs. Email info@brookslibraryvt.org or call 802-490-9289, ext. 0, to register.
Osher Lecture Series resumes
PUTNEY - The Osher Lecture Series will resume in the Brattleboro area. The three-part series will be held from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Mondays, Oct. 3, 10, and 17 at Next Stage Arts Project, 15 Kimball Hill. The focus of the series will be “Helping Poor People in Poor Countries: What Works,” presented by Jim Levinson.
This three-part program examines the primary problems and determinants of these problems in countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America with special attention to young children and reproductive-age women. What progress has been made, and with what approaches?
There is a new registration process for Brattleboro Area Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI). Payments will no longer be taken at the door, so all attendees must pre-register. Signing up as an OLLI member allows you to attend the full three-part series for $20. Individual lecture fee is $8 each. For more information on the individual lectures and for information on registering, visit learn.uvm.edu/olli/brattleboro.
'One Rug at a Time' show at library
BRATTLEBORO - Each week from now through Nov. 7, a different rug by a local fiber artist will be displayed in the main reading room at Brooks Memorial Library.
Rugs or wall hangings have been made by members of the Brattleboro Rug Social group and this exhibit is in support of the Green Mountain Rug Hooking Guild's Rug Show in Montpelier, which takes place Nov. 3–6 at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. For information on the Guild and the Montpelier show, visit gmrhg.org.
Fall migration bird walk planned at Hogback
MARLBORO - As autumn color begins to brighten the slopes and vistas at Hogback Mountain Conservation Area, join naturalist Cherrie Corey on Sunday, Oct. 2, from 9 to 11 a.m., for a slow walk along mountain trails to listen and look for hawks and later migrating songbirds.
Some typical migrants in early October include ruby and golden-crowned kinglets, Swainson's and hermit thrushes, returning dark-eyed juncos, white-throated and white-crowned sparrows, Eastern towhee, Philadelphia vireo, and late migrating warblers (including Tennessee, Nashville, common yellowthroat, Northern parula, magnolia, blackpoll, black-throated blue, palm, pine, and Myrtle), and indigo buntings.
Fall warblers always test birders' memories and powers of concentration as they try to learn and recall who we encounter by eye rings, wingbars, chest markings, and pale colors, along with their faintly whispered calls and song fragments.
Along the way, there will be a visit with Eric Slayton and volunteers at their bird banding station to see what late season migrants have visited their nets. His team will demonstrate the many careful steps involved in documenting and banding each bird.
Meet at the Tower Trail trailhead kiosk, behind the Vermont Distillery (7755 Route 9 East, Marlboro). Parking is available in the large parking lot across the road from the distillery. This event is co-sponsored by the Hogback Mountain Conservation Association and the Southeastern Vermont Audubon Society. The walk is limited to 18. To register, email hmca@hogbackvt.org.
Church hosts book sale
GUILFORD - The Guilford Community Church, 38 Church Road, will hold a book sale on Saturday, Oct. 8, at the church.
A great selection of books of all genres will be available from 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. Fill a bag of books and make a donation to the church. Come enjoy a cup of coffee and a baked treat while you browse. For more information, contact the church at 802-257-0994 or guilfordchurch@gmail.com.
Winter farmers' market seeks vendors
PUTNEY - The Putney Winter Farmers' Market, held Sundays, Nov. 20 through Dec. 18, is seeking vendors of all kinds.
Held indoors at Green Mountain Orchard, these five markets feature lunch and live music and have become a very well-attended community event. Vendor applications can be found at putneyfarmersmarket.org or by contacting the market manager at putneyfarmersmarket@gmail.com.