Holly Jolly Gingerbread Craft Time offered at Brooks library
BRATTLEBORO - Bring the whole family to the Holly Jolly Gingerbread Craft Time on Saturday, Dec. 10, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the Meeting Room at Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St.
Come make graham cracker gingerbread houses and paper gingerbread man ornaments. Registration for the free event is strongly recommended – contact the Children's Room at 802-254-5290, ext. 110. All materials will be provided. Children under 7 must have a responsible person with them.
Holly Jolly Gingerbread Craft Time is sponsored the by Friends of Brooks Library and the Children's Room.
Talk on political situation in Venezuela
BRATTLEBORO – On Friday, Dec. 9, the Windham World Affairs Council presents Dr. Javier Corrales, professor of political science at Amherst College, who will explain how President Hugo Chávez's illness is changing politics in Venezuela and South America.
Corrales has said that in Venezuela, the most important change is turmoil within the ruling party, with the prospects of growing unrest ahead of the October 2012 presidential elections. In Latin America, we are witnessing the decline of Chávez's influence, though this has more to do with illness in Venezuela's economy than Chávez's own illness.
Corrales is the co-author of Dragon in the Tropics: Hugo Chávez and the Political Economy of Revolution in Venezuela (Brookings Institution Press, 2011), the co-editor of The Politics of Sexuality in Latin America: A Reader on GLBT Rights (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010), and author of Presidents Without Parties: the Politics of Economic Reform in Argentina and Venezuela in the 1990s (Penn State University Press. 2002).
In 2009, he was a visiting scholar at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard and a visiting fellow at the Center for Latin American Research at the University of Amsterdam. In 2005, he was a Fulbright Scholar in Caracas, Venezuela.
The lecture will begin at 7 p.m. in Rotch Hall on the World Learning/SIT campus in Brattleboro. There will be coffee with the speaker at 6:30 p.m. The public is invited. Admission is free.
Putney Cares hosts holiday lunch on Dec. 13
PUTNEY - Putney Cares will serve a holiday lunch on Tuesday, Dec. 13 at noon in the Putney Cares Activities Barn on Kimball Hill.
On the menu is roasted turkey (or vegetarian alternative) rosemary potatoes, mashed butternut squash, with a Yule Log (Buche de Noel) for dessert. Call for a reservation at 802-387-5593 or email [email protected]. The lunch will be prepared by Pamela Cubbage, and is sponsored by Putney Cares and Senior Solutions.
'Souper Wednesdays' begin in Westminster
WESTMINSTER - Souper Wednesdays have begun at the First Congregational Church of Westminster on Route 5.
Come from noon to 2 p.m. every Wednesday through March 28 for soup and community. The meal is free, but donations are greatly appreciated.
Community Conversations continue on Dec. 14
BRATTLEBORO - Community Conversations moves to the Gibson-Aiken Center, 207 Main St., for its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, Dec 14, from 6:30-8:30 p.m., with social time starting at 6 p.m.
This month's topics include the following questions: What have been your experiences helping a friend in need or receiving help from a friend? Are experiences of helping one another different when they happen outside the context of close friendships? That is, what is it like to “help one another” when the one receiving or offering the help happens to be a neighbor, an acquaintance, or a community member who is unfamiliar to you? How do these forms of community-building feel different from giving/receiving charity?
This will be a free and open discussion with respectful facilitation. These monthly gatherings are designed to get people to know one another to strengthen community resilience and engage with local or global issues such as climate change, the end of cheap oil, and inequitable economic practices. Newcomers are always welcome.
Forum on transportation scheduled for Dec. 15
BRATTLEBORO - A free public forum on Vermont's approach to the funding of public transportation will take place Thursday, Dec. 15 at 5:30 p.m. in the Selectboard room at the Municipal Center.
The forum, “Stretching Transportation Dollars in Vermont: Finding New Money and Rethinking the Money We Have,” is sponsored by the Southeast Unit of the League of Women Voters and the Brattleboro branch of the American Association of University Women.
Panelists are state Rep. Mollie Burke, P-Brattleboro, who serves on the House Transportation Committeee; Matt Mann, a senior planner with the Windham Regional Commission; and Chris Cole, director of policy, planning, and intermodal development at the Vermont Agency of Transportation.
Janet Cramer of the League will serve as moderator.
The forum will include emphasis on state budgeting, prospective fund reallocations, innovation, suggested town priorities, and a comparison with other states.
The League supports efforts to increase shared and public transportation where feasible, and the concept that all forms of transportation are the shared responsibility of local, state, and federal governments.
For more information call Judith Myrick, 802-257-4616.
BAJC begins 'PJ Shabbat' for children on Dec. 16
BRATTLEBORO -The Brattleboro Area Jewish Community is beginning a new service for families with children of pre-school age, open to BAJC members and also non-members and potential members.
Called PJ Shabbat, the program will take place from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Children are invited to come to the synagogue at 151 Greenleaf St. in their pajamas, with their parents, grandparents, or other responsible adults, to welcome Shabbat with blessings, songs, stories, and a sweet treat.
The service is appropriate for children ages 5 and younger. The first of these services will take place on Friday, Dec. 16 and will meet on the third Friday evening of every month thereafter.
For more information, contact Robin at [email protected], or call BAJC at 802-257-1959.
Dog adoption event takes place on Dec. 15
BRATTLEBORO - Thinking of adding a canine companion to your family? You just might find the dog of your dreams at a Dog Adoption Event taking place at One Stop Country Pet on Putney Road on Thursday, Dec. 15 between 3 and 6 p.m.
Two local rescue groups will be at the event, organized by Honey Loring, founder of Camp Gone to the Dogs and The Poodle Cafe.
Lisa Borst of Rosemont Rescue in Hinsdale, N.H., specializes in labs and lab mixes, from puppies to adults, who are transported from shelters in the south, where the shelters are overflowing with dogs in need of homes. She will be bringing some potential adoptees to the event.
On the opposite end of the size spectrum, Annie Frelich and Stephen Whitman of Cold Noses Warm Hearts specialize in small and toy breeds that are flown here from high-kill pounds in southern California. Small dogs are being killed at a staggering rate there, yet it can be difficult to find one in a shelter in New England. Everything from toy and mini poodles, chihuahuas, maltese, terriers, and mixes are available.
Both rescue groups select highly adoptable dogs that have good temperament and good health. All are fully vetted.
For more information, contact Loring at 802-387-5673 or [email protected].
Vernon Historians release new DVD
VERNON - The Vernon Historians have just released their newly completed DVD, A History Tour of Vernon, Vermont.
Jeff Mastroianni of MyMastroMind Productions filmed lifelong resident and local historian Barbara Moseley as she guides viewers to sites important to Vernon history. Learn how glaciers carved Vernon's landscape, why it was an important area to Native Americans, how the coming of the railroad affected its development, and about some of its outstanding citizens.
Filmed on site and enhanced by numerous photographs from the collection of Vernon Historians, Inc., this hour-long DVD gives the viewer a glimpse into the rich and unique past of a small Vermont town.
The DVD is available for purchase at the Town Clerk's office.
St. Michael's seeks local youths for Christmas pageant
BRATTLEBORO - St. Michael's Episcopal Church, 16 Bradley Ave., welcomes all area toddlers, children, and teens to join its 4 p.m. Christmas eve pageant.
The church has been doing its own Vermont Nativity for two years and will continue to do so this year, adding new elements that pageanteers invent. The cast includes an Innkeeper's assistant, an Innkeeper, Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Angel Gabriel, Angels, Shepherds, Wise Men and Women, a Starbearer, Townspeople, and Readers.
The pageant rehearses Sunday mornings during Sunday School time, 9 to 10 a.m. There will be a dress rehearsal on Dec. 23, from 4 to 5:15 p.m. and the pageant will be at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
For more information and to sign up, contact Annie Landenberger, 802-348-7156 or [email protected], or Kelli Allen at [email protected].
Bellows Falls Woman's Club meets Dec. 13
BELLOWS FALLS - The Bellows Falls Woman's Club will meet on Tuesday, Dec. 13, at the United Church of Bellows Falls, School Street, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Members should gather upstairs in the sanctuary, where children from Central School will entertain with several musical numbers, under the direction of music teacher Alisa Daigneault. Refreshments and a business meeting will follow downstairs in Fellowship Hall.
Club members are reminded to bring their wrapped and numbered gift for a McGirr's Nursing Home resident, or for the staff, to the meeting. Also, members who signed up to attend the Kurn Hattin holiday luncheon and concert on Dec. 15 are reminded to pay the suggested price of the luncheon in advance, as a donation to the school.
Some club members have volunteered to help with Central Elementary School's annual, PTO-sponsored “Shopping Mall” on Dec. 15. They will help the children wrap gifts they have purchased for their family members. Club support also takes the form of donating items for the shopping experience.
Area women interested in joining the club should contact Vice President Barbara Comtois at 802-344-0025.
Community carol sing presented in Guilford
GUILFORD - The Green River Church in Green River village will host its 51st annual Service of Scripture and Carols on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Michael Mario will lead the singing. He will be joined by William McKim on the organ and by a brass ensemble led by Bruce Corwin. The service will be recorded by WTSA-FM for broadcast on Christmas Eve. Refreshments will be served following the service in the vestibule of the church.
This annual service is used as its only fund-raising event of the year. In 2001, the church became a part of the Green River Village Preservation Trust, a local nonprofit historic preservation group.