New moms group meets at Prouty Center
BRATTLEBORO - Mothers' Circle, a peer-led gathering for mothers with infants up to 12-months old, is held at the Winston Prouty Center for Child Development in Brattleboro on Tuesdays from 10:45 a.m. to noon.
Mothers' Circle is confidential and led by a MotherWoman certified facilitator, and offers space to discuss the challenges of being a parent and the realities of motherhood.
Free childcare for older siblings is provided; those who want childcare are asked to call ahead if needed. There is no fee and light refreshments will be available. For any questions, call Amanda Pizzollo at 802-251-2102. Mothers' Circle is sponsored by the Winston Prouty Center for Child Development, It Takes a Village, the Brattleboro Retreat, and the Vermont Department of Health.
Baby playgroup, preschooler story times at Putney library
PUTNEY - Putney Public Library is starting up preschooler story time again with a new storyteller. Susan Hessey, longtime Putney Central School librarian, will read and tell stories, do finger plays, and crafts with kids ages 2 and up on Thursday mornings at 11 a.m.
Baby playgroup and story time also continues on Fridays at 10:30 a.m. with librarian Emily Zervas offering songs and simple stories. Participants can stay afterwards to play with other children ages birth to 2 years old. This program is part of Vermont's Early Literacy Initiative and is co-sponsored by Putney Family Services.
The library is located at 55 Main St. These programs are free and open to the public.
White Cane Awareness Day is Oct. 15
BRATTLEBORO - The eighth annual White Cane Awareness Day event will take place on Thursday, Oct. 15 at the River Garden from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. to celebrate the white cane as a symbol of independence and self-reliance for those who are blind or have low vision.
The event will begin with a welcome talk by Brattleboro resident Andrea Evey, and will highlight the day-to-day barriers and challenges people with low vision or who are blind face in trying to navigate the streets and sidewalks of Brattleboro.
Following the talk there will be instruction on being a sighted guide, as well as a walk along Main Street with an optional blindfold. Those who would like to try walking under blindfold will be guided. Light refreshments will be available.
The White Cane Awareness Day Walk is open to all and is sponsored by the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (VABVI), Vermont's Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired (DBVI), and Vermont Center for Independent Living (VCIL). For more information, or if you need transportation to attend due to low vision, call 802-254-8761.
Video on pie fest to be shown at Dummerston Historical Society
DUMMERSTON - The quarterly meeting and program of the Dummerston Historical Society will be held on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. Due to construction on the new addition to the Historical Society Schoolhouse, this meeting will be held in the Dummerston Center Congregational Church lower level.
A brief business meeting will include an update on the almost-completed building addition, Tom Zopf's “Creating Tomorrow's History Today,” and recent artifact donations, followed at 7:30 p.m., by the video Behind the Pie, Backstage at the Famous Dummerston Apple Pie Festival.
The video was recorded by Theresa Maggio in the fall of 2011 and features many local pie makers. It is a warm and accurate documentary of the process of making, baking and storing 1,500 pies for the “big day.“
Dummerston Historical Society welcomes all visitors; programs are free of charge and handicapped accessible. Info: 802-254-9311.
Meima discusses new novel at Everyone's Books
BRATTLEBORO - Brattleboro author Ralph Meima will be discussing his new work of speculative fiction, Fossil Nation, at Everyone's Books on Elliot Street in Brattleboro on Friday, Oct. 16. The event will start at 6 p.m., and include a reading and book-signing.
Fossil Nation is the first novel in the Inter States trilogy, published by Founders House Publishing and released in August. Set in 2040, the trilogy explores - on personal, family, state, and national levels - possible consequences of a number of current trends, including climate change, fossil fuel depletion, Internet and virtual reality technology, oligarchy vs. democracy, and shifting geopolitics.
During the writing, explained Meima in a press release, the aim was neither utopian nor dystopian, but to come up with plausible scenarios and realistic reactions by the characters during a time of enormous change. Themes central to the plot include a major hurricane, the presidential election of 2040, energy politics, migration, state secession movements, and involvement of foreign powers in U.S. domestic affairs.
For more information about Friday's event and paperback book purchasing, contact Clea at Everyone's Books, 802-254-8160.
BMH offers free WRAP workshop series
BRATTLEBORO - Brattleboro Memorial Hospital is offering a Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) workshop series scheduled on Oct. 16 (3 to 8 p.m.), 17 (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.), and 18 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) in Brew Barry Conference Room 2.
This free workshop, conducted in three sessions, provides participants with tools to deal with life's complications and to plan for the inevitable bumps along the way.
WRAP was developed in 1997 by a group of people searching for ways to overcome their own mental health issues and move on to fulfilling their life dreams and goals. It is now used extensively by people in all kinds of circumstances, and by health care and mental health systems all over the world to address physical, mental health, and life challenges.
BMH's WRAP workshop series will provide participants with tools and insights to manage challenging situations for themselves and others in their lives. The workshop series is also relevant for those who may be in support roles for people struggling with physical, mental, or life issues, and also for healthcare providers interested in becoming WRAP facilitators.
Space is limited so registration is required. Call 802-257-8867 for more information or to register.
Pizza night in West Townshend
WEST TOWNSHEND - The West Townshend Country Store and Cafe will be starting its Pizza Night and Concert series on Friday, Oct. 16. The outdoor oven will be fired up and ready for pizza at 5 p.m. Build your own pizza, at $10 a pie, from a number of tasty toppings. Beer, wine and other refreshments are also available at the cafe.
Music begins at 6:30 p.m. T. Breeze and Joe Chagnon will be playing original songs and covers on guitar and stomp box. The music is free, but donations are appreciated by the musicians.
Brattleboro Lodge of Freemasons hosts open house
BRATTLEBORO - The secret society known as the Freemasons is the oldest fraternity in the world and claims several Founding Fathers among its members, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, and Robert Livingston, 13 U.S. presidents, world leaders such as Winston Churchill, captains of industry such as Henry Ford, and Hollywood entertainers such as John Wayne.
The Brattleboro Lodge will host an open house Saturday, Oct. 17, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., that will include a tour of the lodge, an audio-visual presentation, and a question-and-answer period regarding the fraternity.
Wildlife expert to speak in Guilford
GUILFORD - Kim Royar, a wildlife expert who is the special assistant to Vermont's commissioner of fish and wildlife, will give an illustrated lecture to the Guilford Historical Society on Sunday, Oct. 18, at 2 p.m. The meeting will be held at Guilford's Broad Brook Grange at 3940 Guilford Center Rd., which is 5 miles west of the Guilford Country Store.
Her talk will deal with changes in the Southern Vermont wildlife populations from Guilford's first settlers in 1754 to the present times and to the symbiotic relationships that has gone on between the settlers and the local wildlife.
Mountain lions, moose, and wolves both furnished meat for the early settlers, and attacked the settlers. This has shifted over the past 260 years as Guilford cleared its forests for sheep raising, timbering, and dairy farming. Hunting wild animals is now classified as a sport and Royar is one of the scientists that help define these activities.
Before Royar's presentation, the Historical Society will hold a short business meeting at 1:30 p.m. Admission is free and refreshments will be served. Information: 802-257-7306.
Osher lectures on post-colonial Africa and water chemistry
DUMMERSTON - The Brattleboro Chapter of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) will hold the third in its series of fall lectures on Monday, Oct. 19.
In the morning program, Tom Toleno will discuss post-colonial Africa. Toleno, of the Marlboro College faculty, has lived, traveled, and worked extensively in Africa, particularly in the Republic of Malawi.
In the afternoon lectures, Bob Engel, of Marlboro, will take up the chemistry of water and the water molecule.
Lectures are held on six successive Mondays. Morning lectures run from 10 a.m. to noon; afternoon lectures, from 1 to 3 p.m. All lectures will be held at the Vermont Learning Collaborative, 471 US Route 5. Parking and handicapped access are available, and light refreshments will be served at the lectures.
The lectures are produced by the Brattleboro OLLI chapter. OLLI is a nationwide membership organization sponsoring programs for people aged 50 and over who wish to continue their education without tests, papers, or grades. For further information, call 802-257-8600 or go to www.learningcollaborative.org.
Career Expo features more than 40 exhibitors
BRATTLEBORO - The third annual Career Expo will take place on Thursday, Oct. 22, from 1 to 5 p.m., at the Brattleboro Union High School Gymnasium.
Thirty local employers will be on hand to talk to job seekers and students alike about career opportunities in health care, manufacturing, financial and professional services, hospitality, forestry, food, and other industry sectors.
Several local colleges and career services agencies also will be there to help guide one's career and education plans.
A complete list of exhibitors is available at www.VermontCareerExpo.com.
Hospice offers Ethical Wills workshop
BRATTLEBORO - How do you want to be remembered? What will your legacy be? Brattleboro Area Hospice invites residents to explore these and other questions about their legacy in a free workshop, Creating Ethical Wills on Saturday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with facilitator Claire Willis.
This workshop is free, however space is limited and registration is required by Oct. 19.
Many may have prepared legal wills to distribute belongings after death, but few have considered leaving a spiritual/ethical will: a record of who we are, a document that can be offered to loved ones either while we are still alive or after we are gone.
During the workshop, participants will explore creative ways to begin to create an ethical will for their children, grandchildren, friends, and colleagues. A variety of techniques through writing will be explored so that one can pass on and share values, life stories, wisdom, and some of the most important moments in life. To register, contact Brattleboro Area Hospice, at [email protected] or 802-257-0775.