Death café returns to Brattleboro
BRATTLEBORO - Brattleboro Area Hospice will host a death café at the Avenue Grocery, 82 Western Ave, on Thursday, June 21, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
This free event, part of an international movement begun in Europe, is dedicated to “taking death out of the closet in order to discuss it publicly,” organizers write.
“A death café is not a support group, a counseling session, or even a workshop,” they explain. “It is a simple gathering of people sharing respectful, thought-provoking, life-affirming conversation about living and dying in a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere while enjoying warm beverages and delectable treats.
“And of course, cake will be served!”
The public is welcome and encouraged to attend, but space is limited to 24 people. Reservations are strongly recommended. People are asked to arrive promptly, as doors to the event will close at 6:15 p.m.
Call Bereavement Care Counselor Cicely Carroll at 802-257-0775, ext. 108, to reserve a spot.
Youth members to lead activities at GFC annual meeting
BELLOWS FALLS - The Greater Falls Connections coalition will be hosting its annual meeting on Friday, June 22, from noon to 1:30 p.m., at Rockingham Free Public Library at 65 Westminster St.
Anyone interested in supporting the youth of our community is encouraged to attend. To highlight and celebrate the accomplishments of the youth, members of the Advanced Above the Influence youth group will offer presentations and activities.
During the annual meeting, attendees will vote on the slate of candidates for the Greater Falls Connections advisory board.
Lunch will be provided. Learn more at greaterfallsconnections.org.
Solstice healing walk at Manitou
WILLIAMSVILLE - The Manitou Project will hold a special healing walk honoring the Summer Solstice on Friday, June 22, from 4 to 6 p.m., rain or shine.
This meditative walk on Manitou's Sanctuary Trail will be led by Fred Taylor.
The event will include poems or other readings for reflecting on the meaning of the longest day of the year, and participants will be invited to share their feelings about the experience.
Healing walks will be held every second and fourth Friday of each month until October.
For information, contact Taylor at 802-387-2681.
Brattleboro Area Hospice to host summer soirée
WESTMINSTER VILLAGE - Brattleboro Area Hospice will present a garden party event and gathering on Friday, June 22, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., in the gardens of Cyndy Fine, of Genius Loci Ecological Landscape Design, at 3293 Route 5.
The event will feature “the opportunity to explore one of the region's most spectacular summer gardens in full bloom, [and] to appreciate an assortment of short musical pieces, while enjoying light refreshments in great company,” according to a press release.
The event will also offer an informal atmosphere to learn more about the work in the region of Brattleboro Area Hospice and how to get involved. Friends, volunteers and staff of the organization will be available to talk to attendees about their work and what it means to them.
Admission to the event is $30 per person or $50 for two people attending together. Tickets can be purchased online at brattleborohospice.org or at the event.
Proceeds will directly benefit Hospice's programs and services, which are provided free.
Native American pottery on display in Marlboro
MARLBORO - The Southern Vermont Natural History Museum will welcome Andrea Rand, who will speak about Native American pottery on Saturday, June 23, at 4 p.m.
Rand, who has recently moved to Halifax, has a degree in archaeology from Central Connecticut State University and has engaged in post-graduate studies in anthropology at the University of Connecticut.
She has developed a special interest in replicative techniques of coiled pot construction. The presentation will focus on these techniques as used by the prehistoric Native cultures of New England.
Rand will also briefly discuss pottery recovered in Vermont by archaeological excavation and by collectors of Native American artifacts and how these artifacts help the archaeologist to recreate a culture that disappeared thousands of years ago.
For more information or to reserve a seat, contact the museum at 802-464-0048 or [email protected].
Interfaith Pride Service in West Brattleboro
WEST BRATTLEBORO - All are invited to the fourth annual Interfaith Pride Service on Sunday, June 24 at 10 a.m. at the First Congregational Church, 880 Western Ave.
This service is described as “an affirmation and celebration of the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people by LGBTQ people and their allies.”
Participants and guests include members of various faiths, as well as people unaffiliated with any denomination or religious group. All are welcome.
Service host will be Rev. Sandy Daly, the church's bridge pastor.
Reflections will be shared by LGBTQ speakers, who will offer personal experiences and perspectives. Others will read prepared texts, including an account of the Stonewall Inn riots by Dick Leitsch, the first gay journalist to describe what happened during what became a watershed moment in the movement for gay rights and recognition.
Music leaders will include Steve Rice and Rev. Shawn Bracebridge, pastor of Dummerston Congregational Church, who will serve as substitute organist and will accompany the choir on piano.
A union choir from many area faith communities will rehearse at 8:30 a.m. prior to the service. Singers not affiliated with any faith community are welcome to rehearse and sing with this choir.
For more information, call Rice at 802-451-9072.
Halifax Union Society begins summer services
HALIFAX - The Halifax Union Society begins its 2018 season this Sunday, June 24, at 6 p.m., in the church at 44 Stowe Mountain Rd., at the crossroads in Halifax Center.
Members, friends, and guests will unite for non-denominational worship, prayer, discussion, and music on Sunday evenings through Sept. 2.
An in-gathering potluck picnic starting at 4:30 p.m. on the lawn in front of the church will precede the inaugural service of the season.
The Rev. Dr. Marcia Dorey is pastor of the society, and Merrillyn Courser is organist.
All are welcome to attend.
Ice cream social at Vernon Historical Museum
VERNON - To celebrate the arrival of summer, the Vernon Historians and the Southern Vermont Young Professionals will host an old-fashioned ice cream social at the Vernon Historical Museum on Sunday, June 24, from 2 to 4 p.m.
Hand-cranked ice cream will be made and served at no charge, and everyone is welcome.
At the museum this year, an anchor from one of the steamboats that traveled up and down the Connecticut River is on display. The museum will offer information about the steamboats and photos of the ferry that went to and from Hinsdale, N.H.
The museum's main building includes a one-room brick schoolhouse built around 1848. It contains an original schoolroom, farmhouse kitchen, farm tools, local artifacts, and a large collection of photographs.
The adjacent annex building features farm-related equipment and tools, as well as a portion of the last North Vernon Post Office.
For more information, contact Southern Vermont Young Professionals Coordinator Sarah Lang at 802-257-7731 or [email protected].
Putney forum to explore cruelty and punishment
PUTNEY - The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. As a matter of law, the state cannot engage in arbitrary or extreme punishment. As a matter of practice, however, states exert all sorts of cruelty, such as solitary confinement and lethal injection.
Many argue that racial and economic disparity within the criminal justice system violates the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause. How is it constitutional to punish one class of citizens more severely than another class?
On Tuesday, June 26, at 7 p.m., the Putney Public Library, 55 Main St., will resume its series, “Debating Our Rights,” which looks at how the United States Supreme Court has framed the constitutional debate.
With the help of the Putney library trustees, Meg Mott, professor of politics at Marlboro College, has organized the series, which provides opportunities for community members to debate constitutional issues.
The series will continue on the last Tuesday of each month through the summer.
For more information, contact the library at 802- 387-4407.
Prouty Center seeks to 'Raise the Roof' for Bookmobile
BRATTLEBORO - The boxy, green-and-purple Early Learning Express Bookmobile (ELE) is traveling the hills and byways of Windham County, bringing puppets, stories, songs, and a library of books to almost 40 early-care and learning programs.
The beloved and effective program enhances early literacy skills, delivering arts inspiration and the joy of reading to more than 500 children and adults each year.
As the ELE begins its second summer as a program of the Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development, the center is seeking funds to renovate a new home for it on the Prouty campus.
Donations can be made online at winstonprouty.org or mailed to Winston Prouty Center, 209 Austine Drive, Brattleboro, VT 05301.
All donors to this effort will be recognized with a listing inside the new space.
Lions 'Poker Walk' raises $600 for the Deerfield Valley Food Pantry
WILMINGTON - Incoming Whitingham-Halifax Lions president Mark Hanna recently presented a check for $600 to the Deerfield Valley Food Pantry on behalf of Vermont Lions Charities.
Funds were raised at the annual Vermont Lions Convention at Mount Snow with a one-mile Darby Poker Walk, where “fun and silly hats were made and worn by participating Lions from across the state of Vermont, including a 92-year-old participant,” according to a press release.
Hunger relief is one of five areas of focus for Lions - the largest service organization in the world - internationally and at home in local communities.
The Whitingham-Halifax club seeks new members for community volunteer service in the Deerfield Valley. Last month, the Food Pantry helped 92 area families, for a total of 210 people.
For more information, contact Hanna at 802-368-2601 or [email protected].