Windham County Action Network (WeCAN)

This past Saturday marked the second international weekend devoted to science this month: The People's Climate March. Again, so many thanks to all those who traveled, marched, participated in, and supported Climate Science this weekend. The Earth thanks you, and your fellow humans thank you! 

In the spirit of Climate Science education, here are 5 immediate actions you can take to limit your carbon footprint:

• Eat locally-produced and organic food. It has been estimated that 13% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions result from the production and transport of food. Transporting food requires petroleum-based fuels, and many fertilizers are also fossil fuel-based.
• Cut the beef and dairy. It takes a lot of resources to raise cows, and it’s especially bad if you buy beef from somewhere like Brazil, where it was grazed on land that used to be tropical forest but was cleared for agricultural use. Deforestation is a top contributor to carbon emissions and thus climate change.
• Water usage. Lower the amount of energy used to pump, treat, and heat water by washing your car less often, using climate-appropriate plants in your garden, installing drip irrigation so that plants receive only what they need, and making water-efficient choices when purchasing shower heads, faucet heads, toilets, dishwashers and washing machines.
• Driving style. Speeding and unnecessary acceleration reduce mileage by up to 33%, waste gas and money, and increase your carbon footprint.
• Avoid traffic. Being stuck in traffic wastes gas and unneccessarily creates CO2. Use traffic websites and apps and go a different way or wait.

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Happening Today, April 30th, 2017

Let's Get Ready! Community Prep for May Day March for Dignity
hosted by Lost River Racial Justice's Ready Response Team
Sunday, April 30th, 2017 at the The Root Social Justice Center (The Whetstone Studio for the Arts, 28 Williams St., Brattleboro, VT). 7pm-9pm.
Facebook event page
Contact [email protected] with questions. 

May Day is coming! A contingent from Southern VT will be heading up to Burlington to March for Dignity with Migrant Justice, the Vermont Workers' Center, and many other community organizations. In Vermont we show up in the streets on May Day (International Workers' Day) knowing that rights for all workers includes rights for our most vulnerable workers: we resist Trump's attacks on our communities and demand that Ben and Jerry's fully implement the Milk With Dignity program developed by migrant dairy workers as they promised to do two years ago. 

Please join Lost River Racial Justice's Ready Response team to make signs, educate ourselves about Migrant Justice, and get geared up with other community members for the next day's March for Dignity. We'll provide art and sign-making supplies (feel free to bring more of your own). There will also be a brief teach-in and opportunity to sign petions regarding two pieces of legislation that Migrant Justice helped create: Fair and Impartial Policing and the Racial Justice Reform Bill. Whether or not you can make it to Burlington on Monday, this is a great way to support the March. 
The Root Social Justice Center is wheelchair accessible and is a fragrance free and nut free space--please come accordingly. Children are welcome. 
May Day March for Dignity event page
Windham County May Day carpool form


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Swing Left Meeting
Sunday, April 30th, 2017 at the Hooker-Dunham Theatre (139 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301) at 2pm.
There is an alley next to the Hooker-Dunham building and if you go down the stairs you’ll be at the door of the theatre.
Agenda includes updates on Swing Left activities in Amherst, MA to support NH-02 and NY-19 Democratic congressional candidates, plans from Knock on Every Door regarding canvassing training, and support activities for House candidates in Special Elections.

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This Week's Events 
Monday, May 1st, 2017- Sunday, May 7th, 2017

May Day March for Dignity! / ¡Marcha para La Dignidad! 
Monday, May 1st, 2017 at The Federal Building (259 N. Winooski Ave, Burlington, VT). 12pm - 1pm.
Sponsored by the Vermont Human Rights Council: Migrant Justice, Vermont Worker's Center, 350VT, Green Mountain Self-Advocates, VT Center for Independent Living, VT Interfaith Action, UE, United Academics, Pride Center, Rising Tide Vermont, Green Mountain Central Labor Council
March to Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop to demand they implement the Milk With Dignity Program as promised nearly 2 years ago. A rally at the Federal Building to lift up Vermont voices and campaigns will follow. 

Meet at the Migrant Justice/ VT Worker's Center at 12pm and we leave at 1pm sharp to march through the Old North End to Ben & Jerry's scoop shop to demand they implement the Milk with Dignity Program as promised nearly 2 years ago! (feel free to meet at us at 1:30pm at UU Church if you can't join earlier). Then we march and rally at the Federal Building (next to post office) demonstrating our unity and dignity in the face of Trump's hate and division--lifting up Vermont voices and campaigns in resistance to Trump's attacks on our communities.This is especially crucial in the face of ICE arrests of migrant workers in Vermont. Carpools or vans from Brattleboro may be available. For more info or to sign up for a carpool or van ride please email [email protected] or call 802-257-4436. You can view the event online here: Facebook Event .

This is especially crucial in the face of ICE arrests of migrant workers in Vermont. Carpools or vans from Brattleboro may be available. For more info or to sign up for a carpool or van ride please email [email protected] or call 802-257-4436. You can view the event online here: Facebook Event .


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Brattleboro Selectboard Meeting
RE: Pass a Resolution for Compassion in Brattleboro
Tuesday, May 2nd, 2017 at the Municipal Center (230 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301) on the 2nd Floor, in Suite 212 at 6:15pm .
The resolution will most likely be addressed at 7:30pm.
The building is handicap accessible.
For questions please contact [email protected].
Please join us as the Brattleboro Selectboard passes a resolution for compassion in Brattleboro. We hope to have a strong physical presence to support the town moving forward with compassion. In that spirit, please be respectful of other agenda items and the select board procedures. Full text of the proposed resolution will be available prior to the meeting on the town website. A draft is available by contacting the above email. 


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Awake, A Dream From Standing Rock
sponsored by 350 Brattleboro 
Wednesday, May 3rd, 2017 at Marlboro Graduate Center, (28 Vernon St, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 7pm to 9pm. 
RSVP here.

Directed in 3 chapters and a coda, the feature length documentary is directed by Academy Award nominated filmmaker and activist Josh Fox (Gasland, How To Let Go Of The World And Learn To Love Everything Climate Can’t Change), Academy Award nominated filmmaker James Spione (Incident In New Baghdad) and indigenous filmmaker and Digital Smoke Signals founder Myron Dewey. 
The film tells the dramatic story of the historic #NODAPL native-led peaceful resistance at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, which captured the world’s attention as one of the biggest stories of 2016. Tens of thousands of activists traveled from all over to stand in solidarity with the water protectors  protesting the construction of the 3.7 billion dollar Dakota Access Pipeline, which is purposed to transport fracked oil from North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields through sovereign land, under the Missouri River, the water source for the Standing Rock reservation and 17 million people downstream. 
The world watched in horror as militarized local police and private security teams confronted the water protectors and journalists with military grade sound cannons, rubber bullets, tear gas, water hoses, and violent arrests and weaponized dogs. President Trump has approved DAPL, but the fight continues on. Standing Rock awakened the nation and has forever changed the way we fight for clean water, the environment and the future of our planet. 
“The battle that began at Standing Rock is a battle for the soul of America itself, and it is far from over. This film is part of the rallying cry for indigenous sovereignty and clean water that has resonated across the globe. It has been a great honor and privilege to work with people from Standing Rock, like Floris White Bull and Douglas Good Feather, who have guided this project every step of the way,” says Fox the project creator.

Speakers include:
• Rose Gardner from Sierra Club in Texas, a resident of a community impacted by both a Texas low-level waste dump and a proposed site for HLNW in Andrews County, Texas
• Kevin Kamps with Beyond Nuclear will address the vulnerabilities of on-site storage of HLNW and federal policy; 
• Deb Katz with Citizens Awareness Network will address the issues of NorthStar, decommissioning, and hardened onsite storage at nuclear reactors. What is needed is a scientifically sound and environmentally just solution to this monstrous problem.
Contact: Leslie Sullivan Sachs [email protected].


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Haitian Orphanage Benefit Extravaganza
sponsored by Haiti Orphanage Sponsorship Trust
Saturday, May 6th, 2017 at 118 Elliot (118 Elliot Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301).  5pm-10pm.
Family-friendly celebration to benefit Foyer Evangelique Orphanage in Haiti, featuring Kevin O’Keefe's One-Man Circus in-a-Suitcase starting at 5pm, dinner by Tito's Taqueria, and music and dancing with M’bolo, a Senegalese Rock and Afro-Pop Band starting at 8pm. Suggested donation $10-$20 adults, $7 children. Under 2 free. Tickets online at Eventbrite, at Everyone’s Books in Brattleboro, or at the door. Info: [email protected]

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Cross Class Dialogue Circle
Sunday, May 7th, May 21st, and June 4th, 2017 (participation all 3 days is required) at The Root Social Justice Center (The Whetstone Studio for the Arts, 28 Williams Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 9am-3pm.
Childcare and transportation available, light refreshments provided, and wheelchair accessible. This event is fragrance free.
The dialogue circle is funded through a cost-sharing process. 
Cross-class dialogue circles are a powerful way for people across the class spectrum to come together to talk about their experiences with class, listen to each others’ stories and perspectives, better understand class as part of an economic system, and then to work together as change makers for economic justice. Sign-up today!


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The Putney Huddle
Sunday, May 7th, 2017 at the Putney Public Library (55 Main St, Putney, VT 05346). 1:30pm-3:30pm. 

Schedule

1:30-2:00 The steering committee will share.  
2:00-2:30 Faisal Gill, the chair for the Vermont Democratic party will speak and take questions. 
2:30-3:30 Sister District leaders will hold an info and brainstorming session.

Please use our Facebook Event page to RSVP: 
https://www.facebook.com/events/1868928896683659/?ti=cl or email Laura at [email protected].

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Climate Change Café: A Community of Concerned Citizens 
presents
SOS: Secret of the Seasons
(The Original Global Climate Change Co-Opera)
co-sponsored by Post Oil Solutions and Green Up SIT 
Sunday, May 7th, 2017 at the Brooks Memorial Library  (224 Main St, Brattleboro, VT, 05301) in the Main Room. 5:30pm. Free. Light refreshments available.
Based on songs written by SIT Professor John Ungerleider and Bill Conley, the SOS co-opera is a reflective, participatory musical journey that engages the audience with the external and internal challenges that global climate change is bringing to our lives. 
Audience dialogue between thought provoking songs is designed to move participants from Fear and Denial to Hope and Action in response to the threat of global warming.
The title song asks about the local impact of climate change:  “Will it still feel like my home, when the leaves don’t turn to red and gold, and the ice doesn’t cover the fishin’ hole?” 
More more information please call 802.869.2141 or email [email protected].

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Black Lives Matter VT Organizing Meeting
Monday, May 8th, 2017 at The Root Social Justice Center (The Whetstone Studio for the Arts, 28 Williams Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 6pm-8pm.

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A Study Group
sponsored by Brattleboro Solidarity
Tuesdays, May 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th, 2017 at Flat Iron Cafe (51 Square, Bellows Falls, VT, 05101). 5pm-7:30pm. Bread and soup will be served. We are asking people to commit to all of the dates listed. Readings will be sent ahead of time. Free and open to the public. 
The social construction of "race" as a way to divide people is as old as the founding of the United States. Today we are seeing an escalation of ICE raids, escalation of wars, police killings and white supremacist attacks on people of color that are directly related to the construction of whiteness. It is imperative  we continue to expand our knowledge of the history of race in this country in order to fight the supremacy in our society. Brattleboro Solidarity will be hosting a study group to expand our understanding of the  historical divisions along race and class lines in the U.S as a tool for economic exploitation.

Please sign-up by contacting [email protected] or calling 802-380-1463. Visit our Facebook Event and help spread the word. 

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Black Lives Matter VT Fundraiser & Membership Drive
Thursday, May 11th, 2017 at The Lounge (4 High St, Brattleboro, VT 05301.) 5pm-8pm.

Games, prizes, BLM T-shirts, posters, stickers, buttons and more for sale.

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Teaming with Microbes Seminar
Monday, May 15th, 2017- May 16th, 2017 at Lake Morey Resort (1 Clubhouse Rd, Fairlee, VT, 05045).
Eventbrite Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/teaming-with-microbes-soil-seminar-with-nicole-masters-didi-pershouse-tickets-33557437198
New Zealand Agro-ecologist Nicole Masters is on a teaching tour throughout the US and Canada this Spring and we are lucky to have her for two full days in Vermont.
Its all about your underground livestock!
Farmers, gardeners, environmental policy makers, and conservation folks: take your understanding to the next level, with this dynamic soil class, taught byNicole Masters from Integrity Soils and Didi Pershouse from the Soil Carbon Coalition. Learn practical tools and concepts to maximize nutrient cycling whilst lifting soil, plant and/or animal performance. Learn soil's important role in climate resilience and public health.
We will spend the first day overlooking the beautiful Lake Morey, (swimming anyone?) and the second day getting our hands in the soil in a variety of settings to see these principles in action.

Schedule:

Day 1: The Hidden Life of Soils

•Deepen your understanding of soil health and soil microbes

•The vital role of soil microbes in building farm and climate resilience

•What do microbe groups do in the soil?

•How can you feed the good guys?

•Learn how to make a lacto-bacillus serum for your farm

Day 2: Field Day

•Visual assessments for health in a variety of management settings

•Keys that biologically mediated water, carbon and nitrogen cycles are working optimally.

•Learn how to "read your weeds" and take actions to reduce pressure from weeds.

•How to track changes and share successes in soil health with an open-source map databasehttps://atlasbiowork.com/

Cost $225. A wonderful warm lunch buffet is included on the first day. Spaces are limited.
It is strongly recommended to come for both days, but you may sign up for just one. (Day one alone is $165, Day two is $75.)
You can save us some hefty ticket fees by reserving through the mail. Send an email to[email protected] to let us know you are coming and then send a check directly to Didi Pershouse, PO Box 277, Thetford Center, VT 05075, Please note that your space is not reserved until we receive payment.
Some scholarships may be available: Email [email protected] with a couple of sentences about your situation and how much you can afford to pay. We will let you know as funds become available.
We will have a few spaces available for sponsors/vendors to set up tables on Monday.
For questions, or to reserve a table as a sponsor/vendor, contact Didi at [email protected]and/or Taylor at [email protected]
For rooms at Lake Morey Resort call 800-423-1211, or email: [email protected]

About the Presenters:

Nicole Masters is an agro-ecologist, educator and systems thinker with over 18 years’ extensive practical and theoretical experience in regenerative/holistic farming practices. She has been communicating these methods throughout Australasia and North America since 2003; helping to inspire and guide farmers in innovative ways to produce food.

Nicole has a commitment to finding win-win solutions for the wellbeing of landscapes and landmanagers. She has a proven record in supporting producers in meeting their goals through a holistic approach to soil and pasture management. As a seasoned consultant, Nicole excels at identifying and solving challenges through proactive management. Her passion for fostering the growth of these farming practices calls upon her skills in facilitation, conflict resolution, an understanding of behavioural change and science communication.

Didi Pershouse is a cross-pollinator, helping to connect the dots between soil health and human health. She is the author of The Ecology of Care: Medicine, Agriculture, Money, and the Quiet Power of Human and Microbial Communities. As the founder of the Center for Sustainable Medicine, she developed a practice and theoretical framework for systems-based ecological medicine—restoring health to people as well as the social and ecological systems around them. 

After 22 years of clinical work with patients, she is now working with the Soil Carbon Coalition on a large-scale citizen-science program that engages schools, conservation districts, farmers, and the public in understanding the intersections between soil, water, public health, and climate resiliency. She teaches workshops and develops learning resources on whole systems landscape function—in particular how to measure, understand, and work with the carbon and water cycles that make life on this planet possible. Her work models strategies to build resilient networks of mutual listening, learning, self-care, and support as a way to drive environmental and social change.

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Community in Action 
sponsored by SEVCA (Southeastern Vermont Community Action)
Thursday, May 25th, 2017 at the Fraternal Order of Eagles (54 Chickering Dr, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 5pm-8pm. 

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Rising with Roots: Courage, Conviction, and Community in this Beautiful, Teetering Time
a Joanna Macy inspired retreat
Friday, June 2nd, 2017 - Wednesday, June 7th, 2017 at Hallelujah Farm (98-42 Bradley Rd, Chesterfield, NH, 03443). Registration due by May 1st, 2017. Cost varies and is on a sliding scale: Please click here for more information or to register. 

Sign-ups now open for Joanna Macy-inspired retreat in June. Facilitated by Kirstin Edelglass and colleagues. Scholarships available for young adults (ages 18-30) who want to be part of the fourth Earth Leadership Cohort. That cohort will begin by participating in this multi-generational "Rising with Roots" retreat and then have additional trainings in facilitating the Work That Reconnects. For more information please visit http://interhelpnetwork.org/elcivprogamdescription-docx



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LOOKING AHEAD

Naomi Klein Study/Action Group 

a Post Oil Solutions project
Summer/Fall 2017
Post Oil Solutions is  organizing a study/action group on Naomi Klein’s latest book No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump's Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need, that will be published on June 13, 2017. We will begin the study/action group in September so as to avoid the inevitable interruptions of the summer months when people are generally away or otherwise occupied with gardens, and all kinds of summer fun.

A website for No Is Not Enough says the book “reveals, among other things, how Trump's election was not a peaceful transition, but a corporate takeover, one using deliberate shock tactics to generate wave after wave of crises and force through radical policies that will destroy people, the environment, the economy, and national security. This book is the toolkit for shock resistance, showing all of us how we can break Trump's spell and win the world we need.”

If you are interested in being a part of this study/action group, please consider the following suggestions:

•Definitely let me know by return e-mail ([email protected]) ASAP.

•Include in your message the early evenings of those days of the week that generally work best for you.

•This group would meet every other week on the evening and at the time that is finally agreed upon.

•I’m looking for no more than 12 participants; if more than that number express interest, I will try to organize a 2nd group.

•Put your order in now at Everyone’s Books for a copy; perhaps begin reading over the Summer.

•I will create a mailing list of interested parties and send updates about the the study/action group as it develops.

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STANDING REGULAR MEETINGS

350Brattleboro Regular Meetings
1st and 3rd Wednesdays (Leadership Team) in the Brattleboro Food Co-op Community Room (1 Canal Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 6pm-8pm.

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Your Friendly WeCAN Admins,
Ann and Joanna