Windham County Action Network (WeCAN)

This Memorial Day Weekend we at WeCAN would like to take this opportunity to invite you to hold a moment of silence in honor of those that have given their all for this country. May we continue to strive to make them proud. 

Thank you.

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HAPPENING TODAY, SUNDAY, MAY 28TH, 2017

A Vermont Climate Movement Strategy Retreat
Saturday, May 27th, 2017 - Sunday, May 28th, 2017 at Common Ground Retreat Center (473 Tatro Road, Starksboro, VT). 
If you need a ride, please click HERE.
We understand if you can’t make it, and of course may not belong to a social justice organization. Please fill out this survey whether you plan to come to the retreat or not.  We want to know where you see strategic opportunities for our movement.

WHO
We are asking people who are doing social justice and organizing work regularly, and who see climate to be a key issue,  to be the participants for the initial stages of strategy development. We apologize for the late invitation. We realized that we need to open this retreat up more broadly than originally intended. Childcare and lively conversation will be provided. Please come.

WHAT
We will collectively identify opportunities to build a movement for justice and a stable climate.
The first day will be spent on goals, mapping projects, and discussing coordination structure. The second day will be spent building a plan to plug people and resources into each project, and into a structure that can keep our goals on track. We then expect to implement our strategy together, and to evaluate and renew it with allies at a set date in the future.
While critical dialog and analysis will be central to our time together, this is not an invite to a debate. We are asking people to help design cooperative plans and help execute them. We hope you or someone you work with can make it. Please register by filling out the survey.

GOALS
To create a cooperative climate movement strategy for Vermont, growing the Vermont Climate Movement as a whole, and ideally building towards a broader, democratic mass social movement.

Movement Strategy
By movement strategy we mean mutually assessing the problem, setting clear goals for addressing it, and building a work plan for reaching those goals in a collaborative,  growing network. The climate justice organizing community must agree about goals, tactics, and a cooperative implementation plan or we undermine united struggle and fail to play to our key strength, our collective power.

Your Hosts
This invite is from an independent coordinating collective of organizers from Central Vermont Climate Action, 350VT, Rising Tide Vermont, Upper Valley Affinity Group, and the Make. We began this project out of our work with the Stop the Pipeline Coalition, which has spent the past four years fighting Phase 1 of the Addison County Pipeline. The coalition met this month to assess our work in the Phase 1 campaign, our collectively learned lessons, and our network of strong relationships. In designing a strategy retreat for our coalition, we recognized that we feel strongly that an effective strategy requires coordination with all potential partners.
Whether you are new to climate change and climate justice work or have been involved for a long time, we would appreciate your input.
Thanks for being in the fight with us!

In Solidarity,
The Strategy Coordinating Committee
Rebecca, Hambone, Lyndsay, Erok, Maeve, Brian, and Karen
Contact us at [email protected].


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HAPPENING THIS WEEK - MONDAY, MAY 29TH, 2017 - SUNDAY, JUNE 4TH, 2017

Unsung Hero Awards
Wednesday, May 31st, 2017 at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden (157 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 12:00pm-1:30pm.
Please join us as the Brattleboro Area Interfaith Initiative presents its second Brattleboro Area Unsung Hero Awards on Wednesday May 31 from Noon to 1:30pm at the River Garden on Main Street in Brattleboro. 
The recipients are:
Shela Linton, co-founder of the Root Social Justice Center, and
Jennifer Mazur, president of Marlboro Cares, former director of the Infant-Child Guidance Program
Both recipients have more than fulfilled the criteria for the award; selfless and valuable service to citizens of Brattleboro and/or surrounding towns; humility; and a lack of community awareness of these accomplishments.
The Facebook event is here. For questions or comments, please email [email protected].

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Protest Vigils at TD Bank
sponsored by Post Oil Solutions

Brattleboro
Friday, June 2, 2017 (and every Friday) in front of TD Bank Brattleboro (215 Main St, Brattleboro, VT 05301). Noon-1pm. Signs will be provided.

Bellows Falls
Friday, June 2 (and every Friday) in front of the TD Bank Bellows Falls (2 Church St, Bellows Falls, VT 05101). 1pm-2pm. Please bring your own signs.
TD is a major investor in Tar Sands. TD helps to fund the Dakota Access Pipeline. The State of Vermont Keeps Most of Our Cash in TD.
What You Can You Do (besides attending the vigils):
If you’re a TD depositor, change banks!
If you’re a Vermonter, demand that state funds not be deposited with a bank investing in fossil fuels.
Contact your state legislators to support the bills in the House & Senate calling for a commission to explore the possibility of a State Bank. 
Founded in 2005, Post Oil Solutions is a 501c3 community organizing project in Southeastern Vermont whose mission is to help empower the people of the Central Connecticut River Valley bioregion to develop sustainable, resilient , collaborative, and socially just communities leading to a self- and community-sufficient post petroleum society. For more information please contact [email protected] or 802.869.2141 

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Musical Vigil Friday
sponsored by Song & Solidarity
Friday, June 2nd, 2017 at Gallery Walk (Pliny Plaza, Corner of High Street and Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 6pm.
Song & Solidarity will host a sing at the start of Gallery Walk, Friday, June 2, at 6 p.m. at Pliny Park to welcome summer and sing for better times. We  may be joined by guitarist and singer/songwriter Peter Siegel, a member of The Gaslight Tinkers.
There is a simple reason why song has always played a role in the struggle for freedom, equality, and justice: it works. So we sing, as have so many who have come before us. An ad hoc Brattleboro organization, Song & Solidarity is about sustaining our hearts and minds and spirits for the civic marathon we find ourselves in,  about keeping our spirits up so we can push harder.

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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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Special Film Viewing
Waking the Sleeping Giant: The Making of a Political Revolution 
Saturday, June 3rd, 2017 at the Latchis Theater (50 Main St, Brattleboro, VT,05301). 4:00 pm. 
The film will premier in Burlington May 26th, 2017 and recently got a rave review by Jay Craven on Vermont Public Radio. 
Waking the Sleeping Giant: The Making of a Political Revolution is the story of the attempt to build a 21st century progressive movement in the United States. Five remarkable individuals wrestle with persistent racial injustice, growing economic inequality, and the corrupting influence of money in politics that shaped this extraordinary election cycle.
From the presidential campaign trail with Senator Bernie Sanders to a local political race in the failing economy of rural West Virginia, from a mass sit-in on the U.S. Capitol steps to racially charged police commission hearings in Los Angeles, Waking the Sleeping Giant makes sense of this singular moment in American politics, probing the widespread discontent of the past two years, Donald Trump’s dramatic electoral victory, and the challenges ahead for those hoping to build a reenergized progressive movement.
More information on the film can be found here: http://wakingthesleepinggiant.com/.

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Going Sane
sponsored by the Hive Mutual Support Network
Saturday, June 3rd, 2017 at The Root Social Justice Center (The Whetstone Studio for the Arts, 28 Williams Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). First Floor. 5pm-7pm. 
Please feel free to bring a dish to share (or not!) and your appetite (or not!)  Remember that the Root is a fragrance-free, peanut-free space.

Pamela Spiro Wagner, a Brattleboro resident, will be featured at the Hive Mutual Support Network's monthly potluck to present "Going Sane" -- her multimedia account of how, nearly broken by the treatments and sadistic brutalities accorded her as an inpatient in hospital after hospital, and labelled as hardened and hopeless, she gave the mental health system the "fork you" finger and emerged on the other side, no longer "just another mental patient" but a whole human being.
Read Pam's full bio, publications, and awards at the Hive website.
RSVP and share the Facebook event page. 
Please feel free to bring a dish to share (or not!) and your appetite (or not!)  Remember that the Root is a fragrance-free, peanut-free space.

"FORK YOU, PSYCHIATRY" by Pamela Spiro Wagner




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"So, you went to the Climate March. Now what?”
Wednesday, June 7th, 2017 at the Brattleboro Food Co-op Community Room (2 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 
6pm to 8pm. 
A Conversation about Climate Action, Campaigns and Community.Get together with 350 Brattleboro and your fellow marchers to find out about how to get involved with climate action campaigns and build a stronger community. Whether you marched in D.C., rallied in Montpelier, or wanted to march but weren't able to you're welcome to join us and build the better world we know is possible.
RSVP here.
Questions? Email [email protected].


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Brattleboro Area Community Action Meeting 
sponsored by Rights and Democracy
Thursday, June 8th, 2017 in the Community Room at the Brattleboro Food Co-op (2 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 6:30pm. 

Please use the entrance at 7 Canal Street to access the Community Room. 

Help create plans for our “Democracy Summer”series of town hall meetings across the state to keep folks engaged and propel our movement forward. *Please note that this represents a change from the previously announced time slot on Thursday, May 25th in order to avoid a conflict with the COMMUNITY IN ACTION event being hosted by SEVCA at the Eagles Lodge on Putney Rd that day from 5-8pm. RAD will be staffing a table at this event, and we hope folks can make it.

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Lost River/BLM VT-South Organizing Meeting
Monday, June 12th, 2017 at The Root Social Justice Center (The Whetstone Studio for the Arts, 28 Williams Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). First Floor. 6pm-8pm.
Fragrance and nut-free space, please! 

For childcare contact [email protected]

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Small Steps To Save The Planet, Recycling The Rain
Friday, June 16th, 2017 at the Congregational Church of Westminster West (44 Church St., Westminster VT, 05346). 
5pm-6:30pm.
On June 16th Jan Lambert will present a free program on how we manage the rain falling on human-altered landscapes: farms, forests, and developed areas. She has developed a course of study beginning with the presentation June 16th, to be followed by more in-depth monthly workshops every third Friday. This will be an interactive course for community movers and shakers who want to spread the word and the practices!
The first program is free and will include a chance for you to purchase the required text if needed, and also to give her feedback on what you would like to learn more about in depth. These additional courses will stand alone, so you can pick and choose, once you have received the basics through the intro program. The topic of such future programs will be made available to you after the first program, but the first ones will likely be on Michal Kravcik ’s check dam projects, rain gardens, and the like so you can take advantage of the information during the summer. Later, towards the cold season we can get more into the history, science, and philosophy behind the New Water Paradigm. She is asking for a $10 donation for sessions after June 16th. For more info on this course, contact Jan Lambert:  [email protected] 
The Living Earth Action Group meets every Friday  5-6pm at the Congregational Church of  Westminster  West. To receive email notices and newsletters for Living Earth Action Group, contact [email protected]

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Save the Date:
Racial Justice Fundraiser 
Saturday, July 29th, 2017 at Super Fresh Organic Cafe (30 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 6:30pm-8:30pm.
Live Music

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SKILLED VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY


Childcare as a Radical Act: Sign up to Provide Childcare! 
The Family Solidarity Action Network is moving forward with their next big effort to support families in local activism: a collective of folks to provide childcare for local activist meetings or events. If you or someone you know would be able and willing to offer childcare (as a volunteer, or paid) for meetings and events please fill out this spreadsheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YGVI8wECe4ZDdghtAG147j7ktwgB_J5ZoWUPkwGrOhM/edit#gid=0

We are looking for people young and old with varying degrees of experience.  Having a large pool of people to call on will make it much easier for organizers to arrange childcare for meetings, allowing for more voices of families with young children to participate in local activism!  We will then be making this list available to other local organizations so we can be sure that childcare doesn't have to be a barrier to participation for anyone. 


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ONGOING SUMMER EVENTS

Vigil at TD Bank in Montpelier
sponsored by the Upper Valley Affinity Group
The Second Thursday of Each Month Through the Summer and Fall. At the Corner of State and Main Streets in Montpelier, VT. 
11:30am-1pm.
Ride share from Exit 5 off I91N. Departs at 10am. Contact Tim at 802.869.2141 or bereal@vermontel,net.
Come and stay as long as you can to peacefully protest TDBank’s huge investments in climate and water destroying pipeline infrastructure.
Urge the State of Vermont and other depositors to close their TDBank accounts.
Support moving swiftly to 100% renewable energy and a state bank for Vermont.
We will be bearing witness and distributing fact sheets about TD's extensive financial support for pipelines.
Bring a sign, bring your friends, bring your neighbors, bring your lunch
or just come and join us by yourself.
For more information contact Duncan Nichols at 802.281.2692 or [email protected].

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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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 VOLUNTEER AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT OPPORTUNITIES

Sister District 
SisterDisrict is an organization that connects you with your local home district team to work on Sister Races in Virginia, Washington State, and Georgia. The goal? To turn Red states Blue. Support these critical races by donating to them and sharing about them on social media.  Or, get in on the fun by joining your local district team for even more action items! 

Here is an update from the Vermont district team:

SisterDistrict Soup
We have made a few changes to our SisterDistrict Soup project and will be offering a monthly soup subscription to benefit either SisterDistrict directly or our current candidate (subscriber's choice). 

Please help us by sharing this link with friends and family who may be interested in subscribing or volunteering to help make or sell soup: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfU1Vv1oJRgTBATJ8TTp8vHUaGFIz0coVCVe28gYVOrK9K-BQ/viewform?c=0&w=1 (NOTE: for more information please email [email protected])
In addition to raising money to help get our nation onto a better trajectory, we are also committed to providing you the most delicious and locally-sourced soup that we can. Vegetarian, gluten- and dairy-free options will be available. There is no reason that you can't eat well and resist at the same time!


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We wish you and yours a safe Memorial Day weekend and a warm start to the Summer season. We look forward to seeing you at an event this week!

Your Friendly WeCAN Admins,
Ann and Joanna 


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