Weekly Email Update 1.3.22
“And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.”
Rainer Maria Rilke
Austrian poet and novelist, widely recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets. He is celebrated for his depth of insight and timeless relevance and is one of the most well-known poets of the 20th Century.
We hope you are all enjoying this foggy first weekend of 2022, WeCAN readers. We are still taking a bit of time for ourselves with our families and friends (as we hope you are, too), so let's get right to it! Below you can find events happening this week, in and around Windham County. Happy New Year!
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HAPPENING THIS WEEK:
MONDAY, JANUARY 3rd, 2022-SUNDAY, JANUARY 9th, 2022
Vermont Food Bank’s Veggie Van Go Upcoming Schedule
The First and Third Mondays of Every Month in the parking lot across the street from the main entrance to Brattleboro Union High School (131 Fairground Road, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 10am-11am.
Veggie Van Go is a program through the Vermont Foodbank that gives out free produce and local food for people to take home.
January 3rd, 2022
Important information:
- Drive through model- please stay in your vehicles
- If you are walking there: see a Vermont Foodbank associate but please make sure to stay 6 feet back.
- There are no income requirements, registration or paperwork to participate
- You do not need to be present to get food: you may ask someone to pick up on your family's behalf.
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First Wednesdays: Atlantic is a Sea of Bones
underwritten by The Samara Fund for LGBTQ Issues and sponsored by The Friends of the Brooks Memorial Library
Wednesday, January 5th, 2022, Online. 7pm.
To register, visit here: https://www.vermonthumanities.org/.../atlantic-is-a-sea.../
Jarvis Green, founder of the Black theatre company JAG Productions, invites us to reflect individually and collectively on the afterlives and the legacies of the transatlantic slave trade. Green will explore how Black queer and feminist artists have created ways to honor this history and heal ancestral trauma.
About JAG Productions
JAG Productions creates spaces of engagement and of creation that allow us to honor the history of the transatlantic slave trade, heal ancestral trauma, and open new visions and possibilities for Black life and the Black Atlantic.
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Guilford Cares FoodPantry
Thursday, January 6th, 2022 at the Guilford Fairgrounds (163 Fairground Rd, Guilford, VT 05301). 3pm-4pm. NOTE THE TIME CHANGE!
If you have questions, concerns or would like to donate groceries or monetary gifts please contact Pat Haine 802-257-0626. For additional questions or more information call 802 579 1350 or email [email protected].
Guilford Cares Food Pantry has moved! The Pantry has moved to the First Aid building at the Guilford Fairgrounds. We will be fully stocked with all our usual grocery items.
The Fairgrounds are on Fairground Road, just off Weatherhead Hollow Road. From Guilford Center Road turn onto Weatherhead Hollow Road. Travel 1.7 miles down the road. The Fairgrounds are on the left and there will be a sign directing you up the hill for about .2 miles. The red building is on the left with a sign out in front. Please remain in your car; we’ll greet you, and give you a shopping list as we have been doing for the past year.
If the Pantry will be closed for any unexpected reason, the closure will be announced on WKVT, WTSA, and Front Porch Forum.
If you cannot come to the Pantry due to illness or high risk, you can call also call Pat to arrange for food delivery by a volunteer.
We know that supplemental food can make such a big difference in one's budget. That is why we are stocking our shelves for our neighbors. All are welcome to come and take home fresh produce, staples, meat, dairy.
Guilford Cares welcomes anyone in need of supplemental food for themselves or their families.
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Police Reform is Derailed: Let’s Restart
hosted by Brattleboro Common Sense
Friday, January 7th, 2022, Online. 2:30pm.
Register in advance by emailing [email protected].
Police reform has been derailed. The community safety committee is disbanded. What about police with guns in our schools ? What about civilian control and supervision ? Let’s talk about civilian-led police reform.
Facing an angry public and the threat of a budget referendum after the murder of George Floyd, the selectboard formed the community safety committee. This was to be a civilian committee composed entirely of residents, especially people at risk, and explicitly excluding police, modeling civilian authority over police. The committee produced a report with 41 recommendations. Amid glowing praise at the January 19 selectboard meeting member Brandie Starr asked for a motion to approve the full committee report. Unfortunately no one noticed that instead of a motion to approve the whole report, they voted to send the report to town staff for more information. "Town Staff" turned out to mean police chief Mark Carignan. In March the report was again heaped with praise and staff submitted an "implementation table". The town manager said the whole report should be approved as one proposal. But the “table” rejects key recommendations of the committee and requires more information again, this time from people with lived experience. In August the board unveiled Elwell's memo that attempts to explain the differences between the recommendations and the implementation table.
At the December 14 board meeting Mr. Elwell gave the re-revised “table” back to the board for their quick approval. They did a two-toe shuffle and rubber-stamped the rejections without a public hearing. The board cut out the public and gave control of the issue to the police. This was supposed to be a civilian-led process.
While discussing the proposal by Brattleboro Common Sense that police not carry guns at public meetings, school presentations, etc. Town manager Elwell said Brattleboro’s meetings are dangerous because people are considering controversial issues, and so, the police need guns to protect themselves. Two people asked for evidence about these dangerous meetings, but he avoided the question, and a while later member Dan Quipp said that people were talking too much about the BCS SAFE Policing plan. Despite the specific purposes of the committee about safety and feeling of safety among the people, the concern of many officials has been the safety and feelings of the police. Selectperson Tim Wessel dissed the committee and promoted the "Blue Lives Matter" trope in comments in the Reformer January 19, also with praise.
Give-em the old Razzle Dazzle: Razzle-dazzle-em !! like this: police need their guns in schools and meetings because there is no evidence that police need guns in schools and meetings. The committee report has been juggled and shuffled, rejected in parts and praised to the skies. The motion to approve the whole report is a motion to approve some of the report. The police are under civilian oversight and the civilian committee is under police review. Selectboard Zoom meetings keep everyone muted. If someone wants to start a petition about it, social distancing will make that very difficult. The last sincere and straight-forward statement about the report came from Brandie Starr almost a year ago, and civilian oversight of the police is fading away. Let’s see if we can get it started again. Contact Brattleboro Common Sense. Brmse.org. [email protected]
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a project of Post Oil Solutions
Saturday, January 8th, 2022 at the C.F. Church Building (80 Flat Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 10am-2pm.
For info email Sherry at [email protected], call 802-275-2835, or visit us at www.brattleborowinterfarmersmarket.org.
Bring home the joy of local foods and functional handcrafted gifts from the Winter Farmers Market for your holiday celebrations. The market will be closed on Christmas Day, but will be open on New Year’s Day, Saturday, January 1, 2022.
Weekly indoor farmers market, creating community and boosting food security every week.
All locally grown and made: farm produce, meats, syrup, fresh baked goods, cheeses, fruits, cider, preserves, handmade jewelry, pottery, soaps and more.
Accepting credit, debit and EBT.
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Putney Foodshelf Weekly Open Hours
Saturday, January 8th, 2022 Christian Square, Putney, VT, 05346. 9am-10:30am.
Message us on our FB page HERE, call 802.387.8551, or email [email protected] with questions. www.putneyfoodshelf.org
Curbside Open Hours. All are welcome - we just ask you to provide your town of residence and number in household for our data tracking purposes.
Stay in your car, please. Volunteers will take your order and bring out boxes of food, including nonperishable items, fresh produce, paper goods, meat, and dairy products.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Lucy Terry Price: Witness, Voice, and Poetics within the American Tradition
presented by Vermont Humanities
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022, Online. 7pm.
Register for this talk at www.vermonthumanities.org/stjohnsbury
Beginning with Vermonter Lucy Terry Prince, the first known African American poet in the US, poet Shanta Lee Gander explores creative lineage within poetics. Surveying the work of Phillis Wheatley, Laurence Dunbar, Rita Dove, and slam poet Dominique Christina, Gander considers the poetic arc from the past to the modern moment.
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The Poetics of Girlhood and Womanhood in America
presented by Vermont Humanities
Wednesday, April 6th, 2022, at Brooks Memorial Library (54 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 7pm.
Poets and writers Diana Whitney and Shanta Lee Gander join Christal Brown, associate professor of Dance at Middlebury College, in a conversation that explores how girlhood and womanhood in America are manifested across the boundaries of poetry, dance, and lived experience.
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ONGOING EVENTS
Third Saturday of Each Month, Online. 9:30am-10:30am.
Take good care,
Sara Coffey, State Representative,
Recovery Families
hosted by Turning Point
Fridays at Turning Point of Windham County Recovery Center (39 Elm Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 10am-11am.
Young children welcome!
Join other caregivers for connection and support of your own recovery journey or that of someone you love.
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COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESOURCES
In Home Covid 19 Vaccines and Boosters
If you are homebound and not able to leave your home for medical services, you can get your COVID-19 vaccination and booster in your home. Call your local home health agency or 802-863-7240 to schedule an appointment. www.healthvermont.gov/MyVaccine
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Covid 19 Pop-Up Testing and Vaccinations
Brattleboro
417 Canal St.
Tue, Wed, Thur, Sat 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Testing and vaccinations are available for all.
If you need testing or a vaccine, there are a variety of options available to you: your primary care provider, pop-up sites and pharmacies. The Test Site Finder below can help you find other testing near you.
HEALTH DEPARTMENT POP-UP TESTING LOCATIONS
Here are the steps to set up a testing appointment at a pop-up testing site:
- Register to get an account
- Receive an email with your patient ID and use that to confirm your account (check your spam folder if you don't see the email)
- Log in with your patient ID
- Set up an appointment
Register for Pop-Up Testing Here
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The Village Closet
on the Wintson Prouty Campus (60 Austine Drive, Brattleboro, VT, 05301), in Croker Hall.
Open Wednesdays from 4pm-6pm and Saturdays from 10am-12pm, or
by appointment. For more information, please email [email protected].
Your source for free baby, children, and pregnancy clothing/items. Donations of gently used items accepted. We are collecting new and "like new" children's coats and winter gear for our Kids in Coats partnership with United Way of Windham County. If you have items to donate, please stop by today if you are able!
On Wednesdays, Everyone Eats will be distributing free dinners on campus from 3:30pm-4:30pm.
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FREE HEALTHY AND NUTRITIOUS FOOD IN WINDHAM COUNTY
Brigid’s Kitchen, St. Michael’s Church, 47 Walnut Street, Brattleboro 802-254-6800 or 802-558-6072
Grab-and-go lunches and fruit/nuts on Mon, Weds, Thus, and Sat, 11:30am-12:20pm.
Loaves and Fishes, Centre Congregational Church 193 Main Street, Brattleboro (802) 254-4730
Grab-and-go lunches on Tuesdays and Fridays at 12pm.
VT Foodbank and Veggie Van Go will be at Brattleboro Union High School (Fairground Ave, Brattleboro, VT, 05301), in the parking lot, on the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month, from 10am-11am. Drive up, touchless pickup. Walkers welcome, too. Call VT 211 for more information.
Foodworks, the food shelf program of the Groundworks Collaborative https://groundworksvt.org (802) 490-2412, [email protected]
Foodworks has open hours for curbside pickup on Mondays 11am-4pm, Wednesdays 1pm-6pm, Fridays 12pm-4pm, last Saturday of each month from 9am-12pm. Deliveries are available onTuesdays across Windham county. Please email [email protected] or call 802-490-2412 with any questions!
Households in need of food are asked to call or email to coordinate delivery. There is an urgent need for volunteers, and Foodworks has set up protocols to keep staff, volunteers, and clients as safe as possible. Please email us at [email protected] if you are able to help.
Marlboro Community Food Share
hosted by the Marlboro Community Center
Wednesday 10am-2pm; Thursday 10am-5pm; Friday 10am-12pm; Saturday 10am-12pm at the Marlboro Community Center (524 South Road, Marlboro, VT, 05344).
The Marlboro Community Center invites you to fill a bag with non-perishable grocery items. Food is set up in the main space and is available during our open hours. Eggs and produce on Thursdays as available. No registration or eligibility required. Deliveries can be made through Marlboro Cares for those needing assistance. Please call Marlboro Cares at 258-3030 in advance to arrange a delivery.
To donate food:
Leave non-perishable food in the donation box at the Marlboro Post Office. It will be collected on a weekly-basis. (Please note that this box previously supplied the Deerfield Valley Food Pantry, which is now distributing food exclusively from VT Food Pantry)
Gardeners and farmers are welcome to donate produce. Wear masks and wash hands when harvesting and handling food. Fresh produce can be dropped off at the Community Center on Thursday between 1pm and 4pm. (Any leftover produce will be taken to FoodWorks the following morning)
Guilford Food Pantry
Every Thursday at the Guilford Fairgrounds. 5pm-6pm.
We know that supplemental food can make such a big difference in one's budget. That is why we are stocking our shelves for our neighbors. All are welcome to come and take home fresh produce, staples, meat, dairy. Guilford Cares welcomes anyone in need of supplemental food for themselves or their families.
Everyone Eats continues, including grab-and-go meals at these times and locations:
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There is no longer an Everyone Eats distribution at Turning Point on Sundays, as Edible Brattleboro is dormant in the winter.
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The meals at Retreat Farm are stocked in their farm stand for pick up anytime, first come first serve. We are planning to stock on Tuesdays and Thursdays in December.
Folks receiving services through Foodworks, Loaves and Fishes, and the Brattleboro Community Justice Center can obtain free meals through those organizations.
You can also order Everyone Eats! meals directly from participating restaurants using the Localvore App.
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ADDITIONAL COVID 19 RESOURCES CAN BE FOUND AT THEIR PERMANENT HOME ON OUR WEBSITE, HERE: https://www.wecantogether.net/covid19_resources
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RESOURCE FOR WeCAN
Rapid Response Text Alert System
When WeCAN began, Song & Solidarity set up a Rapid Response Text Alert System for WeCAN Groups. Directions for signing up are on WeCAN's website, here: https://www.wecantogether.net/rapid_response. We are grateful to Song and Solidarity for providing this service.
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ONGOING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING
Indigo Radio
Sundays at 12pm on Brattleboro Community Radio 107.7FM. To stream live, visit: www.wvew.org
Indigo Radio, deepening understanding and making connections! IndigoRadio is a group of area educators seeking to learn through engaging with others in our community and throughout the world. We will be talking about educational and social issues both globally and locally and connecting them to our lives and Brattleboro community. Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/indigoradiowvew/. For archive recordings of past shows: https://soundcloud.com/user-654648353.
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Happy New Year, WeCAN Community! May 2022 bring us all equality, justice, and peace.
Your Friendly WeCAN Editors,
Joanna and Sam
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