Weekly Email Update 8.2.21
“Those least responsible for climate change are worst affected by it.”
Vandana Shiva b.1952
Indian scholar, environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate, ecofeminist and anti-globalization author
We've seen what climate change will look like for us here in VT during this Summer, WeCAN Friends: hazy days with a red-orange sun, poor air quality with high particulate counts from wildfires burning to the West of us, flash floods with a month's worth of rain (or more) dumped on Windham County in only a few hours, thousands of dollars in property and road damage, wild animals flushed out of their homes, looking for food and shelter. One way to cope with the stress of these abrupt climate changes is to get involved in your community, if you are able. As a centralized information hub, we offer dozens of ways to get involved below, right in this email. We encourage you to take a moment and scroll through the following events with an open mind and an open calendar. We hope to see you at an event soon!
A small reminder: please call 211 to report natural disaster damage to the state of VT so that crews can get to you as quickly and safely as possible. If you are in need of community support, please email [email protected] and we will do our best to help connect you to the resources you need.
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For more information on climate change in VT, please visit these websites: https://climatechange.vermont.gov, https://350vermont.org, https://climatechange.vermont.gov/vermonts-changing-climate, https://www.healthvermont.gov/health-environment/climate-health/climate-change *, https://vtclimate.org
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HAPPENING TODAY, SUNDAY, AUGUST 1st, 2021
Raised on Rock: Raising Funds for Westminster Church and VT Meals on Wheels
hosted by Strange Brew Tattoo and Body Piercing
Sunday, August 1st, 2021 at 18 Metcalf Drive (off VT Rt 5), Wesminster, VT 05158. 2pm-8pm.
10$ donation requested.
Strange Brew Tattoo welcomes you to enjoy live music & home cooked BBQ at our annual outdoor and socially distanced event. As last year’s event was a success in raising funds that delivered PPE for our local healthcare workers as well as helped our local community, we will again be following state Covid protocols to make this year’s event even more successful! We encourage everyone to be safe and we look forward to seeing you all again! Tattoos will be done first come first served out of our Get What You Get machine. Bands are to be announced, and updates will be given as we get closer to August 1st. We hope to see you there!
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HAPPENING THIS WEEK: MONDAY, AUGUST 2nd, 2021-SUNDAY, AUGUST 8th, 2021
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-11:30am.
Veggie Van Go is a program through the Vermont Foodbank that gives out free produce and local food for people to take home.
Monday, August 2nd, 2021
Monday, August 16th, 2021
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.
For questions, please contact the WSESU VVG Program Coordinator:
Kira Sawyer-Hartigan, WSESU
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT
[email protected]
(802)254-3730
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Windham County Democrats Monthly Meeting
Monday, August 2nd, 2021, Online. 6:30pm.
You can find the meeting on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrdeihqTkuGdbT2n0t5R2DSzDa5qU-P7Bv.
This month we will be discussing responses to the misuse of Critical Race Theory in attacking our public schools. We will also be previewing changes to the committee's bylaws.
Meetings of the Windham County Democrats bring together delegates representing the 22 towns of Windham County and anyone interesting in helping promote Democratic candidates and turning out the vote. Our meetings are open to the public and we welcome new ideas and perspectives.
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County Conversations: Marlboro, Newfane, and Townshend
hosted by Windham County Democrats
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2021, Online. 6:30pm.
Please join us for this conversation on Zoom by registering HERE.
The Windham County Democratic Committee invites you to participate in a listening session to discuss improvements for our local Democratic party. If you identify as or tend to vote Democratic, we invite you to attend and to share the issues and values that are important to you. We also want to hear your perspectives on our party’s organization. This session is one in a series of listening sessions that Democratic Committee is holding around the county this summer. If you are interested in other dates and locations, you can visit the webpage at https://windhamcountyvtdemocrats.org.
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The Rich Get Richer: How Our Quest to Accumulate Wealth Has Divided America
co-sponsored by Everyone’s Books and 118 Gallery
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2021 at 118 Gallery (118 Elliot Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 7pm.
Event limited to 50 people. Masks required if unvaccinated. Free/donations welcome.
“The Rich Get Richer: How Our Quest to Accumulate Wealth has Divided America” will be the topic of a conversation between author/journalist Michael Mechanic and local author and campaigner Chuck Collins, at 7:00pm on Tuesday, August 3, at 118 Elliot (118 Elliot Street, Brattleboro). Since Mechanic and Collins share overlapping interests, their dialogue about the surprising advantages and pitfalls of wealth hoarding promises to be as lively as it is informative. The Rich Get Richer event is live, indoors, and limited to 50 people.
Michael Mechanic is a veteran senior editor at Mother Jones whose writing and editing have resulted in dozens of journalism awards. He is author of the new book, Jackpot: How the Super-Rich Really Live –and How Their Wealth Harms Us All. His work at Mother Jones has often focused on social and criminal justice, racial disparities, mass incarceration, economic inequality, and corporate shenanigans. Since writing Jackpot, he’s been looking more at the ways the wealthiest Americans manipulate the system to their advantage. He lives in Oakland, California, but grew up messing around in the Windham woods and brooks with his local cousins. His late mother, Maggie Newton, grew up on a farm near Hamilton Falls where her parents, David and Margaret Newton, established the Newton School for boys; she later moved to Brattleboro and played in the local orchestra.
“Windham County is my second home, dear to my heart,” Mechanic said. “I’m excited to finally meet Chuck in person, and for this chance to share our experiences writing about a topic of such great local resonance as wealth moves into this state and creates financial opportunities but also huge challenges for long-time Vermonters.”
Chuck Collins is is an expert on U.S. inequality and the racial wealth divide. He is the author of the new book, The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions, and Born on Third Base, among other books. He is also the Director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies, where he co-edits Inequality.org. Chuck and his wife Mary live with a flock of unruly chickens on Mineral Springs Farm in Guilford.
“I’m thrilled that we can host Michael in Brattleboro on his trip to Vermont,” said Collins. “The growing concentration of wealth and power is disrupting everything we care about and we need to better understand these forces and explore ways to reverse them.”
The Rich Get Richer is co-sponsored by Everyone’s Books and 118 Elliot. This is a free event with a suggested donation of $5. Masks required if unvaccinated. The authors will be available to sign their books, which can be purchased at the event or ordered in advance through Everyone’s Books. For reviews and author information, see their websites: ReadJackpot.com (Mechanic) and Inequality.org/wealthhoarders(Collins). For more about the event and the authors, see Everyonesbooks.com.
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NOFA Celebrate Your Farmer Social: SUSU commUNITY Farm
Wednesday, August 4th, 2021 at SUSU commUNITY Farm (Retreat Farm, 45 Farmhouse Square, Brattleboro, VT 05301). 5:30pm-7:30pm.
$10 suggested donation; Please RSVP to guarantee yourself some delicious pizza as ingredients are limited. https://nofavt.app.neoncrm.com/.../nofavt/event.jsp..
Join us for farm-fresh pizza, joyful connection and a celebration of SUSU commUNITY Farm in Brattleboro!
The SUSU commUNITY Farm is an AfroIndigenous stewarded farm and land based healing center in Southern Vermont that elevates Vermont’s land and foodways.
The farm creates health equity by offering culturally relevant spaces that center earth based and AfroIndigenous health and healing traditions as well as reclaiming and centering AfroIndigenous wisdom, stories, and legacies.
Come and enjoy dinner baked in NOFA-VT's wood-fired pizza oven, followed by a farm tour.
All are welcome!
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Palestine: Learning History to Address the Present
presented by Brattleboro Solidarity
Wednesday, August 4th, 2021, and
Wednesday, August 11th, 2021
In person or via Zoom. 6pm.
Email [email protected] to sign up.
Join us in our study of Palestinian History from the 1800s-present day. We will discuss the implications of US military aid to Israel and continue to find ways to work in solidarity with Palestinian people. Selected readings, videos, movies, and speakers will inform our study! Sign up today!
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Marlboro Community Food Share
hosted by the Marlboro Community Center
Thursday, August 5th, 2021, and every Thursday, at the Marlboro Community Center (524 South Road, Marlboro, VT, 05344). 4:30pm-5:30pm.
Every Thursday from 4:30pm-5:30pm the Marlboro Community Center invites you to fill a grocery bag with non-perishables and fresh local produce. No registration or eligibility required. This weekly opportunity is available for anyone who could use an extra bag of groceries or knows someone who does.
Food will be set up in the entry-way to the Marlboro Community Center. For proper social distancing, please enter one person at a time. Bring a grocery bag or use ours. Masks are required. Deliveries will be made through Marlboro Cares for those needing assistance. Please call Marlboro Cares at 802-258-3030 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)
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Guilford Cares Food Pantry
Thursday, August 5th, 2021 (and every Thursday) at the Guilford Fairgrounds (163 Fairground Rd, Guilford, VT 05301). 5pm-6pm. 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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Film: Taking Root
presented by the Windham World Affairs Council and the Latchis Arts Spotlight Series
Thursday, August 5th, 2021, Latchis Theatre (50 Main St, Brattleboro, VT 05301). 7pm.
Free tickets available at WindhamWorldAffairsCouncil.org. $10 suggested donation at the door.
Windham World Affairs Council is teaming up with the Latchis Theatre Spotlight Series to present TAKING ROOT, a film by local filmmakers Lisa Merton and Alan Dater.
This year WWAC is celebrating its 60th anniversary providing a world affairs and issues forum for Windham County. As a part of this celebration, WWAC is bringing the global local by sharing enlightening work on global issues by local filmmakers.
Taking Root is the extraordinary story of Wangari Maathai who was raised on the rural highlands of Kenya and founded the Greenbelt Movement encouraging African women to plant trees as a restorative environmental measure. This work led her to become the first African woman and environmentalist to win a Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. She was also a board member at SIT.
Taking Root captures a world-view in which nothing is perceived as impossible and presents an awe-inspiring profile of Maathai's thirty year journey of courage to protect the integrally connected issues of the environment, human rights, and democracy.
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Fair and Active Representative Town Meeting Discussion: Dinner and Meeting
Thursday, August 5th, 2021. Location and time TBD. To register and for more information, please email [email protected].
Sometimes people ask the wrong things from the selectboard – things that should be brought to Representative Town Meeting (RTM). This happens because they don't know the town charter, which is the operator's manual for town government. At a recent selectboard candidate forum there was a show of hands of people who had read the town charter, and hardly anyone in the audience raised a hand. The surprise was that even some people campaigning and on the selectboard had not read the charter, either.
America has a strong ethic of hands-on innovation, but that doesn't mean we should operate complicated equipment without any study or instruction. Nowadays the tendency to make every computer program and app "user friendly" means that people could use the programs and apps without any preparation or study. Maybe this is contributing to people’s sense that they can just dive in and start up anything, whether it’s a cellphone, a chain saw, or a town government. Hands-on shouldn’t mean brain-off.
The Brattleboro Charter has provisions for hands-on involvement in government. The first, very familiar provision is in Article 3, the petition process. Brattleboro Common Sense has used the petition process to bring issues of public concern to the ballot, for instances the sustainability coordinator position and the Youth Vote amendment. In 2010 BCS won a court decision protecting the petition process from censorship. But in all these instances BCS studied the issues and the laws, and consulted an attorney.
People can bring petitions for a vote of the people and also for a vote of the RTM.
Another way that our charter encourages hands-on government is our Representative Town Meeting. It is a representative assembly, like the selectboard, but requiring a much smaller commitment of time from its members. Even so, the RTM has a greater mission than the selectboard, being defined in the town charter as a guiding body for the town.
Still, RTM is underused and underestimated. Issues are rarely addressed by RTM members (reps) unless the issues are forwarded by the selectboard. Here’s why. The selectboard compiles the agenda of RTM and puts the time for the public’s ideas and reps’ guidance, etc at the end. (The board wants mostly to assure that the budget and other financial proposals get approved: they work hard on the budget and don’t want to do it over. Unfortunately, their preoccupation leaves the agenda looking like nothing matters but money.) Here is another reason.
Before the RTM and moderator position were created in 1959, the selectboard presided over voters at the front of town meeting. But the selectboard still keeps its traditional position. This is contrary to the town charter. The RTM is a guiding body, and the selectboard is a ministerial body that tends to every-day affairs, as plainly required by the town charter (Article 4 section 6):
“The selectboard shall have the general oversight of the affairs and property of the town not committed by law to the care of any particular officer, including, but not limited to, the following powers, duties and responsibilities . . . to provide for the appointment of police officers. . . the lighting of bridges and sidewalks.” Their duties make a long and varied list. Guidance, ideas, proposals and comments are not on the selectboard’s list. These are given by town charter (Article 2 section 4) to the care of other officers of the town, namely the RTM members (reps): “The representative town meeting . . . is a guiding body for the town and a source of ideas, proposals and comments.”
The charter says “members of” the selectboard shall be members of RTM, indicating that they attend RTM as individuals, not as a group. Nothing in the charter gives the board members at RTM any special status. Members of the board should sit with everyone else, but they sit at a table at the front of the meeting with their own microphones, greater comfort, greater visibility, and greater opportunity to speak than the other reps. This creates an unintentional concentration of power in the selectboard. Many reps feel they can’t be properly informed and guided without the selectboard in front. Of course they feel that way if they don’t inform themselves on the issues or read the charter. Reps have the same information available to them as the selectboard. They do not need the selectboard for guidance: reps are supposed to BE the guidance !
Members of Brattleboro Common Sense have negotiated some improvements in the architecture and process of the meeting, and we aim to do more. The end of selectboard dominance began in 2011 with a charter amendment that clarifies the equal role that the board and other members share. In 2014 a motion was approved to reaffirm that board members must stand to speak like other reps. In 2016 a motion was made for the first time to remove the board members from their elevated platform and seat them with the other reps. The BCS worker making that motion was ridiculed, but since then the issue of RTM fairness has gained wide support. BCS meetings on Active RTM used to bring just three or four people. In 2019 twelve people came. Last year there were three groups independently exploring the issue. This year a special committee is addressing the dominance by the selectboard over RTM and will advocate for RTM to control its own agenda.
RTM’s agenda should ensure that RTM has time to fulfill its duty of proposals and guidance. The selectboard members are only five people, and they’re not the only ones with brains. We need the diversity of opinion and imagination that all 140 reps can bring to RTM. There are national and global – not just local issues affecting this town. Don’t wait for Montpelier and sure don’t wait for Washington to make solutions. And don’t wait for the selectboard. They are too busy already. We need a hands-on approach, and we need all hands on deck. Many RTM members see a new RTM coming. If you want RTM to be a place where YOUR proposals are not ruled out by the selectboard, if you want an RTM that is responsive to the people and to the real issues of today, contact Brattleboro Common Sense.
Register for the dinner and meeting Thursday evening, August 5: [email protected].
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Solidarity Fridays
Friday, August 6th, 2021, Pliny Park (corner of High Street and Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 5pm-6pm. Please observe Covid 19 safety protocols and social distancing. Brattleboro Coalition contact: [email protected]
You may have seen the Solidarity Friday demonstrations on the Pliny Park corner that began last Summer and continued into the Fall. In-person actions were paused due to COVID restrictions, but we continued meeting via Zoom, learning about our shared concerns and building our coalition. In the ongoing work to gain more participation in and deepen the understanding of our actions, the involved organizations wanted to explain our purpose for Solidarity Fridays in preparation for starting again.
Four Brattleboro-based organizations - Brattleboro Solidarity, The Root Social Justice Center, Lost River Racial Justice, and The Tenants Union of Brattleboro came together last summer during the Black Lives Matter uprisings. Later, we were joined by 350 Brattleboro, the VT Debt Collective, Youth 4 Change, and Out in the Open (supporting remotely). Together, we recognized that, while we were witnessing the streets come alive across the country against police brutality, the streets must stay alive in order to enact the level of broad changes across struggles that are urgently needed - for humans, animals, and the planet.
The coalition acts with these shared principles:
- Everyone should have what they need.
- People’s lives over profit.
- All of our struggles are tied together.
We believe that the basic necessities for a healthy life are non-negotiable. There is no excuse for hunger, homelessness, or death from curable diseases anywhere in the world. All of our struggles are tied together. We believe that the struggle for Black liberation and against police brutality and racism is also a struggle against the exploitation of poor working people. We see how those with power benefit from the divisions that they sow amongst us. We acknowledge and address our diverse struggles while we assert that we have more commonalities than differences. We are stronger together.
We are on the street on Fridays because we believe that being united in our struggles is important in paving a new path forward. We choose not to fight against or react to those who disagree with us, but rather invite them to talk with us so that we may find our common interests and beliefs. Being on the streets together raises our spirits, breaks isolation, and helps build a network of people who want to do this work together. We invite you to join us weekly on Fridays to make connections - both with other people and between struggles! - and to take a stand for a more just world.
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Palestine & Hiroshima: US Wars, Then and Now
hosted by Brattleboro Solidarity
Friday, August 6th, 2021 on the Brattleboro Commons (Park Place and Route 30, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 6pm.
Join Brattleboro Solidarity on Friday, August 6 at 6PM at the Brattleboro Commons as we welcome Lara Kiswani, Executive Director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC). AROC serves poor and working class Arabs and Muslims across the San Francisco Bay Area and works to overturn racism, forced migration, and militarism. Lara joins us to discuss connections between U.S. policy of expansion and the occupation of her homeland of Palestine by Israel.
Hiroshima was bombed by the US on August 6, 1945. Seventy six years later, we come together to understand the continued military occupation and ongoing pillage of our world. Clear connections exist between Palestine and Hiroshima: intense violence, displacement, internment and demolition of communities and infrastructure, deprivation and hunger, targeting of people. The Israeli apartheid system is made possible by US funding and support - more than $100 billion USD over the last 50 years. That apartheid system is discrimination against Palestinians, land theft, home demolition, imprisonment, and many more such policies. Israel is a partner in US control and destabilization of this oil-rich region that fuels US wars across the world.
Global liberation requires world-wide resistance. In this historical moment, Palestine sits at the center of these global struggles against militarism, climate disaster, racism, starvation, health inequity and much more. Our efforts to defeat apartheid and resist injustice means funding housing and health. We must make strong connections between the fight against Israeli apartheid and the injustice in our own communities.
Join us in making every effort to further international solidarity here in the US and in our own communities.
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Putney Foodshelf Weekly Open Hours
Saturday, August 7th, 2021, at 10 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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Share the Harvest Stand
a project of Edible Brattleboro
Sunday, August 8th, 2021 and every Sunday until October 31st, 2021 in the garden at Turning Point Recovery Center (corner of Frost Street and Elm Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 11am-1pm.
Fresh produce available at no cost thanks to local farmers, VT Foodbank and local gardeners. Donations accepted with gratitude. If you have surplus from your garden, please drop them off on Saturdays between 3 and 3:45pm, or Sundays between 10:30 and 11:15am, or by appointment (call or text 516-298-9119).
Edible Brattleboro’s Share the Harvest Stand Needs Volunteers
Sign-up here: https://signup.com/client/invitation2/secure/245496458026/false#/invitation
Please consider offering the gift of your time. Time Traders, Brattleboro Food Co-op shareholders, and students can log their hours for community service credit.
We always pair up a new volunteer with an experienced one, so if you have never volunteered, don't worry. You will have guidance from an experienced person and detailed written instructions. If you value this service, I urge you to please sign up for a time slot (or two or three) so we can continue to offer fresh free produce to our neighbors through October. More on how to volunteer below.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Summer Music Camp: Lyrics, Songs, Poems, and the World
hosted by Spark Teacher Education Institute
Monday, August 9th, 2021- Friday, August 13th, 2021 in Putney, VT.
$10 per day, sliding scale. Activities will take place outside under tents, 6 feet apart. To sign up please visit Spark Teacher Education Institute on Facebook, call 802.451.0291, or email us at [email protected]
Children ages 11yrs-17yrs are invited to participate in singing, song and poetry writing, accompanied by music with licensed teachers.
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County Conversations: Jamaica, Stratton, and Windham
hosted by Windham County Democrats
Tuesday, August 10th, 2021, Online. 6:30pm.
Please join us for this conversation on Zoom by registering HERE.
The Windham County Democratic Committee invites you to participate in a listening session to discuss improvements for our local Democratic party. If you identify as or tend to vote Democratic, we invite you to attend and to share the issues and values that are important to you. We also want to hear your perspectives on our party’s organization. This session is one in a series of listening sessions that Democratic Committee is holding around the county this summer. If you are interested in other dates and locations, you can visit the webpage at https://windhamcountyvtdemocrats.org.
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A Silent Vigil of Loving Kindness
Wednesday, August 11th, 2021 at Wells Fountain (298-250 VT-30, Brattleboro, VT 05301). 4:30pm-5:30pm.
For further information and to be on the mailing list for future vigils, please contact Tim Stevenson, [email protected].
Under a banner that reads, “Holding a Space of Loving Kindness for All Living Beings,” we conduct a silent vigil on alternating Wednesdays and Thursdays, every other week, 4:30pm-5:30pm, @ Wells Fountain across from Brooks Library and the Municipal Building, downtown Brattleboro.
Our purpose is to serve as a living reminder of the inherent goodness of each of us, as well as our inextricable connection with one another.
For a few minutes or the entire hour, all are welcome to join us in extending sentiments of loving kindness to all living beings: to family and friends, neighbors and strangers, kindred spirits and adversaries, human and non-human beings, alike. And to ourselves, as well. People may choose to stand, kneel, or sit in a chair they bring (there are stone benches circling the Fountain).
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Fried Chicken Fundraiser
hosted by the Windham County Democrats
Saturday, August 14th, 2021 at 673 South St. Brattleboro, VT. 5pm.
More details and tickets are available at this website or email us at [email protected] to be added to the guest list. The requested donation is $50 per adult with all proceeds going to support Democratic candidates for the Vermont House of Representatives.
Welcome to the social event of year! It still feels wild to be reemerging into public life, and we are very excited to share this opportunity for spending time together. On Saturday, August 14, come enjoy a delicious outdoor fried chicken dinner while helping raise money for the Democrat’s House Campaign Committee. There will be swing music and dancing by Zara Bode’s Big Band, signature cocktails and drinks, yard games for the kids, and plenty of great dinner guests to socialize with including special guests - Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski and Senate Pro Temp Becca Balint. A warm summer evening in Brattleboro, delicious food, good company, and great music. This is the summer social event to come out for!
Help us maintain the Democratic majority that serves all Vermonters.
It’s been over a year since many of us have been able to meet in person. We look forward to coming together on this wonderful evening.
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Red Cross Blood Drive at the Winston Prouty Campus
Saturday, August 28th, 2021
Saturday, September 25th, 2021
Saturday, October 23rd, 2021
Saturday, November 27th, 2021
Saturday, December 18th, 2021 at the Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development (Austine Drive, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 9am-3pm. To help make these events possible by volunteering, please contact Lisa Whitney at [email protected].
Winston Prouty and the American Red Cross are hosting monthly blood drives throughout 2021.The Red Cross has over 135 years of experience providing humanitarian aid including more than 75 years of supplying blood to those in need. Each pint of blood we collect can help save up to three lives and will touch the lives of so many more. What a great way to pay it forward and make an impact on people in our community and across the country.
You can participate by donating blood or by volunteering to help support the event (set-up/clean-up, registration, parking, etc).
Sign up to DONATE blood here:
https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=
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Queer Dance Party and Cabaret
hosted by The Stone Church and Brattleboro Queer Dance Parties
Friday, September 17th, 2021 at The Stone Church (Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 9pm-1am.
Tickets are now available on a sliding scale from $5-$15. Please go here https://stonechurchvt.com/#/events?event_id=43126 to purchase tickets.
More info to come!
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COMMUNITY SUPPORT OPPORTUNITIES
Seeking Names for an Open Letter to Support Our County's Public Schools
Deadline is Thursday, August 12th, 2021.
Recently we have seen nationwide efforts to censor public schools and prohibit the critical examination of American history. Here in Windham County, this attack arrived under the guise of information sessions about Critical Race Theory that use vague language, innuendo, and distortion to attack our public schools and the teachers who serve our children. We cannot ignore these extremist attacks on our communities’ schools and on our neighbors who serve there.
As communities across Windham County, we need to come together to affirm our shared values concerning public schools. The following open letter, An Open Letter in Support of our Public Schools, will be posted to the local papers and we need individual and organizational signatures.
Please help us with the following actions (deadline: August 12):
1. Review the Letter and then email Diana Wahle ([email protected]) with your name and town.
2. Present this letter in organizations to which you belong or business that you know to get their names added to the letter.
3. Share this letter with friends, family, and neighbors around the county and ask them to submit their names to Diana.
Together, we can make a difference in helping others to reject the fear based rhetoric that seeks to destroy trust in our communities.
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Health Equity and BI&POC Vaccine Clinics in Vermont: Now Registering 12 years and up!
The Vermont Professionals of Color Network created this amazing website to promote Health Equity and BI&POC vaccine clinics in Vermont. Their new site offers upcoming events, latest press, demonstrates their collaborative work, and even has a playlist of clinic jams to celebrate life preserving vaccine! Check it out at https://www.vermonthealthequity.org/
Vermont Health Equity Initiative -VHEI
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Covid 19 Pop-Up Testing
Testing is available for all.
If you need testing, there are a variety of options available to you: your primary care provider, pop-up test 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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Free In-Home Covid19 Testing
sponsored by United Way of Windham County
People who are in need of a covid test and do not have transportation should call VT Public Transit at 802-442-0629 or toll free at 1-833-387-7200. VT Transit will contact your provider to confirm and get necessary info. They are using an ambulance service thru VT Department of Health which will do FREE IN-HOME testing and then transport your specimen to a local lab. VT Transit takes initial info and contacts the local EMS and VDH.
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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-11:30am. 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]
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.
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.
Full Plates VT
Please click this link to confirm availability and to register up to 3 households:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/full-plates-vt-tickets-151480705869
The program is currently scheduled to run from June – September, 2021.
To keep wait times to a minimum, reservations will be required for the distributions. New dates will be added to the registration website every two weeks. To register and see the dates and locations, please visit vtfoodbank.org/gethelp or call 833-670-2254 for assistance.
Each household must register for their own food box and self-certify that they meet the income guidelines. You will not be asked for proof of income.
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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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Thank you for your continuing support, WeCANners! Be safe and be well. Until next time...
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