YOUTH NEWS
Sneaker Soirée
BURLINGTON — Girls on the Run Vermont will host The Sneaker Soirée, its annual fall benefit, from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, at Burlington Beer Co.’s new event space. Visit www.gotrvt.org/sneaker-soiree for more information and to buy tickets. This event benefits GOTRVT’s participants to support the program in the 2024 season.
AROUND TOWN
Fur Fest
MONTPELIER — Central Vermont Humane Society will host its annual Fur Fest from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 13 at Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier. Featured are hors d’oeuvres by The Woods Lodge in Northfield, desserts from Delicate Decadence, a cash bar offering local craft beverages, live and silent auctions, animal stories and more. Advance tickets of $40 per person are at centralvermonthumane.org/purchase-fur-fest-tickets or email Development@centralvermonthumane.org. For more information, call 802-476-3811, ext. 105.
Craft fair
EAST MONTPELIER — Twin Valley Senior Center Craft Fair & Flea Market will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, at 4583 Route 2, East Montpelier. Featured are handmade artisan items, recycled household goods, tools, photography, jam, pies or other baked goods, and Blazin Rib Tickler Wagon. Visit www.twinvalleyseniors.org for more information.
Open House
BERLIN — To celebrate the completion of the new storage facility and the fall harvest, Community Harvest of Central Vermont will host an Open House from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 15, on site at Rogers Farmstead, Rowell Hill Road in Berlin. Follow signs from Route 12 to the event. This casual, drop-in event will feature light refreshments donated by Cabot Cheese, Fox Market, Cold Hollow Cider Mill and others, with tours offered at 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. RSVP at CommunityHarvestVT.org online.
The new space more than triples current capacity to store produce gleaned from local farms prior to it being distributed to local food shelves, senior meal programs, and other recipient sites in central Vermont. This new facility is the second part of a major expansion project which began with the purchase of a new cargo van earlier this year.
Winooski basin
State and regional planners are hosting meetings about the state’s Draft Tactical Basin Plan for the Winooski River Basin (Basin 8). This plan has been developed to protect and restore rivers, lakes and wetlands in the central Vermont watershed and to reduce phosphorus loading to Lake Champlain.
The public is invited to join the meetings in-person or online. To attend virtually, use the meeting links on the Basin 8 webpage.
— Oct. 17, 6:30 p.m. hosted by Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, in-person at Conference Room, 110 West Canal St., Suite 202, Winooski.
— Oct. 24, 6:30 p.m. hosted by Lamoille County Planning Commission, in-person at Conference Room, 52 Portland St., Second floor, Morrisville.
The public comment period for the draft plan runs until Nov. 10. Submit comments at one of the public meetings, by email to Keith.Fritschie@vermont.gov, or by mail to Keith Fritschie, Basin 8 Comments, 1 National Life Drive, Montpelier, VT 05602.
Visit the Basin 8 webpage for a copy of the draft plan, dates and locations of the public meetings, and an interactive Story Map. To request paper copies, email Keith.Fritschie@vermont.gov or call 802-490-6176.
AROUND VT
Innovation fund
The Vermont Council on Rural Development announces the opening of applications for the third competitive round of the Climate Catalysts Innovation Fund. Applications will remain open until 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 6. In collaboration with VLITE, VSECU, Vermont Community Foundation Flood Response & Recovery Fund, the Sunflower Fund, and Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, VCRD is supporting innovators in developing solutions that move Vermont closer to its climate and energy goals.
Award amounts range from $500 to $4,000 and are based on demonstrating a mix of addressing Vermonters in need, innovation, resilience, collaboration and replicability. Eligible applicants include municipalities, town committees, schools, businesses and nonprofit organizations. Visit www.vtrural.org/climate-economy/climate-catalysts-innovation-fund for more information, email laura@vtrural.org or call 802-234-1646.
VTF&W
Volunteers needed
NORTH HERO — Vermont Fish and Wildlife’s annual spiny softshell turtle beach cleanup day is Saturday, Oct. 14, rain or shine, and the department is looking for volunteers to help. Participants are asked to arrive at 10 a.m. at North Hero State Park; after finishing at North Hero, the group will carpool to another site in Swanton. Bring water, work gloves, a leaf rake, short-handled tools such as trowels, and your lunch. Families and kids are welcome. Hand sanitizer will be provided. Some hand tools will be provided but attendees are also encouraged to bring their own.
Pre-registration is not required. To get to North Hero State Park, follow Route 2 north past Carry Bay in North Hero. Take a right on Lakeview Drive, just before Route 2 swings west toward Alburgh. Follow Lakeview Drive almost to the end until you reach the North Hero State Park entrance sign on the left. Drive to the end of the road always bearing right.
For more information, email Toni.Mikula@vermont.gov.
BUSINESS
Bedded pack
Two free workshops on bedded pack barns for dairy and livestock producers will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 25 at Stony Pond Farm, 336 Emch Road, Fairfield; and from noon to 2 p.m. Oct. 26 at Deer Flats Farm, 1290 Route 30, Pawlet. Dr. Marcia Endres, a University of Minnesota animal sciences professor, and Bob Thompson, state conservation engineer with Natural Resources Conservation Service Vermont office, will lead the workshops.
Preregistration is required at go.uvm.edu/beddedpackbarns online. To request a disability-related accommodation, call 802-656-4829 or email kelsie.meehan@uvm.edu at least two weeks prior to the event. Attendance fulfills NRCS bedded pack training requirement to apply for funding for bedded pack barns. The workshops are sponsored by UVM Extension and Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center.
Vegetable data
In the coming months, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will conduct the Vegetable Grower Inquiry survey. NASS obtains the final acreage, production and value of sales for fresh and processed vegetables across the United States, including over 3,000 in the Northeast region. For more information, call 800-498-1518.
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