Be their valentine?
BARRE — Three budding entrepreneurs — all students at Spaulding High School — have pooled their artistic talents to create a Valentine’s Day gift pack that is “made in Vermont.”
So says Grace Berry, a Spaulding senior whose budding business, Grace’s Creations, can be found online (more on how in a minute).
Seems Berry, whose specialty is crocheting plushies, key chains, earrings and other fiber art goods, is collaborating with fellow Spaulding senior Meredith Kerin and junior Abigail York on the Valentine’s package you can find by visiting www.treppie.com and clicking on “storefronts” and then “Grace’s Creations.”
It’s there. We found it, and the gift set that includes some of the work of all three young women along with some chocolate to sweeten the deal.
The plushie pink whale and the heart-shaped bookmark are both “Grace’s Creations,” but the package also features items produced by Kerin and York, who have different skill sets and businesses of their own.
York, who founded Abby’s Jewelry, makes (you guessed it) jewelry, like the handcrafted necklace and earring sets that are included in the gift package.
Then there is Kerin, whose talent is sewing, and business is Mer-made (play on her first name). Kerin’s contribution to the Valentine’s Day special is a hand-sewn spa kit — complete with, among other things a handmade towel scrunchie and a microwaveable heating pad.
The partners contributed one of their gift sets to Spaulding’s senior class upcoming fundraiser, but they plan to sell the rest through Berry’s online storefront.
Supplies are limited because these entrepreneurs are in school all day and, when it comes to production, quality comes first.
So, if you’re looking for a different Valentine’s Day gift and want to support three young businesspeople, their specialty packages went on sale Wednesday.
Crafters wanted
EAST MONTPELIER — A tradition that was started in 1997 and sidelined by the pandemic is being revived at U-32 Middle and High School this year where eighth graders are raising money for a trip to Washington, D.C.
For a lot of years, a spaghetti dinner was the trip’s signature fundraiser, but we’re told they are changing it up this year and are actively recruiting participants for a crafts show that will be hosted at U-32 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 1.
No fooling! That’s when the craft show will go on, but in order to promote the event, the deadline for potential vendors (we can think of three young women in Barre who might want to pool their money and spring for a table) is Feb. 17.
Want a paper application? Just shoot an email to Amy Molina at amolina@u32.org.
Molina is a veteran of the Washington, D.C., trip (this year’s will be her 18th) and she and Sue Verchereau are co-organizing, just like they did before the pandemic hit depriving the last three eighth-grade classes of the field trips.
Students and their chaperones will spend nearly a week in the nation’s capital — touring all the museums and monuments, meeting with Vermont’s congressional delegation, at the U.S. Capitol, and taking in a show at the Kennedy Center.
It’s a timely trip for the class because the eighth-grade curriculum at U-32 includes studying civil rights, the Holocaust and U.S. government.
So how did it get started? We wondered, so we asked.
Seems Sally DeCicco, an administrative assistant at the middle school for many years, came up with the idea. DeCicco, who died in 2021 (she was 76) lived long enough to see the string of D.C. trips she started snapped by COVID, but not quite long enough to see the tradition revived.
‘Dabble’ do ya?
BARRE — Hobbled by the pandemic for the past two years, Dabble Day will return to normal next month, which means the custodians at Spaulding High School will have their work cut out for them following the two-hour event.
Set for Feb. 4, in the Spaulding cafeteria, Dabble Day is a gloriously messy indoor event that was retooled as a precaution in 2021 and again last year. Think outdoor events with take-home kits so that children could get messy at home.
Not this year! On Saturday, Feb. 4, the two-hour event (it will run from 10 a.m. to noon) will be held where it started 25 years ago — in the Spaulding cafeteria.
Dabble Day graduated from Spaulding to the Barre Municipal Auditorium in 2020 — weeks before COVID hit forcing organizers to rethink the event, which is geared for children from birth to 6 years old and their families. The kids get to play in ways you might not let them at home, and the parents can get to know each other and learn about services that are available.
There are refreshments and every child leaves with a free book, which has long been part of the Dabble Day recipe.
Road closed?
EAST MONTPELIER — Town Administrator Gina Jenkins doesn’t have the time to monitor social media to try and ascertain what local residents think about the idea of temporarily closing a 3.5-mile stretch of County Road to accommodate a super-sized block party when the weather gets warmer.
That doesn’t mean Jenkins isn’t interested in the range of opinions — and ideas — when it comes to an idea that isn’t without supporters.
Let’s back up.
County Road was closed to through traffic for several months last year and reopened much later than expected once East Montpelier’s share of the road that runs between Montpelier and Calais was finally paved. It was then closed for part of a day in mid-November to accommodate what an end-of-project celebration that was popular with many who live on or just off County Road.
Judging from the emails Jenkins has received on the subject, the idea of staging a similar event in the spring isn’t particularly popular. Of the 11 emails, only one unconditionally supports the proposal; three wouldn’t object provided some conditions were met; and seven are flat-out opposed to closing the road.
Jenkins shared those results with the select board this week and was told by some they’d seen more favorable reviews of the requested road closure on social media.
Though the board isn’t close to making a decision, and Jenkins is evaluating potential liability associated with the event, she says she’d love to hear various perspectives so that when the formal request comes, in the board will have a better sense of where the community stands.
“I really want to get feedback,” says Jenkins, who says if those with opinions on the subject could send her an email at manager@eastmontpeliervt.org, she would appreciate it.
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