Sept/Oct 2013 Volume 10, Issue 5 The Marlboro Mixer
A FREE newsletter for the town of Marlboro, Vermont.
31st Annual Marlboro Community Fair, September 14th!! In this Issue:
Marlboro Cares….2 The Fair is almost here! Please join us on Saturday, September 14th. Select Board……….3 This year we are celebrating “The Makers of Marlboro,” all of those Store…………………..3 friends and neighbors who build, create, craft, make, sing, strum, write, Apples………….…….4 repair, harvest, raise, bake, imagine... MES……………………5 Poetry……………..…6 This year we are very glad to have a number of demonstrations of the skill and ingenuity that make Energy……………….6 our Town such a unique place. The Arts & Crafts Tent will host exhibits of wool yarn spinning, toy VPL……………..…….7 making, an oral history, tool sharpening, video productions, and others. Come learn about birds of prey and enjoy a hard cider or maple syrup tasting in the Ag Tent.
We encourage everyone to bring flowers, fruits, and vegetables, as well as jams and beers, for display and to enter to win prizes - and entries from all ages are welcome, so please come and bring the best of your harvest. We are glad once again to be hosting a baking contest with prizes donated by King Arthur Flour, with entries being accepted up to 9:30 AM.
The stage will be packed with great music all day long, including Rich Grumbine, Singcrony, Michael Hertz, T. Fredric and Lillian Jones, Jesse Lepkoff and friends, the MacArthur Family, Julia Slone, and Red Heart the Ticker. We will have a poetry reading at 3:00 and wrap up the day with A FREE newsletter the Fair Song at 4:00.
for the town of The artisans from Ironwood will be hosting the game tent this year, and Mike Purcell will be Marlboro creating another thrilling bike rodeo. Don’t forget the tug of war, the egg toss, the skillet toss, and nail pounding.
So come by The Muster Field and enjoy a great hot breakfast starting at 8:30 AM. The Ill Wind Also available Ensemble will lead our traditional parade opening the Fair at 10:00. Enjoy a delicious lunch while by email if requested relaxing in front of the stage. And don’t forget that the Tea Tent will be serving up delicious scones (save paper, save and jam from 1:00 until 4:00. money!) We’d love some help cleaning up so if you can stick around for half an hour afterwards. It would be greatly appreciated. For submissions or to receive the Mixer, Fair Programs will be available at the Town Office, Marlboro College, and the Brattleboro Food please contact Robin Coop. You can also download a Program from the Town website or find us at ‘Marlboro Fair’ on MacArthur at: Facebook.
See you on Saturday, September 14th! PO Box 472 Marlboro, VT 05344
802-258-2648
macarthur.robin@ gmail.com South Pond Cleanup will be held on 22nd of September from 10-noon.
We’re online, too. All working members, please come join us!
See us at:
http://marlboro.vt.us
Meeting House Preschool The Marlboro Mixer Page 2 of 8 Seeking classroom assistant
The News From Marlboro Cares by Sally Andrews We are looking for a gentle, conscientious person who enjoys being with children, Senior Lunches -- Next lunch: Friday, October 4 cooking and likes to be Although Senior Lunches had been postponed during the summer months, happily they will resume outside in all weather. Job th on October 4 at 11:30 a.m. in the Student Center at Marlboro College. As usual they’ll be held at that would be divided between time on the first Friday of each month. Please call 258-3030 to make a reservation by the Tuesday classroom and kitchen morning preceding the Friday luncheon. Meals continue to be $3.00 by donation. responsibilities. This is a th play-based program, At the October 4 lunch, nurse Susan Kunhardt will give us some tips on “Staying Healthy as Winter Waldorf- influenced with a Approaches”. We’re grateful to Marlboro College and Richie Brown, the excellent cook, for the delicious luncheons held in that warm and lively atmosphere. pro-social curriculum focus.
Senior Wellness Clinic – Next clinic, Saturday, September 21 Hours: 8:15 a.m.- 2 p.m., with possibility of more hours. M- The next Wellness Clinic will be held on Saturday, Sept. 21 from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. Please call ahead for Th, school year calendar. an appointment by Thursday, Sept. 19. Call Marlboro Cares at 258-3030. Rides are available by request. Pay: based on experience. The Senior Wellness Clinics offer nursing services free of charge to residents here in town at the Marlboro College Health Center. The clinics are not meant to take the place of your doctors, but to Qualifications: BA or supplement them. Services offered include trimming toenails, ear cleaning, blood pressure checks, equivalent, experience nutrition advice, and other questions answered. Susan Kunhardt and the other volunteer nurses do working in early childhood or not diagnose, nor order treatment, but they can consult with you and give excellent advice. elementary school setting. Must have reliable “Plan Ahead and Rest in Peace” – Wednesday, November 6 transportation. Looking ahead, a workshop on Living Wills will be presented by Ray Walker on November 6, at 7:00 p.m. in the Marlboro Elementary School. Ray has presented this kind of workshop numerous times, Apply to: email letter of helping participants walk through the steps of actually filling out a living will, specifying their own interest, resume and 3 job personal choices for health care if they should be unable to make decisions due to illness or references (with phone incapacity. The document will be completed before they leave, with stamped envelopes provided for numbers) to mailing. [email protected]. Fall Flu Shot Clinic – Saturday, November 9
For more information: A nurse from Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice of Vermont and New Hampshire will be available call Liz Vick at (802) 254- to dispense flu shots on November 9, from 9:30 to 11:30 at Marlboro Elementary School. This is open 7060. to the public 18 years old and up. They will bill Medicare directly for Seniors if the client brings his/her Medicare card. Cost for those not on Medicare will be $25-$28. They do not bill Medicaid. Forms will be provided for clients wishing to apply for reimbursement themselves. Make an appointment by calling Marlboro Cares (254-3030) or adding your name on sign-up sheets that will be posted at the School or Town Office closer to this date.
Marlboro Alliance Summer Sale Success! by Lynna Jackson
The Marlboro Alliance Summer Sale was another success this year with over $4,000 in profits. The Alliance will put these dollars to use in our community throughout the coming year.
The Alliance wishes to thank the many donors who provided all the delightful items for sale. We wish to also thank the town of Marlboro for use of the Town House, David Elliot and crew for the setup of the electronic sign on Route 9, and the countless volunteers who spent time organizing and working for this sale. Last but not least, we wish to thank Pam Burke for leading us in this successful event.
We are looking forward to the Marlboro Fair coming up in September and hope to see everyone there!
Page 3 of 8 The Marlboro Mixer
Select Board Report by Marcia Hamilton
The select board meets at 5:00 PM every second and fourth Thursday at the Town Offi ce, unless otherwise warned.
The select board participated with the Board of Listers, the Town Treasurer and the Town Clerk in adopting the following policy regarding Homestead Declarations:
The Town of Marlboro receives annually from the Vermont Dep artment of Taxes, via download, a list of taxpayers who have filed their Homestead Declarations. Failure by the taxpayer, for any reason, to send their Homestead Declaration in a timely fashion to the State will cause the taxpayer to be charged a 3% penalty in addition to their tax bill. The Town administers this penalty and keeps the penalty, even though the filing is with the State.
April 15 is the deadline for submitting your Homestead Declaration so please be sure to file with the State on time. The deadline applies even if you get an extension for filing your income taxes.
On July 25, 2013 the select board decided not to lay out a portion of private road at the north end of Whitaker Farm Road as a public highway. Last fall residents of that neighb orhood submitted a petition to the select board. In June, 2013 the board held a site visit and hearing.
On October 10, 2013 at 5:00 PM the select board will hear testimony on the Revised Town Plan Draft. Copies of the Revised Town Plan Draft and the Town Plan Amendment Report may be obtained at the Town Office or on the Town Website under Groups/Planning. The board would like to see citizen participation in this process.
The select board and Town Highway Department have been working with the Vermont Local Roads Program at Saint Michael’s College. It is part of the Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), a national non-profit effort financed jointly by the Federal Highway Administration and individual State Departments of Transportation. Its purpose is to provide road and bridge know-how to municipal people involved with highways. The Director, David Antone, came to Marlboro and rode around on several roads and returned a report of his findings. It is anticipated that David Antone will offer valuable assistance to the town that would essentially help stretch tax dollars on town highway maintenance costs and improve the condition of the roads.
The public is always welcome to attend select board meetings and we value your input. There is always a ten minute period for unscheduled open public comment. You may contact the select board by email at [email protected] or by post at Select Board, PO Box 518, Marlboro, VT 05344.
Come One, Come All TOWN STORE UPDATE!
We’ve got a party band and we’re in a festive mood Tired of driving to Brattleboro for gas? Miss the We’ll supply a little wine chance to buy a gallon of milk in our town? and maybe something brewed Where the heck did those pistachio muffins go? Well, there's a group of folks in town that are But most of all we’d like to see trying to address these issues – by reopening a lots of folks from our fair town store in Sweeties. Here's where things stand. The To meet with friends, some old, some new owner of Sweeties is working to clear the title to talk or eat, or just get down to the property, which should be accomplished
Let’s celebrate this time of year, this fall. Once this happens, the Marlboro for Bob, a whole new decade Alliance intends to take steps to acquire the Meet us at the “shop”, good friends building as a community hub and have the store And a shindig shall be made.* located there. This new store will be a co-op and the members of the store group have filed Saturday, September 7th articles of incorporation, elected a board of 6:00 potluck, band to start around 7:30 directors and developed by-laws and a business 2416 Rt 9, Marlboro (email for directions) plan. The group wants the store to be a valuable community asset and so we have initiated public Please join us for an evening of fun, food and live music. outreach to find out more about the wants and Bring a dish to share if you wish to join needs of our future members and customers. the potluck before the music. Please take the time to look at the Store materials in the community tent at the fair and
Bob & Nancy Anderson: 254-9615 [email protected] fill out a survey. For the store to succeed, we Wayne & Sara Kermenski: [email protected] need a community effort!
* With apologies to all poetry teachers, far and wide.
Whetstone Ledges Farm The Marlboro Mixer Page 4 of 8 will be open until late October Bumper Bounce Back Crop! News From Ames Hill Orchard
Veggies, pumpkins, winter by Molly Welch squash, fall raspberries, maple syrup, Bonvue Farm beef & Farming is a wild ride! Last year we were frosted, hailed, short on rain, and generally in chicken & more! trouble with the elements. This year the trees are making up for it with heavily laden branches. We have a bountiful crop of large, rain-plumped apples of nearly 20 varieties 1000 MacArthur Road coming to market. This year’s apples will be sweet, bright, crisp, and full of flavor and color. Don’t miss this year’s bounce back crop. The apple trees want you to be happy and 802-257-7328 satisfied with their apples’ crunch, sugar, and bursting flavor.
In short, Ames Hill Orchard has a huge and beautiful crop of apples coming along and will be ready for retail sale in the last half of September.
Our apples will be on sale at the Brattleboro Farmer’s Market every Saturday from late
September through to the Special Thanksgiving Market.
We will also be open for sales at 544 Town Hill Road by appointment or by chance 7 days
a week. Call 802 254 3344 to see if we are home, or just swing in and check. I usually have A reminder from your local pre-packed apples in the small self-service refrigerator inside the stand, under the “apples” librarian that the Marlboro College sign. Also, you can set up a personal account with us and we will custom-pack your weekly library offers free wifi and access to order and have them ready to go in the cooler. a public workstation, and
Marlboro residents are welcome to use the Internet (as well as to sign This Year’s Varieties: up for borrowing privileges) at the Gravenstein – our early apple, very sweet and unusual, Danish in origin library. Jonagold – excellent eating and cooking apple, has golden flesh, delicate yet bright in flavor Honeycrisp – our super sweet, large, juicy favorite Cortland – a bright white flesh apple for eating and baking Meeting House School McIntosh – the most beloved Vermonter’s apple: crisp, sweet, and bright in tone, excellent Playgroup for both eating, baking, and sauces Macoun – a beloved cross between Jersey Black and McIntosh, bright white with a lot of SNAP The Meeting House preschool, Mutsu – Our Japanese cross is a large, delicate fruit with a touch of perfume in the back located in the center of taste, keeps amazingly well Marlboro, hosts a free Balwin - The New England heritage apple for the best of all apple pies playgroup on Friday mornings 20-ounce Pippin – a huge, firm apple for baking for babies and toddlers (and Roxbury Russet – historical variety, small with brownish patina on the skin, bakes well, their caregivers). traditionally used in hard cider Cox’s Orange Pippin – historical variety, excellent baked with Stilton cheese This is a wonderful way to Spencer – a rich, juicy apple with McIntosh bite and Golden sweetness meet other parents and young Fortune - a large, firm, red apple, related to the Northern Spy children in town…we hope you’ll Gala – multi-colored, firm apple, kids’ favorite join us! Northern Spy - known as a great late apple, “Spies for Pies” keep well into spring Pinova – A beautiful orange striped apple of German origin with golden flesh and a very Friday mornings at 9 at delightful flavor. Meeting House School. Shizuka – full sister of the Japanese cross apple, Mutsu, said to have a “creamy” texture Lady Apples - for wreaths and floral designs, a medieval apple, small in size, but withstands the frost on a wreath throughout the entire holiday season For more info contact Robin at [email protected] P.S. If you have any of our boxes, please return them. We are going to need them!! Page 5 of 8 The Marlboro Mixer
Back to School! by Francie Marbury
Marlboro Sch ool starts on August 28 with 96 students. This is 10 more than we ended up with last year and we’re adding a classroom to accommodate our growing student body . We are also launching a five-day a week lunch program. Add in hiring 7 new staff members and it has made for a very busy summer!
Please welcome the following staff and students! Jesse Wismann joins us in the custodial/maintenance position. Jesse also is very handy with computers and will be providing some tech support, as well. Rochelle Garfinkel is our new librarian/technology integration specialist. Bev Aldridge comes to us as the art teacher and Gail Greenleaf will be our new Spanish teacher. Laura Ridgeway joins us as school nurse. Nancie Schwartz Angell, Corinna Inman, and Jesse Einerma nn will be special education assistants in the Kindergarten and Primary rooms.
Kindergartners of families new to the school include Alban, Avah, and Mckenzie. Other new kindergartners, Chloe, James,
Honora and Kaylie, have siblings or parents who have already been at Marlboro School. New students in older classes are Sam and Tess in Judy’s Primary class; Ben and Musi in Erica’s 3 rd/4th class; Nieve in Pam’s 4th/5th class; Soren, Alexandra, and Caylah in David’s 5th /6th class; and Kory with the Rachels in Junior High.
We look forward to lots of interaction with the community – work/study students from Marlboro College, volunteers in the classroom, collaboration with events at Hogback, and anyone who would like to visit. Come on Wednesdays at 8:30am for All School Sing or join me on first Fridays for coffee at 8:15am.
We’re looking forward to another great year!
Francie Marbury
Marlboro School Community Meeting Thursday, October 10, 7pm Save the date!
The School Board is hosting this meeting as a forum for sharing thoughts about our school. At the end of last year, parents completed a survey on many different aspects of school – communication between home and school, student learning, and school climate and environment. The results will be shared and there will be time to dig deeper into what we can do to make our school even better. We hope that both parents and interested community members will participate in this important conversation. .
Emergency Management Update by Glenn Herrin
We'll be mailing out questionnaires to update the Em ergency Register this fall. The register is a strictly confidential list of needs and resources that residents may have during an emergency. We only use the information for planning purposes or as needed during actual emergencies; it has helped in the past (such as the 2008 ice storm and tropical storm IRENE in 2011) and it will help in any future disasters. Look for the questionnaires and please return them!
The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) can use an alternate Radiological Officer. The EOC is a small group of volunteers that helps coordinate town operations during town emergencies. The Radiological Officer measures radiation levels during four drills a year and any actual radiological emergency. We'll provide training and there is a small stipend. Please contact Glenn if you are interested in this position (or in volunteering to work in the EOC in any capacity). For more information about Emergency Management (EM) contact Glenn Herrin, EM Director, at 254-1060 or visit the EM web page, http://marlboro.vt.us/em. The Marlboro Mixer Page 6 of 8
Creative Writing Classes for Adults at the Poetry Studio by Ann Gengarelly
Tuesday and Thursday Evenings , 242 Piney Brook Way (off Church Hollow Road)
Goldenrod is poking its head along the sides of country roads, and we are reminded that another season is about to arrive. A season when gardens go to rest and we are invited to “turn inward,” as the p oet Rainer Maria Rilke advised. At The Poetry Studio, people ranging in age from late twenties to elders gather to “slow down;” to listen to that part of themselves that gets forgotten in our busy lives. We write and share, remembering who we are, for as the Mexican poet, Octavia Paz, claimed: “if we forget poetry, we will forget ourselves.”
Writing poems, stories, letters to people close to us, we create a community that is both intimate and sacred. The poet Denise Levertov writes about experiences “felt by the poet intensely enough to demand… that he (she) is brought to speech.” Again and again, I have witnessed how when someone discovers what it is she needs to write about, that person also remembers her unique voice. Good writing usually springs from necessity: the writer has something she/ he needs to say, whether it’s in a poem, a story, a letter.
As the days become darker, we meet in my studio and h ome where we find a quiet away from the buzz of the world. I offer a “prompt,” and a reading of different voices that resonate with that theme. While cider brews on the stove in our kitchen, people find their “nesting places” to sit, “to turn inward ” …one person on our couch, another in the plant room, another on the rug before the fire. We end with a circle in the living room where participants who want to share read, and with sacred ears, we listen and offer positive feedback. No words can do justice to the depth of our experience: in a world where we can often feel alone and isolated, many discover that in spite of each of us having lived different “stories,” we share similar emotional landscapes. And so we sit together, creating a human circle—a circle of humanity that makes us feel less alone in the world and creates light during the darkest months.
Classes meet Tuesday evenings beginning mid-November or Thursday evenings mid-January. We meet for 13 weeks with three weeks off during Christmas-New Year break. We do not meet during school vacations or mid-March (college break). We do not meet during snow storms. For all classes, we begin our first circle at 6:15 and end our last circle at 9:00. At present I have a few openings and welcome talking to people who are interested. Usually the best time to reach me is evenings at 257-8972 or you can contact me at [email protected].
August Energy Update by Mike Andreotta, Energy Coordinator
Regular Energy Committee Meetings are held on the first Thursday of every month at the Town Office at 1700 (5PM). If you have questions or items to bring to my attention that is the best place to be... See you there!
Regional Energy Events:
Weathering Skillshops:
Efficiency Vermont is sponsoring a series of Weatherization Skillshops throughout the state in September and October 2013. The Brattleboro Skillshop is scheduled for September 21st at Brattleboro Union High School. Each skillshop will run from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm. The registration cost is $25/individual which covers lunch, cost of the presenters, and a guidebook. More information about Efficiency Vermont’s DIY program and about signing up for the Weatherization Skillshops can be found at www.efficiencyvermont.com/DIY.
PACE:
PACE will have its first subscription period starting on September 1st. Thus, prior to the VHEC regional forums, we are proposing to hold a one-hour session for PACE communities on getting the word out to folks in their communities and to provide information to residents on how to subscribe. Any resident interested in utilizing PACE financing to implement a renewable energy improvement please contact Mike Andreotta at 802-464-1220, [email protected].
Energy saving kits: Efficiency Vermont is ready to launch the second round of Energy Saving Kits. Efficiency Vermont has a total of 1,200 kits set aside for VHEC communities. For these 1,200 kits, we have a total of 3,200 cards for VHEC towns to distribute to residents. Due to the limited number of cards available, we only want to distribute these cards to VHEC communities who are interested in making them available to their residents. We will be asking VHEC coordinators to request the number of cards that they think can be distributed through personal interaction (as opposed to leaving cards on doorsteps). If you are interested in receiving a Energy Saving Kit, please contact Mike Andreotta ASAP @ [email protected]. These kits will NOT last long!
Page 7 of 8 The Marlboro Mixer
CALENDAR Municipal Meetings: (unless posted otherwise)
September
Select Board: 2nd & 4th th 14 ……Marlboro Fair (p.1) Thursdays at 5pm 21st…….Marlboro Cares Wellness Clinic (p.2) nd School Board: 22 …..South Pond Cleanup st 1 Monday at 6pm
Board of Listers: Wednesdays at 7pm
Planning Commission: 2nd
Tuesday at 5pm
rd Town Auditors: 3 Monday at 3:30pm October Development Review Board: 10th…….Marlboro School Community Meeting (p.5) 3rd Tues at 7pm
4th……...Marlboro Cares Senior Lunch (p.2) nd th Fire Company: 2 & 4 Wednesday at 7pm
Marlboro Energy Committee: 1st Thurs at 5pm, Town Office
Conservation Commission: 1st Monday at 7:00
Vermont Performance Lab Fall Season
VPL Fall Events
VPL IN THE WORKS: Endangered Pieces a new performance work by Slovakian choreographer Pavel Zuštiak / Palissimo presented by Vermont Performance lab in association with Guilford Sound Saturday September 21 @ 7pm New England Youth Theater, 100 Flat Street, Brattleboro, VT
VPL IN THE WORKS: OTRO TEATRO a new performance work created by luciana achugar presented by Vermont Performance Lab in association with Marlboro College Wednesday October 23 @ 7pm The Whittemore Theater, Marlboro College, South Road, Marlboro, VT
In addition to the Lab residencies, VPL will embark on a new exciting adventure – the launch of VPL’s Performance Club. Modeled on the traditional book club and drawing inspiration from Claudia La Rocco’s NYC-based Performance Club, VPL’s Performance Club will bring 20 people together this Fall to discover contemporary dance performances and create a forum for rich discussion over food and drink. Whether you are an artist, a builder or a librarian – VPL’s Performance Club welcomes both the beginner and the dance aficionado. Curious and adventurous VPL audience members should stay tuned for the winter/spring launch of the next Performance Club.
For more information on VPL’s Fall Events or to reserve FREE tickets (recommended) to Endangered Pieces by Pavel Zuštiak or OTRO TEATRO by luciana achugar, please call 802-257-3361 or visit us online at: www.vermontperformancelab.org/events
Marlboro Town Services Want to list your business or skills here? Call or email The Mixer. The Poetry Studio- 257-8972 Amy Taliaferro 802-999-6590, Massage, Lucy Gratwick Fine Hand -weaving 257-0181 Poetry classes for young people and adults Craniosacral Therapy Functional hand-woven apparel Emma Lee, Gardening: Lance C. Shader, 464-5676, Attorney at Law Donald Sherefkin, AIA 254-9736. Architectural 802-579-4473, [email protected] Services, [email protected] Malcolm Moore, 254- 5664, Whetstone CiderWorks, Artisan Hard Cider [email protected] Yoga & YogaDance 254-7724
NEXT DEADLINE: October 15th for the November/December Mixer
MARLBORO MIXER C/O ROBIN MACARTHUR PO BOX 472 MARLBORO, VT 05344