Wednesday, December 10, 2008

 

December Update

December 29th & 30th - ROCK CLIMBING! Two Day Climbing Club for 3rd - 6th graders. The day will be spent climbing and belaying, safety equipment checks, knot tying, bouldering, some outdoor activities and watching videos of professional rock and ice climbers. 8am-4pm each day, cost is $35 a day or both days for $65. Students bring a lunch and a snack and wear appropriate clothes for exercising and climbing and bring ouside gear as well. Enrollment limited to 20 students, please sign-up by December 17th.

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FREE Nuturing Parent Program will begin in January for families of 5-11 year olds. This program will meet weekly and include a FREE dinner. Children welcome and in fact enouraged to come as there will be a program for them. For children younger than 4 there will be child care. Contact Cindy at 229-5724 for details. Parents learn from discussion, activities, presentations and videotapes, and home practice: what children think and feel; what to expect from children at different ages; how to deal with little frustrations before they become big ones; how to recognize and deal with children's feelings and needs; how to recognize and attend to their own feelings and needs. Children learn through games, songs, art activities, puppet play and discussion to: control their behavior; increase their sense of self-worth; understand their strengths and limitations; and recognize their own feelings and express their needs. (note, Cindy attended the last PTNA meeting to discuss this program and it sounds very worthwhile!)

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CLOTHING GIVEAWAY - YES! It is true. The Berlin PTNA will be giving away FREE clothing, shoes, outerwear, boots and bedding on Saturday, January 10th from 9am to 2pm in the Learning Center at school. As you clean out your closets to make room for all your new Christmas clothing, please think of donating items for the giveaway. Do not include items that are stained or ripped.

Donations to the PTNA will be appreciated for us to continue to support educational events at school for kids and families.

We will have a box marked in the lobby for you to deposit your items beginning Monday, December 15th. If the box is full, please contain the items in boxes or bags and label clearly PTNA. During this event we will also have a Bake Sale.

Anyone interested in baking or helping with the event please let us know. We will need folks to set up and sort on Friday, January 9th (possibly sorting and hanging items before that also) and to help out on January 10th which could be just a couple hour shift.

Thank You, Berlin PTNA

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Holiday concerts - All are welcome to attend the fabulous holiday concerts put on at U-32 High School. Upcoming is the Middle School concert Wednesday, December 17th at 7pm and then on Thursday the 18th the High School concert at 7pm. Please note the earlier start times.

Scholastic Book Fair at U-32 week of Dec 15th - with evening hours the night of each concert from 5:30 - 7pm. There will also be a Winter Art Exhibition from 5:30-7pm the nights of the concerts.

Interested in some local sports over the holiday? Check out the calendar at http://www.u32.org for basketball games that will be taking place during vacation.

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“Holiday Boxes” are being organized down at the Montpelier Food Pantry. Berlin students are asked to bring in boxes of crackers, while U-32 students are asked to bring in baking mixes (brownie mixes, cake mixes, cookie mixes, etc) to donate. These would help make this year's boxes yummier than ever! Holiday Boxes will be filled with a turkey, stuffing, fresh fruits and veggies, cheese, butter, milk, crackers and more. The Montpelier Food Pantry would really appreciate any donations possible. Donations would be appreciated by Wednesday, December 17th and can be picked up at the school if you contact Peg Monley 229-1252. If you want to sign up to receive a box, stop by the Food Pantry before December 18th - it's located in the basement of the Trinity United Methodist Church in Montpelier, next door to the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Hours are 9-12 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays , 10-11 on Friday. Wednesday evening from 4-6pm. The Montpelier Food Pantry serves the towns of Montpelier, Berlin, Worcester, E. Montpelier, Calais and Middlesex.


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The next two Berlin School Board meetings are Thursday, December 11th 6pm at U-32 and then on Monday, December 15th 6:15 pm at Berlin Elementary School. Both meetings will have discussion regarding school budget voting and on the 15th regarding next years budget. Meeting agendas are posted on the bulletin board at school and every effort is made to post them on the school website in a timely manner. The Berlin meeting on the 11th at U-32 will be followed by a full board (district wide) meeting where one item on the agenda is a presentation regarding possible bussing changes.

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The Kellogg-Hubbard Library is holding their winter book sale from December 8th – January 10th, 2009. The books are high-quality and organized by subject! Many are brand-new.
Remember, all Berlin residents can get a FREE library card at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library as Berlin voters agreed to support the library last Town Meeting Day. How many of you have been making use of this awesome library? From their website you can link to "Listen Up! Vermont" and using your library card number you can download audio books to your MP3 player for a week, be sure to check it out!! http://www.kellogghubbard.org

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Come Celebrate! Thursday, December 11th is Hunger Mountain Coop’s renovation celebration! They want to thank you for shopping at The Coop. All are invited to a celebratory toast at 10am in The Café! Check out the raffle prizes and free samples! Great discounts – One-Day Only - On your favorite products! Don’t forget to pick up your free 7th Gen shopping bag while they last. Come meet local farmers and bakers! Enter for a chance to win a Vermont turkey; we will be giving them away all day long!
Listen to local music! Store tours – all day long! Help us celebrate the completion of construction!

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Saturday, December 13th, 10am – 2pm at North Branch Nature Center. FREE!! Come one, come all! Visit the Nature Center for this holiday season open house and enjoy free refreshments and seasonal activities. There will be tours of the Critter Room and activities for kids, such as:
Making a holiday gift out of natural materials
Building a birdfeeder
Adding a Monarch to our symbolic “Mexican” fir tree
If there’s snow on the ground, we have snowshoes to lend for a romp around the preserve. Please call 229-6206 for more information and to register

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December 15, 2008 at 6PM at Hunger Mountain Coop Community Room Members: $7; Non-members: $9
This holiday season, steer clear of the shops filled with plastic gadgets and make some good old homemade, sweatshop-free gifts with local, homegrown, and coop ingredients. Come learn with Dana Woodruff how to make simple herbal gifts, such as lip balm, body butters, massage oils, bath salts, and herb pouches. These make great presents for the holidays, birthdays, or any other special occasion. We'll make some gifts together for you to bring home, along with a handout full of recipes, resources, and ideas for gift baskets especially for farmers/gardeners, builders, and babies. All ages welcome! Please pre-register. Contact Krystal or Robyn for more information @ 223-8004 x202 or contact us via email at info@hungermountain.com

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Vermont History Expo at Tunbridge Fairgrounds will NOT take place this June. They hope to continue in 2010.

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RESTORE UPDATE FROM RACHAEL RICE rrice@recyclenorth.org November 30th
We are moving in to our new home at 34 Granite Street in Barre, Vermont!
We began renovations last week in the office space where the ReStore will reside while the rest of the granite shed is renovated.
ReStore staff (ReUse Specialists Mark Tilden, Noah Hahn, and myself) stripped the floor of carpeting, linoleum and plywood and began sanding and sealing the hardwood underneath. This week we will be patching walls, painting, and moving in our inventory.

When will The ReStore be open?
There is still a lot to do to get the store ready. Depending on our progress this week, and the number of volunteers we get (hint, hint!) we may be open the week of December 8th!
If you are interested in volunteering to make this move as quick and easy as possible, please contact us. Don't forget, members of the Onion River Exchange (http://onionriverexchange.org) -- Central Vermont's new Timebank, can earn community credits for their time (it's fre to join, and you can spend your cc's on a massage, free dinners, a facial, and hundreds more diverse services!)

What will the new store have?
In addition to all the great arts, crafts, office, and educational supplies, there are dozens of color televisions and large appliances that are waiting to move in. We anticipate being able to offer a small selection these large appliances, high quality household goods, furniture, and building materials.

How can you help?
Donate time: We need help this week, especially Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday, with painting and moving in our inventory. Even an hour would help so much.
Donate goods: If you have any items to donate, please contact us. We are especially in need for holiday items that we could use to make hats on First Night in Montpelier . The sparklier, the better. We are unable at this time to take appliances or household goods, but we anticipate doing so shortly.
Donate a vehicle: We could also use an extra truck if someone would like to donate some of their time for vehicle assistance!
Join our Steering Committee: We need volunteers to help our active group do outreach to support this big project! If you know someone who would like to join, let us know.

For ongoing updates, you may call 802-229-1930 to hear a voicemail recording, or visit our fledgling website http://therestore.org.
And of course we're on MySpace -- there are lots more renovation photos there: http://myspace.com/restorearts.
Thank you for your ongoing support -- come shop with us soon!

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