Thursday, March 05, 2009

 

March ... even more (also see March and more)

I sent along "March and more" a little too quickly as there were many more things to mention... get that calendar back out .... all the information below is new

The kitchen at Berlin Elementary School would gladly accept donations of silverware for use at breakfast and lunch time. Please be sure to include a note so that we know for sure that it's meant to be donated to the kitchen. Thank you!
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Anybody having a bit of cabin fever? The Upper Valley Aquatic Center is now open. It's an aquatic & fitness center featuring state-of-the-art swimming pools, wellness programs and an INDOOR SPLASH PARK!!! The Splash Park includes a current channel that resembles a small circular river that carries you past small waterfalls and other water elements. A zero-entry pool area provides easy access to the water and a safe and fun place for your younger swimmer to play. For those craving a little adventure, climb 20 feet up to the top of the enclosed, circular slide and take a 110 foot cork screw ride out of the building before being sent sliding back across the floor inside. They are open to the public and conveniently located at the junction of Interstates 89 & 91 in Hartford, Vermont Check out their website http://www.uvac-swim.org/index.html and call 802-296-2850 for more information. Daily admission for children ages 3-18 is $7 and for adults $15.
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Both the town and school reports are posted on the town website http://www.berlinvt.org . Interesting reading even though Town Meeting has past.
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Saturday, March 7th 11am - 4pm Ben & Jerry's 7th Annual Winter Festival at the Ben & Jerry's Factory on Route 100 in Waterbury. Free tours all day, games, ice cream, music, caricatures, snow sculpture, food, sugar on snow and gift sale. Also local samplings: Green Mtn Coffee Roasters, Red Hen Bakery, Cider House BBQ & Pub and Cabot Cheese
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With funding in place for another year at Kellogg-Hubbard Library, I would encourage you and your family to visit and make use of the many wonderful resources and programs this gem in our community provides for children, young adults and adults. Be sure to check out their website which is a wealth of information and includes their hours of operation, card catalog, events listings and so much more. Do you know about Listen Up Vermont, where with your library card number you can download audiobooks any time of day or night! http://www.kellogghubbard.org
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Monday, March 16th the Berlin Selectboard meeting at the Town Office is at 7pm
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March 16th - April 11th Spring Book Sale Begins at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library Thousands of books, videos, CDs and more—arranged by subject and a great prices. Proceeds benefit the library!
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Wednesday, March 18th 7pm at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library - The Commercial History Along the Winooski River with Manuel Garcia This slide presentation with Manuel Garcia shows many of the earlier business establishments, large and small, along the Memorial Drive, Berlin Street, River Street, Barre Street area neighborhoods. View the Manufactured Gas and Electric Generating plants along with some pictures of the Railroad, and Trolley systems that traversed this valley, as well as the early single span bridges that crossed the Winooski River. (note: I've seen this and recommend it if you enjoy local history, what's especially interesting is that part of River Street used to be part of Berlin)
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Thursday, March 19th 6:30pm at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library - Growing Small Fruit & Berries with David Fried, Founder of Elmore Roots Nursery. There are lots of fruit trees & berries that can grow in the cold Vermont climate if you start with the right stock and planting methods. It’s not difficult and the results can be so delicious! You can grow pears, plums, apricots, apples, cherries, peaches, kiwis, grapes, blueberries, strawberries, currents, raspberries, gooseberries, elderberries and so much more! This program is co-sponsored by the Washington-Orange County Master Gardeners!
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March 19th & 20th Kid Watch will celebrate spring with 1/2 day program March 19th 12:30-6pm ($15) making litter critters and enjoying some time outside and on March 20th from 7:30am -5:30pm ($30) making a variety of projects using liquid watercolors and then after lunchgoing to Morse Farm for a tour and Sugar on Snow. Students are bringing home a green flyer March 6th.
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WHOOPS! Had the wrong time for DABBLE DAYS - the correct time is 10am-noon on Saturday, March 28th Berlin Elementary Gym - activities for young children and their families put on by Success by Six.
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Monday, March 30th 6:30pm at Kellogg-Hubbard Library - Transition Town Movie Night Video shorts on raising food in the backyard, in preparation for the second Open Space Meeting on Feeding our Communities (Saturday, April 4th). How much food can be raised around your house? Sponsored by Transition Town Montpelier: Moving from Oil Dependency to Resilient Communities. For more information, contact Annie McCleary, 456-8122.
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Dinner and a Show Thursdays in Montpelier - If you eat at a participating restaurant on a Thursday and show a ticket or ticket stub from Lost Nation Theater or the Savoy Theater, you get 10 percent off your bill and the other way around, if you bring your restaurant bill to one of the two theaters, you get 10 percent off admission. Participating restaurants include: Rhapsody, Postivie Pie II, Restaurant Phoebe, Julio's, The Black Door, Capitol Grounds, La Brioche, and the Main Street Grill. The cafes plan to be flexible with this - if you go to Capitol Grounds at noon with a ticket for that evening they would honor the discount.
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Central Vermont Community Land Trusts (CVCLT) is having an amazing raffle to support affordable housing in Central Vermont. "Bringing It All Home 2009 Raffle" offers your choice of **Sweet Mango Tour of Southeast Asia for Two valued at $9,400** OR **$9,000 Home Energy Improvement Shopping Spree from Allen Lumber Company** OR you can choose **$7,500 in CASH** Tickets are $100 each, only 250 tickets will be sold, only one winner will be chosen with the drawing on March 27th. For information call Peg at 476-4493 x213 http://www.cvclt.org/

Are you familiar with CVCLT? Did you know that they offers Credit/Budget Counseling and Foreclosure Assistant FREE OF CHARGE to everyone in their service area which includes all of Washington County. There are many other services they also offer such as Homebuyer Education, Homes for sale, Rental Apartments and more. CVCLT's phone is 476-4493
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Saturday, April 18th E-waste FREE Recycling Event 9am - 1pm at the South Burlington High School at 550 Dorset St, S. Bgtn. Small Dog Electronics is holding this 3rd annual FREE event! Bring monitors, laptops, CPUs, fax machines, cell phones, etc. For more information and a list of items that can and cannot be accepted, visit http://www.smalldog.com/ewaste
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March and more

TOWN MEETING follow-up - both the town and school budgets passed along with most of the other monetary requests including funding for the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Including absentee voters, 540 Berlin residents voted. Thanks to those who got out and voted, your vote does make a difference.
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A School Board position remains open at Berlin Elementary School since there was no candidate on the ballot at Town Meeting. If you are interested in this position, please call the school 223-2796 to find out more.
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Way to go Jackson! It was great to see in the paper that 7 year old Jackson Flinn, who attends Berlin Elementary School, chose to donate all the money from his piggy bank to Central Vermont Humane Society (CVHS) to help out animals there. His photo is also on their webpage! http://www.cvhumane.com/ CVHS serves Washington and Orange Counties and is looking forward to moving to what has be Ruby's Run boarding facility on Route 14 in East Montpelier.
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Thursday, March 5th - Memories of Montpelier. Screening of the new 1/2 hour documentary about the early days of the capital city featuring photographs and interviews at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library with Senator Bill Doyle. FREE 7pm 223-3338. Get there early, this is the second time showing this as it was so popular the first time with standing room only!
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Berlin Elementary Talent Show sign up deadline is March 19th with the actual show to be held on April 30th. See Mrs. Young in the Learning Center for details
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Bear Pond Books in Montpelier 20% off storewide sale March 6th-8th with refreshments available upstairs in the "Den"
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Capital City Farmer’s Market Saturday, March 7th from 10am-2pm in the Vermont College gym. Get great fresh produce, meat, cheese and more. For more information, visit www.montpelierfarmersmarket.com.

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Saturday, March 7th ONION RIVER EXCHANGE: TIME IS NOT MONEY Are you interested in exchanging services and goods? The Onion River Exchange (ORE) is one year old. Members have exchanged nearly 2,500 service hours. Should you join? Monica Kimball, ORE coordinator, will show a video and answer questions 5:30pm. Capital City Grange, Northfield Street just past the I-89 overpass. FREE Potluck to follow Info - Marjorie 229-0782.
http://www.orexchange.org/ The Onion River Exchange helps Central Vermonters to exchange goods and services without using money. Instead, our members buy and sell services for Community Credits, a time-based currency. Services can vary from mechanical work to home cooked meals to yoga lessons, and each service is worth the time you spend providing it. As a member, you could earn an hour of credit for giving someone a ride to a doctor's appointment, and use that credit to get piano lessons for your granddaughter. In ORE, the currency is time, and everyone's time is equal. What can I spend my credits on? transportation, tutoring, cooking, sewing, yard work, computer help, dance lessons, proofreading and editing, childcare, business services, personal finances, car repair, pet care, carpentry, yoga and wellness, music lessons, entertainment for parties, sports, wordprocessing, graphic design, phone calls, providing food for potlucks… and so much more!
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Monday, March 9th 4:30pm - 6pm Farewell Open House to honor Linda Beaupré's many years of service on the Berlin School Board. This will take place at the school and is for current and past staff as well as community members. Linda has been an integral part of the board for 19 years. She did not seek re-election this year and we would like to recognize her years of service and leadership. To celebrate the time she spend on the board we hope you can join us Monday night in the Learning Center at Berlin Elementary School.
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Monday, March 9th 6:15pm Berlin Elementary School Board meeting, as always these meetings are open to the public and people are welcome to attend. Meetings take place in the Learning Center.
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Siblings Without Rivalry - A six-week course for parents who want to help their children live more peacefully with each other. Tuesdays, 6-8pm Barre Presbyterian Church, Seminary St. $35 individual, $50 couple. Begins March 10. Register with the Family Center of Washington County at 262-3292 ext 115
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Wednesday, March 11th PTNA - your friendly neighborhood Parent Teacher Neighbor Association will meet at 6:30pm. Please make a point to attend as your help is needed. Dutch Mill Bulb orders are due this week also.
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Do you have a teenager or pre-teen? March 11 6:30-8pm at U-32 will host - Welcome to the Adolescent Brain: Why do teens do the things they do? with dynamic national expert Michael Nerney. This is an evening for parents and community members.
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Thursday, March 12 - All 6th grade parents (parents only) transition informational meeting at U-32 at 6:30pm
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St. Patrick's Day in Barre Saturday, March 14th 9-11 Irish breakfast at Mulligan's Irish Pub - corned beef & green eggs. 10:30-11:30 Children's Cookie Decorating by Delicate Decadence at St. Monica School on Summer St. -please bring a non-perishable food item for the food shelf. Noon - St. Patrick's Day Parade in downtown Barre. 1:30-3:30 children's activities at the Aldrich Library. 1:30pm Traditional Irish Music with Trinity at Mulligan's Irish Pub. 4:30 - 7 Traditional Irish Dinner of corned beef & cabbage plus drink special at the Barre Labor Hall. Live Music at the Barre Labor Hall will include "Trinity" at 4:30 - spirited Irish pub songs and dance tunes. 7pm "Cocktail" Vermont's premier 80's rock cover band and at 9:30pm "Native Tongue" everyon's favorite classic rock band. Tickets at door $5 with an Irish dinner special - just $10 for dinner and music (dinner served until 6:30pm). NOTE MUST BE 21 AND OVER TO ENTER AFTER 6PM
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Monday, March 16th - all school performance by the VSO Harp Duo at 10:30am in the Learning Center at Berlin Elementary
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Monday, March 16th - Berlin Select Board meeting at the Town Office 7pm
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Thursday, March 19th - 1/2 day of school for Berlin Elementary students; regular day for U-32 students
Friday, March 20th - no school for Berlin Elem. or U-32
Look for programming Kid Watch will be offering for the elementary students on both of those days
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Used book sale - Thatcher Brook Primary School in Waterbury is holding a used book sale in their school gym on Thursday, March 19 from 3-8pm, Friday, March 20 from 8am - 12 and Saturday March 21 from 9am - 12.
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March 23 - preschool registration for next school year, call the school for more details
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Saturday, March 28th 10am - noon DABBLE DAYS at the Berlin Elementary Gym - activities for young children and their families put on by Success by Six.
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SUNDAYS Family Unicycle Riding - all ages and abilities welcome to join the Montpelier Unicyclists club for indoor riding and learning. Unicycles available for loan. Bring your own bicycle helmet. 4:30-6pm Montpelier Recreation Department gym, 58 Barre St, Montpelier. $2 individual, $5 family. Contact 223-3456
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Capitol Video is now at their new 25 Berlin Street location (formally Girasole) - there is now free parking and pizza and calzones made by Angelo Caserta (he operated La Pizzeria at that same location). I had a slice of their pizza last week - DELICIOUS! Pizza and calzones will be available from 11am to 8pm and this month they are having an introductory special of a free rantal with the purchase of a medium or large pizza. Coming soon to Capitol Video will be Burr Morse's fabulous maple creemees frozen in pints and maple kettle corn. Capitol Video is open every day 10am to 9pm - call 229-5756 or 223-1374 for more information. The food is for take out only but another convenience is the public restroom!
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"The Skinny Pancake" - which will offer a variety of crepe creations made with local ingredients will be opening in the City Center in the spot vacated by Ben & Jerry's.
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Households with adjusted annual income below $114,000 may qualify for a prebate to ease their tax burden. It's estimated that 90% of Berlin residents qualify for this. You must apply yearly. VT Homestead Declaration & Property Tax Adjustment application: https://secure.vermont.gov/hd/index
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VERMONT STATE SCHOLASTIC CHESS TOURNAMENT - we are excited to be hosting this popular event at Berlin Elementary School on Saturday, April 11th. http://vtchess.info This event typically draws 150 - 200 chess players from throughout Vermont. This tournament is for kindergarteners through 12th grade. $10 registration for those received on or before April 6th, $20 for registration the day of the tournament.
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Wednesday, March 04, 2009

 

our gem in central Vermont

UPDATE - Berlin decided to support the Kellogg-Hubbard Library again this year!! If you're a Berlin resident and haven't yet signed up for your library card, please do and enjoy all the benefits of being a member of this wonderful resource.

"Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries"

Each and every vote counts, please get out and vote!

Kellogg-Hubbard Library needs you as much as you need it!

These are difficult and uncertain times for everyone. The national media is filled with reports of people flocking to libraries in unprecedented numbers as they can no longer afford to buy books, computers, or have a high-speed Internet connection to help with a job search. Please vote yes for library funding on Town Meeting Day. The Library Board has kept its pledge to ask for no more than the cost of living for the next four years. This year's request is 1.8% under the cost of living. Please help make sure that the library's doors remain open to all who rely on it.

These are our funding requests for each town meeting. We have included last year’s requested amount, this year’s requested amount and the difference between each amount. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Daniel Pudvah, Executive Director at 223-3338.

Community 2008 2009 Amount requested over last year

Berlin $ 12, 074 $ 12,557 $ 483

Calais $ 23,547 $ 24,489 $ 942

E. Mont $ 31,054 $ 32,296 $ 1,242

Middlesex $ 24,561 $ 25,543 $ 982

Montpelier $ 282,668 $293,975 $11,307

Worcester $ 16,095 $ 16,739 $ 644

Total $ 390,000 $ 405,600 $15,600



What is the Kellogg-Hubbard worth to you?
If you ever wondered what the library services you use are worth to you, go to the website at www.kellogghubbard.org and click on "What's your library worth to you?" at the top of the page.

Looking for a job?
Librarians can help you find resources that will assist you with your job search. Whether you are looking for a career change, information on resume writing, material on starting a business, or a way to ace your next interview, the library will find you what you need. If you are using the library's computers to find a job, we will print one copy of your resume for free! Further copies are .15 per page.

Job Hunter’s Sourcebook
In a world that requires new and resourceful approaches to landing a position, the Job Hunter’s Sourcebook is an invaluable resource that will give you websites, e-mail addresses, and ideas that should make your job search more productive. While the book must be used in the library, you are welcome to make photocopies of needed pages.

Get your audio books online
It's no longer necessary to drive all the way to the library to get an audio book. If you have a library card go to our website and click on "Listen Up! Vermont". By following the directions you will be able to download audio books to your computer or an mp3 player, including your iPod. This service will continue to grow, so be sure to keep checking the site for new features.


Heritage Quest Online
Are you searching your family's history? Heritage Quest Online is one of the most popular databases in the country for genealogical research, and you can access it with your library card directly from the Kellogg-Hubbard website. Click on "Search Library Holdings".

New Website feature!
Want to know what you currently have out? Go to the library’s online catalog and click on “My Info”. Enter your library barcode number and use your last name as your password. You can see what you have checked out and what you currently have on reserve.

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