Berlin Community News

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Sent by Corinne Stridsberg and also posted at: http://socialenergy.blogspot.com
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If you're not already receiving this news by email, send an email to request this to corinnestridsberg@gmail.com
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Check out the Berlin, Vermont Community News page on facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Berlin-Vermont/205922199452224
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Included below please find:
EARTH DAY ACTIVITES AT HUNGER MOUNTAIN COOP
VENTURE VERMONT OUTDOOR CHALLENGE 2013
VT. KIDS GET REVVED UP FOR READING
AT THE SENIOR CENTER: NEW PARTNERSHIP, NEW KITCHEN, NEW MEALS PROGRAMS
DOG RIVER FARM CSA
ANNUAL BIKE SWAP MAY 4TH AT ONION RIVER SPORTS 9AM - 12PM
'JUDGEMENT CALL' MAY HELP BERLIN MUNICIPAL WATER PLAN
FROM BERLIN FRONT PORCH FORUM
.. PAID SURVEY ON PRENATAL CARE AND BIRTH EXPERIENCE
.. BERLIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY POTLUCK/PROGRAM MEETING MAY 22
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EARTH DAY ACTIVITES AT HUNGER MOUNTAIN COOP
On Earth Day, Monday, April 22nd, Hunger Mountain Coop will be holding its 3rd annual book swap. There will also be face painting and kids can plant their own seedlings. From 12-1pm there will be an Earth Day Plant Walk around the Coop wit...h a clinical herbalist. Meet vendors and sample their goods, for instance from 2-5pm High Mowing Seeds. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Stonecutters Way in Montpelier. More details at: http://www.hungermountain.coop/OurCommunity/News/tabid/148/entryid/179/Default.aspx

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VENTURE VERMONT OUTDOOR CHALLENGE 2013
Earth Day and School Vacation week seem like a wonderful time to start in on the Venture Vermont Outdoor Challenge 2013. When you reach 250 points, you win free day entry into VT State Parks for the rest of the 2013 season and for the enti...re 2014 season and a VIP gold medal! Three main rules are to take photos of all activities, one scorecard per person and have a blast! Score sheets are at the following link: http://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/venturevt.htm

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VT. KIDS GET REVVED UP FOR READING
WCAX coverage of the Race to Read at Berlin Elementary School.  Having met a challenge to read 15 books each in the last two months they received a visit from race car driver Troy Kingsbury and even got to sign his race car! http://www.wcax.com/video?clipId=8793120&autostart=true

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AT THE SENIOR CENTER: NEW PARTNERSHIP, NEW KITCHEN, NEW MEALS PROGRAMS
Check out this link for an article by Nat Frothingham about the new commercial kitchen at the Senior Center in Montpelier which many Berlin residents belong to.  Starting July 1st there will be some food-related activities including moving the Meals on Wheels Program to the Senior Center.  There will also be a cafe meal on Thursdays which can be eaten at the senior center or taken home.
http://www.montpelierbridge.com/2013/04/at-the-senior-center-new-partnership-new-kitchen-new-meals-programs/

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Route 12 Berlin, 2 miles south of Montpelier  http://dogriverfarm.com or on facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dog-River-Farm/128915153872460
Dog River Farm is a certified organic farm with diverse markets. We have a farm stand on site that is open 7 days a week 10am-7pm. We sell wholesale locally and regionally through an organic cooperative. You can also find us at local farmers markets. We employ a variety of folks from May through January and do accept apprentices from time to time.  - George Gross 223-1559 
Three CSA choices:
All inclusive share- DRF fruits and vegetables coupled with local bread, eggs, cheese and other product made right here in our community. 16 weeks -$575
Veggie (and fruit) only- DRF fruit and vegetables to fill you fridge and belly.
16 weeks- $350
Seasons Pass- build your own CSA share at the farm-stand by buying a re-loadable CSA card that you use when you want. Come to the stand and shop as you wish, swipe your card and buy what you want. Buy a $250 CSA card and receive $300 worth of credit on that card. An affordable way to get in to the spirit of a CSA.
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Also note that Dog River Farm is compiling a list of extra hands to come work during busy times when certain jobs require more hands.  Vegetable farm work is physically demanding.  Contact them at dogriverfarm@gmail.com

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ANNUAL BIKE SWAP MAY 4TH AT ONION RIVER SPORTS 9AM - 12PM
Bring in your bike beginning Monday, April 29 thru Friday, May 3
Dig your old bikes out of the garage, basement, shed, or yard, get them all cleaned up, and bring them to Onion River Sports for our Annual Bike Swap! We begin accepting bikes Monday, April 29 when we open at 9am and close the doors to Swapped bikes at 8pm on Friday, May 3.  In the mean time, there are a lot of things you can do to get your bike ready:  brush off the cobwebs or dirt, put some air in the tires, shine up that bicycle, lube the chain. A clean, shiny bicycle is more likely to sell for the price you want!
We also accept used trailers, tag-a-longs, unicycles and jogging strollers, so there are plenty of opportunities to swap your quality used gear for a check or store credit.
If your bike sells you get either:  80% of the selling price as a check; 100% of the selling price in store credit; 110% of the selling price in store credit towards the purchase of a new bike within one week of the Swap (until May 12th)!
Please, try not to call the store between 9am and 12pm to see if your bike has sold – our staff is busy selling your bike! This is a very busy morning at ORS and most likely, our staff will be unable to check on the sale of your specific bicycle. If you would like to know, you are welcome to come to the Swap to see if your bike has sold or wait until after 12pm to call us. Thanks for understanding!
If you’re buying a bike (or bikes):
Swap starts at 9:00 am (the line usually starts forming at 8:00am or earlier) and you’ll get great deals on used bikes!  We’ll also have bicycle Odds and Ends at terrific deals! Show up early, the good ones go first - the Swap ends at 12:00 pm!
We will have hundreds of used bikes–and most of our staff–in the Onion River Sports’ parking lot to help you find the perfect new-to-you bike for you and your family.
If your bike does NOT sell at the Bike Swap, you are responsible for picking it up at Onion River Sports on Sunday, May 5 between 11am and 4pm. If you do not pick up your bike, we’ll donate it for you to a great local organization that helps get kids on bikes.
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'JUDGEMENT CALL' MAY HELP BERLIN MUNICIPAL WATER PLAN
Pub. 4/17/13 Times Argus by David Delcore
   BERLIN — Just when it looked like Berlin’s ability to leverage favorable financing for a $5.5 million municipal water system had all but evaporated, the town was the beneficiary of a “judgment call” made by a federal employee who essentially concluded that no information was good information.
   Rhonda Shippee, community programs director for USDA Rural Development in Vermont and New Hampshire, may have kept the town’s hopes of constructing a water system afloat based on what she conceded Monday was an “unusual” decision involving a newly completed income survey.
   The results of that survey were relayed to USDA Rural Development last week by a consultant who spent nearly two months attempting to collect necessary data from the 59 households that could potentially be served by the proposed water system.
   Due to the small sample size, an 87 percent response rate — roughly 51 of the 59 households — was believed to be necessary to qualify for USDA financing.
   And here’s where Shippee may have saved the day, because while Shaun Fielder, executive director of the Vermont Rural Water Association, collected 52 of the surveys — an 88 percent response rate — 14 of them were from participants who simply refused to fill out the form.
   Shippee’s flexible interpretation of whether to allow those blank surveys to be counted toward meeting the threshold established by USDA boiled down to her definition of the word “response” and the absence of one in federal guidelines.
   “It was a ‘response’ with no income information, but it was a ‘response,’ as opposed to just ‘nothing was received,’” she said Monday, stressing her decision doesn’t mean Berlin will qualify for favorable financing town officials say they need in order to keep the water system affordable.
   “They (Berlin) potentially qualify for funding,” she said, noting the town satisfied three key criteria, one of which can be directly traced to the income survey.
   According to Shippee, Berlin’s population is less than 10,000, water projects are eligible for USDA financing and, based on the income survey conducted by Fielder, the median household income in the service area for the proposed water system is well below the $57,328 eligibility ceiling.
   Shippee acknowledged that might be due to a sample size that wasn’t as statistically significant as she would have hoped.
   Fielder was able to collect income-related information from 38, or roughly 65 percent, of the 59 households.
   According to the survey results, household incomes ranged from $2,000 to $175,000 with a median income of $42,500.
   Shippee said it was a first-of-its-kind turn of events involving a type of project — a new water system — that USDA Rural Development isn’t often asked to help finance.
   “I’ll be honest, we’ve never had a case where people respond (to income surveys) and say: ‘I choose not to provide my income,’” she said.
   Some residents’ stubborn refusal to fill out a simple survey that they were assured committed them to nothing and would be kept confidential threatened to derail efforts to secure favorable financing for the project earlier this month.
   Fielder warned the Select Board of that possibility during an April 1 briefing. At the time Fielder had only persuaded 31, or 53 percent, of the 59 targeted households to provide him with income-related information, while seven households — 12 percent of the total — had flatly refused.
   During the course of the ensuing week, Fielder picked up seven more responses, doubled the number of refusals and, after consulting with Shippee’s office, found reason for renewed optimism. He said he was told forms returned by those unwilling to provide any income-related information could be counted toward meeting a pre-established target designed to ensure the statistical validity of the income survey.

Shippee said she’ll need to see the individual forms, but believed she had the flexibility to count ones that were returned, but not completed.
   “It was an unusual situation,” she said, defending a decision that some might view as relaxing a standard in order to accommodate a community’s application for federal financing.
   “I prefer to err on the side of the customer,” she said.
   The proposed water system would serve the Berlin Four Corners area, as well an area adjacent to the Barre-Montpelier Road. The water system, which was narrowly approved by voters in February, contemplates the installation of 31,500 linear feet of water line, and construction of a 400,000-gallon water storage tank and pump station that would be located near the three town-owned wells on Scott Hill Road.
   In addition to resolving longstanding problems with contaminated drinking water supplies in the area, town officials believe that providing a reliable and affordable source of drinking water would assist existing businesses and unleash the potential for future economic development.
   david.delcore@timesargus.com

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FROM BERLIN FRONT PORCH FORUM
Below are just a couple of postings... there have been many more
Membership is free - to join go to visit http://frontporchforum.com
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PAID SURVEY ON PRENATAL CARE AND BIRTH EXPERIENCE
Tucker Wright, Ksv - Fisher Road
Posted to: Berlin No. 117 April 19, 2013
Central Vermont Medical Center is committed to delivering the highest quality, most relevant services to its community.
As part of this effort, CVMC is conducting research with local women to better understand what they are looking for when it comes to decisions about prenatal care and childbirth.
Please participate in this short phone survey and earn a generous stipend in thanks for your time and insight.
YOU:
•Option 1: Female resident of Central Vermont (preferably close to Waterbury) who has given birth in the area within the last 3 years.
•Option 2: Female resident of Central Vermont who is pregnant (or trying to get pregnant), and has NOT YET made a decision about where to give birth
WHAT: 40 minute conversation on opinions about prenatal care and birth
HOW: Over the phone
WHEN: Sometime in the next 2 weeks
If you are interested in participating and think you fit the profile, please contact us. Email twright@ksvc.com with your full name, phone number, email address and place/date of your last birthing experience (or tell us that you’re pregnant or planning to be soon).
We will contact you for a pre-interview conversation. No phone calls, please.
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BERLIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY POTLUCK/PROGRAM MEETING MAY 22
Norbert Rhinerson - Scott Hill Road
Posted to: Berlin  No. 117 April 19, 2013
For those of you that plan ahead The Berlin Historical Society is holding its annual potluck/program meeting on May 22 at the Congregational Church Parish Hall on Scott Hill Road.
The potluck is at 6 PM and if you plan to attend please call Cheryl, our potluck coordinator at 223-5306.
The program at 7PM features Howard Coffin who has just completed his fouth book “Something Abides” which describes hundreds of Civil War related sites in Vermont and Berlin is included. Howard will talk about Vermont and the Civil War. This program is supported by the Humanities Council of Vermont. No reservation is needed for the Program but to gauge the attendance a call to Norbert Rhinerson at 223-1203 or e mail at Norbert925@myfairpoint.net would be appreciated.