Sunday, January 17, 2016
Berlin News to Know January 17th
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This communication is put together and distributed on a
volunteer basis by resident Corinne Stridsberg simply in an effort to share
information and build community, it is not from the town of Berlin
Please share this with your Berlin
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For current news
look for "Berlin , Vermont
For historical
news look for "Berlin , Vermont
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For those who
like an early heads up for events, Saturday, March 19th is the date of the
annual Pie Breakfast at Rumney Elementary School
I haven't seen
the details for it yet but usually the ice harvest in Brookfield 10:30am , Floating Bridge,Sunset Lake
Below you will
find:
TOWN OFFICE
UPDATES
FINDING
HOME: VERMONT AND GROWING DIVERSITY
CENTRAL VERMONT
WOODCARVING GROUP
SKATING RINK IS
OPEN
SHOWING OF THE
HUNGRY HEART
SCHOOL BUDGETS
SET
FARMERS NIGHT AT
STATEHOUSE - FREE
FAMILY FUN DAY AT
CAPITAL CITY GRANGE HALL
U-32'S LATIN
DINNER DANCE
ADDITIONAL RECYCLABLES COLLECTION CENTER
CIVIL AIR PATROL
INFANT &
CHILD CAR SEAT INSPECTIONS
U-32 TRAIL
EXTENSION
CVMC &
FOODBANK TEAM UP TO PROVIDE MOBILE FOOD SHELF
VOTE FOR VERMONT
JOSH FITZHUGH
INTERVIEW ON "BILL DOYLE ON VERMONT
SONGWRITER DAN
LINDNER RETELLS THE BIG BANG OF BERLIN
MALEK: NEW CHAMBER
PRESIDENT ARRIVES
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TOWN
OFFICE UPDATES
On Monday, January
18th, the Town Clerk's Office will be closed while the rest of the Town offices
will be open. The 6pm Public Hearing on the
potential 1% Local Option Tax will be held at Berlin Elementary School 7pm . On Tuesday, January 19th, the Selectboard will meet at 5:30pm to finalize the budget, at 7pm the
Development Review Board will meet.
If you’re
interested in running for a position in Town such as Selectboard or School
Board, please stop in at the Town Clerk’s office to pick up a petition, you
will need to submit the petition with at least 25 valid Berlin
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FINDING
HOME: VERMONT AND GROWING DIVERSITY
Vermont History
Museum 109 State Street 12-4pm Free In the spirit of Martin Luther King
Jr., young and old are invited to write or draw about what it means to be a
Vermonter. At 1:30pm there will
be an illustrated lecture by Vermont Folklife Center Co-Director Gregory
Sharrow exploring the vital cultures of Vermont Vermont
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CENTRAL
VERMONT WOODCARVING GROUP
Monday, January
18th 1-4pm Free woodcarving instruction and projects for all
abilities. Contact Don for additional information. Barre
Congregational Church, 35 Church Street
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SKATING
RINK IS OPEN
The Town’s ice
skating rink, adjacent to the Berlin Town Office, has opened.
There is a
warm-up hut, port-o-let and lights for night skating. The switch to turn the
lights on is located on the light pole located at the "elbow" of the
"L" shaped rink. Part of the rink is utilized for hockey and part is
reserved for recreational skating. The rink is free to use for
everyone. Volunteers snowblow and flood. Many thanks especially to Tom
Willard for his work on this. If you are able to help out it
would be most appreciated. Email Andrea Chandler at andreachandler@ymail.com if
you can fill in now and again.
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The Hungry
Heart, an award-winning documentary by Vermont Montpelier High School
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SCHOOL
BUDGETS SET
The U-32 budget
of just over $15.3 million has been adopted to go before the voters as well as
the Berlin Elementary budget of just under $3.4 million was approved.
http://berlinschool.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=130&Itemid=137 -
look for January 11th minutes which were not yet posted when this was sent out
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WCSU Budget -
total 2016-2017 Final Budget of $7,068,933, which consists of $1,455,519 for
operations, $700,000 for state placed students, and $329,554 for shared special
services, to include all Special Education Support Services budgets of
$3,455,265 (excluding para-educators) and $1,128,595 for student transportation
was approved on December 3rd. It was then divided up and included in the
school budgets - U-32, Berlin East Montpelier , Rumney, Calais
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FARMERS
NIGHT AT STATEHOUSE - FREE
“Farmers Night”
– FREE weekly entertainment events at the State House begin
Wednesday, January 20th 7:30pm . With
the exception of March 2nd these continue through April 13th.
(Link to listing
of Farmers Night events:
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Thursday, January
21 • 12:00 to 1:00 pm , Vermont History Museum 109
State St.
Bring your bag lunch! Kim Royar, from the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife will share howVermont Vermont Vermont
On the Third Thursday of each month—from January through April or May, the Vermont Historical Society hosts brown bag lunches at theVermont History Museum Montpelier Vermont
Join us! Third Thursday talks take place from12:00 to 1:00 pm and are free and open to the public.
Bring your bag lunch! Kim Royar, from the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife will share how
On the Third Thursday of each month—from January through April or May, the Vermont Historical Society hosts brown bag lunches at the
Join us! Third Thursday talks take place from
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FAMILY FUN DAY AT CAPITAL CITY GRANGE HALL
Family Fun Day at
the Capital City Grange Hall, Sunday, January 24th 3-6pm $5 per person / $20 per family. Call 477-3951
with questions.
(Family Fun Day
details: http://capitalcitygrange.org/organizer/friends-of-ccg-hall )
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January 25, 3:30 pm , Vermont State House, Montpelier , VT
Featuring historian Howard Coffin, who recently donated the 19th century painting The Battle of Bull Run by James Hope, telling the story behind this critical Civil War battle and important work of art. More information at
http://www.vtstatehousefriends.org/…/the-battle-of-bull-run…
Awesome photo of the State House with people gathered out front :vtstatehousefriends.org
Featuring historian Howard Coffin, who recently donated the 19th century painting The Battle of Bull Run by James Hope, telling the story behind this critical Civil War battle and important work of art. More information at
http://www.vtstatehousefriends.org/…/the-battle-of-bull-run…
Awesome photo of the State House with people gathered out front :vtstatehousefriends.org
U-32'S
LATIN DINNER DANCE
This annual and
always enjoyed event takes place Saturday, January 30 with dinner at 6pm and music and dancing at 7pm . Students
$7, Adults $15, Family (immediate) $35.
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The next Berlin
Elementary Parents-Teachers & Neighbors Association meeting is Thursday,
February 4th 6:30pm in
the LearningCenter (library). https://sites.google.com/a/wcsu32.org/berlin-ptna/
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ADDITIONAL RECYCLABLES COLLECTION CENTER
Open for
collection Monday, Wednesday, Friday noon - 6pm , 3rd Saturdays 9am-1pm . 540 N. Main St.
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CIVIL AIR PATROL
The Civil Air Patrol
meets at the Edward F Knapp airport in Berlin 6-8:30pm at the blue hangar. Info at 229-5193.
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INFANT
& CHILD CAR SEAT INSPECTIONS
Is your child's
car seat being correctly installed to keep them safe?
Free, first
Friday of the month 12pm-4pm , appointments
required, location Berlin Fire Station. Call 371-4198 to schedule.
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Building and
flying model airplanes year-round, visitors welcome Info 485-7144.
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Another great
reason to become part of the Onion River Exchange (ORE)
80 Tools both
power and manual. Wednesday 4-6pm , Saturday 9-11am . 46 Barre Street , Montpelier
All ORE ORE
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U-32
TRAIL EXTENSION
A bridge was
built across a stream that has extended the trails available at U-32.
These trails are used for hiking, running, and skiing by U-32 and the
community. Read more about it in the January 13th Bus Stop Conversations.
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CVMC
& FOODBANK TEAM UP TO PROVIDE MOBILE FOOD SHELF
JAN. 13, 2016 Press Release
Berlin, Vt. –The Vermont Foodbank’s Veggie VanGo, a mobile food pantry, will deliver its first round of healthy groceries to the University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center in partnership with Hunger Mountain Coop on Friday, Jan. 22. All families and individuals in need are invited to pick up free, fresh produce and other groceries from9 to 11 a.m. in Conference Rooms 1 and 2 on the lower level of the
hospital in Berlin , Vt.
Berlin, Vt. –The Vermont Foodbank’s Veggie VanGo, a mobile food pantry, will deliver its first round of healthy groceries to the University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center in partnership with Hunger Mountain Coop on Friday, Jan. 22. All families and individuals in need are invited to pick up free, fresh produce and other groceries from
Veggie VanGo will
distribute food at the hospital on six Fridays throughout the winter and
spring: Jan. 22, Feb. 26, April 1, April 29, May 27 and June 24. In addition to
the Veggie VanGo distribution, Hunger Mountain Coop representatives will be
available to provide nutritional information and sign people up for their Coop
Cares program, a 10% discount supplemental program for patients receiving
3SquaresVT (formerly Food Stamps) or who participate in WIC. The Vermont
Foodbank will also have representatives available to help patients apply for
3SquaresVT.
“We believe that
all members of our community should have access to healthy food,” said CVMC
Chief Operating Officer Nancy Lothian. “If we collaborate with our local
partners to support the nutritional needs of the people in our community, it
makes a real difference in their ability to stay healthy.”
The partnership
is an extension of the medical center’s Health Care Share (HCS) program, a farm
fresh food assistance collaboration with the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps
(VYCC) farm, created to bring healthy food and nutrition education to those in
need. During the summer “food shares” are distributed weekly and provide more
than 10 pounds of freshly harvested vegetables to food insecure families for
three months.
The Vermont
Foodbank’s Veggie VanGo will allow the HCS program to expand during the
non-growing season to fill the gap for families when the VYCC farm is closed.
Last year more than 150 families and nearly 600 people were helped by the
program.
The University of
Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center is part of a
four-hospital system established to deliver high quality academic medicine to
every community we serve. Our partners are: The University of Vermont Medical
Center, The University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital Elizabethtown Community Hospital
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VOTE
FOR VERMONT
ORCA is moving
Vote for Vermont 8 pm , Fridays at 10 am and Sunday
at 5:30 pm .. Of course programs can also still be found on www.orcamedia.net
Vote For Vermont
has been on the air since last January 2014. You may have noticed some
reruns this month as the host, Pat McDonald, has been taking a few weeks off.
Starting in February there are several great shows planned which you won’t want
to miss. For example, Tom Pelham, former state finance commissioner and co-founder
of Campaign for Vermont will be talking about the budget adjustment, revenue
shortfall, education financing and the 2016 proposed budget; next will be Ed
Paquin, Executive Director of Disability Rights Vermont Inc.; followed by Kevus
Ellis who will talk about lobbying in Montpelier; and last but not least
Senator Joe Benning so the Senator and Pat can continue their discussion on the
legalization and commercialization of marijuana.
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JOSH
FITZHUGH INTERVIEW ON "BILL DOYLE
ON VERMONT
If you search on
ORCA using "Bill Doyle" you may find other interviews of interest
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SONGWRITER
DAN LINDNER RETELLS THE BIG BANG OF BERLIN
Songwriter Dan
Lindner is preparing to record a new volume in his series “Banjo Dan’s Songs of
Vermont.” Dan’s original Vermontsongs have earned him the reputation
of one of our state’s top chroniclers of Vermont
“I love to dig into
these great old Vermont Berlin Green Mount Cemetery
Dan is preparing a
new album of Vermont
Recording of the
new Banjo Dan album will depend upon the success of a Kickstarter campaign
which will run from March 1st - 31st, and Dan has asked the Berlin Historical
Society to spread the word around Berlin
This information
will be shared again on March 1st (or soon after) when the link for Dan's
Kickstarter page is available with further details for those of you interested
in seeing this project come to life. Meanwhile you may enjoy information
that can be found atwww.banjodan.com.
Dan has asked us to
thank the town of Berlin
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Pub 1/8/16 Times
Argus by David Delcore
Note: after this
article went to print, the decision was made to hold the public hearing at
the Berlin Elementary
School 6pm
As was the case
in neighboring Barre this week, discussion of the local option tax wasn’t on
the board’s warned agenda. However, it was added at the request of Town
Administrator Dana Hadley moments after Monday’s meeting was called to order by
Chairman Ture Nelson.
On a night when
the board got a ceremonial taste of water now being generated by a municipal
system that recently began serving its first three customers, Nelson posed the
simplest of questions involving a proposed local option tax.
“What do we want
to do with this?” he asked.
The answer, board
members agreed, should wait until after a promised second public hearing on a
proposal that has been advocated by their economic development committee and
was predictably criticized by members of the local business community during
the first hearing last month.
Selectman Pete
Kelley said he doubts those who own businesses in Berlin will experience a change
of heart with respect to the proposal to tack 1 percent on to the state’s 6
percent sales tax in order for the town to claim 70 percent of the proceeds —
an estimated $420,000 — as revenue.
“I guess the
businesses are going to be adamantly opposed,” he lamented.
Getting a fix on
where Berlin 6 p.m.
The board, which
held last month’s public hearing at Berlin Elementary School Shed Road 7 p.m.
With the deadline
for finalizing the Town Meeting Day warning looming, board members appear
intent on including the local option tax question on the ballot — a move some
view as a favorable alternative to the property tax, it only because it would
be paid by many people who don’t own property or even live in Berlin.
“The question is:
‘Who pays?’” said Selectman Jeremy Hansen, who serves as chairman of the
economic development committee and has been the most vocal proponent of a 1
percent sales tax.
Kelley is among
those sold on an idea that he believes is tailor-made for Berlin — one that
isn’t nearly as novel as it was when voters rejected it by nearly a 3-to-1
margin in 2001.
The appeal,
according to Kelley, Hansen and others, is that the local tax would be paid in
many cases by out-of-town shoppers, the same as it is in Williston and a dozen
other Vermont
“It’s the only
tax we have like that and it’s unique to Berlin
A 1 percent sales
tax in Berlin Montpelier
As is the case in
Barre, the Berlin
Though the
municipal portion of Berlin
“Eventually,
we’re going to have to raise (property) taxes,” she said.
“We are going
down this path of charging more,” Kelley agreed.
With the cost of
education climbing at what he characterized as “a rate that’s unsustainable,”
Kelley said considering alternatives to the property tax was a must.
The sole focus of
the discussion thus far in Berlin
Based on 2014 tax
receipts for Berlin, a 1 percent sales tax alone would generate an estimated
$420,000 — a figure that equates to roughly 16 percent of this year’s $2.6
million municipal budget.
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MALEK: NEW CHAMBER PRESIDENT ARRIVES
Pub. 1/11/16
Board Chairwoman
Leslie Sanborn has announced the hiring of William D. “Bill” Moore as the new
president of the Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce. Moore Island to Vermont
As president and
chief executive officer, Moore Berlin
“Moore Moore
“Other than
college, I haven’t lived here, but I’ve had a close relationship with the state
for decades and enjoyed a lot of great times here,” Moore
“We are excited
to have someone with Bill’s expertise and experience as we move forward,”
Sanborn said. She expressed thanks and appreciation for the success the
organization has enjoyed during the tenure of retiring President George Malek,
who has served the Chamber for more than 35 years and will be assisting in the
transition.
“We have great
members and strong programs, we’re financially sound at a time when many
associations are struggling, and I think we’ve found the right person to build
on that foundation,” Sanborn said enthusiastically.
The board chair
commended the search committee that reviewed every resume received, conducted
eight initial interviews and four second interviews before the committee and
board members interviewed two finalists. Moore
A critical
element in the Chamber’s financial strength is its ownership of Beaulieu Place
The office site
was named “Beaulieu Place
“Hundreds of
members, staff and volunteers made vital contributions to where we are today,”
said incoming Board Chair Lindel James. “We look forward to the coming chapters
in our organization’s legacy of business advocacy and community promotion,” she
added.
“We are delighted
to have Bill with us that effort,” she concluded.
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