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Hi all -
'Tis the season - Christmas, Hanukkah,
Solstice, whichever holiday you celebrate - it's a nice time of year to
contemplate how we all come together as a community.
The Cabot Church needs your help. This important community center
is struggling, and we all need to think about how to maintain a
sanctuary, a place of comfort and celebration and safety in the center
of town.
I've agreed to serve as a volunteer pastor at the
church during the Christmas season. I try to make the services
welcoming to people of all faith and wisdom traditions. It would be
lovely if you could join us. If you have children and want to find ways
to make the service meaningful for them, please let me know. It would
be nice to have families lighting the advent candles, and some kind of
children's event as we get closer to Christmas, to remember the
non-materialistic roots of the tradition in the midst of all the
shopping and toys and pressures.
Cabot is a great community. I'm sure it will be
possible to make the church in the center of town a place where everyone
feels welcome and comfortable. A place where families can get away
from the normal daily routine and have a bit of peace and meditative
space to reflect on how we find meaning and purpose and connectedness in
our lives.
Thanks for reading this far. Hope to see you soon. The services are at 10:00 on Sunday.
Peace, Gwen.
__________________________________
Gwendolyn Hallsmith
Please
help us make this a
special Christmas for Cabot children.
__________________________________
Gwendolyn Hallsmith
* * * * *
SELECTBOARD MEETING AGENDA – December 5,
2012 at 7:00 PM
1.
Approve minutes of October 17 and November 21, 2012.
2.
Public Comment
3.
Administrative Duties
a. Dog Complaint – Long
b.
Gochey Water/Wastewater Disconnect Request
c.
Liquor License Renewals – Searles Village Store and Butters
Restaurant
d. Budget
4.
Correspondence
5.
Legal
6.
Other Business
7.
Adjourn
* * * * *
Toy
Donations Needed for Faith In Action's Third
Annual “Toys for Girls and Boys”
As in
past years, we accept unwrapped new and/or good
condition gifts suitable to Cabot children of all
ages. We have had a large donation of hats but are in
need of books, toys, stuffed animals, dolls,
backpacks, board games,
gloves, mittens and other gifts.
Donations
may be dropped off at the Faith in Action Office
in the Masonic Building at 3339 Main Street, Cabot on
Tuesday, Wednesday or
Thursday from 9 to 12, or left at the front door if we
are closed.
* * * * *
Click on line above to see web page.
* * * * *
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The following are the three investment areas of the Working Lands Enterprise Fund:
Contact: NOELLE SEVOIAN
Vermont Agency of Agriculture
(802) 585-9072
The
Working Lands Enterprise Board today announced the release of available
grant funds to invest $986,500 into agricultural, forestry and forest
product enterprises and organizations. The announcement took place
during the luncheon of the “Financing the Working Landscape Conference”,
organized by Addison County Relocalization Network (ACORN), the Addison
County Economic Development Corporation (ACEDC) and the Addison County
Regional Planning Commission (ACRPC).
“Vermont’s
working landscape captures Vermont’s heritage, its culture, and its
people,” according to Board Chair, Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Ross.
“It provides tens of thousands of jobs and contributes greater than 15%
to Vermont’s Gross Domestic Product. Today’s announcement represents the
state of Vermont’s investment in preserving and enhancing Vermont’s
working lands.”
The
2012 Legislative session brought with it a renewed commitment to
Vermonters’ values by passing the Working Lands Enterprise initiative
for the management and investment of $1 million into agricultural and
forestry based businesses. Over 97 percent of Vermonters value the
working landscape. Approximately 20 percent of Vermont’s land is used
for agricultural purposes and 75 percent as forestry. The backbone of
Vermont’s “working landscape” is the economic viability of the
agriculture and forestry based businesses. It is Vermont’s working
landscape that allows us to be a key economic engine within the
northeast metropolitan markets of the regional food system.
Commissioner of the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, Michael
Snyder, comments on the importance of the partnership, saying “This is a
historical moment,
placing agriculture and forestry on the same investment platform.”
The Working Lands Enterprise initiative, Act 142, (http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2012/Acts/ACT142.pdf)
created the Working Lands Enterprise Fund (WLEF) and the Working Lands
Enterprise Board (WLEB). The WLEB includes private sector
representatives from agriculture and forestry; state government
including the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets, Vermont
Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation, and the Vermont Agency
of Commerce and Community Development; and ex-officio members from the
Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, the Vermont Economic Development
Authority,
and the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund.
The following are the three investment areas of the Working Lands Enterprise Fund:
1. Agriculture and Forestry & Forest Products: Enterprise Investments:
$3,000-$15,000 grants. Applications due no later than 5:00pm., January 24, 2013. (Postmarked by January 24 for mailed proposals)
2. Agriculture and Forestry & Forest Products: Working Lands Service Provider Grants:
$10,000 - $100,000 grants. Letter of Intent due no later than 5:00pm.,
January 4, 2013. Applications due no later than 5:00pm., February 15,
2013.
3. Agriculture and Forestry & Forest Products: Capital and Infrastructure Investments:
$15,000 - $100,000 grants. Letter of Intent due no later than 5:00pm.,
January 4, 2013. Applications due no later than 5:00pm., March 8, 2013.
Secretary of Commerce and Community
Development, Lawrence Miller, states “The working landscape is the
foundation of several of our most important economic sectors:
fundamental to agriculture, forest products, stone and minerals, and
renewable energy, but also critical for our tourism economy. Interacting
with the land in work and recreation is also a fundamental part of our
culture. The WLEF is an important tool for ensuring that we are able to
make the transitions and diversification necessary to secure the
working landscape for future generations.”
To access the Request For Proposals and the Working Lands Initiative home page, visit VermontWorkingLands.com or VermontAgriculture.com.
###
About the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets:
VAAFM facilitates, supports and encourages the growth and viability of
agriculture in Vermont while protecting the working landscape, human
health, animal health, plant health, consumers and the environment.
Visit www.VermontAgriculture.com
* * * * *
There, those are taken care of. I was away from my computer yesterday, and as luck would have it, more than the usual number of announcements came in. I had some email correspondence to take care of, too, and although I did some, I still have a few left to answer.
Our day has lost its shine. We started off with foggy haze, but then the sun broke through and for a few minutes, it was beautiful. Mid 30's with a nice NW wind that seemed destined to dry things out a bit. We had .66 inches of rain overnight, so again, everything is soggy and more of the pond has opened up. When I went out yesterday, I could see that in the middle and first ponds there was still some very thin ice, but after the rain last night, I doubt if there's much of that left. Now there are heavy clouds and it looks very threatening over Walden way, so I expect we'll be getting some weather sooner than expected. The temperature seems to be heading down, so looks like our precip will likely be snow. I plan to go into Cabot this afternoon, but I don't think whatever we get will be much of a problem.
I had a lovely lunch with a friend at her home in St. Johnsbury yesterday. We worked together "way back when" at Lesnick's, a large farm machinery and automobile dealership located where the Aubuchon store is now. I had gone there as a bookkeeper after a short stint doing secretarial work at Fairbanks Scale Co. - back then I think it was still Fairbanks, Morse & Company.
I left eventually to go to work at the radio station, and after my children came, was a stay-at-home mother. As too often happens, over the years as we were each raising our families and experiencing life's good times and not-so-good times, we lost touch - but we still remained friends; it was that sort of friendship that we could go long periods without actually seeing each other, and still be aware of the ups and downs for each of us. Getting together yesterday was as if we'd only seen each other last week - except we had way more to talk about, catching up on children and grands. We decided not to wait so long before getting together again.
Today I'm headed to see Blanche Lamore, if she's at home this afternoon. I need to return a framed picture she loaned me to copy for the historical society. After I see Blanche for a few minutes, I'm headed to the town clerk's office to look up some land and death records. I have requests from time to time, so I save them until I'm headed into town for some other reason, otherwise I'd be running into town every few days.
Now I need to finish some correspondence - then perhaps I should get out my Christmas card list . . . Christmas has a way of sneaking up on me and some years I never quite finish getting all the cards off. I have to admit the list gets shorter every year for cards I actually put in the mail. There are various reasons, of course. One is that I send more e-cards or e-mail messages than I used to, but also there's the reality that as we get older, friends and family pass away. Christmas is filled with mixed emotions and in addition to the joy of the music and pageantry and gifting, there's the sadness of seeing a name crossed off and usually a little notation with the date of death that causes me to pause and remember. This year there will be several more names crossed off, but there will be a few new ones to add, as well. That's life.
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