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May Community Conversations

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Thursday May 17th, 2012
Meeting runs 6:30 to 8:30 PM

Socializing starts at 6:00
Samuel Elliot Apartments

107 Elliot Street, Brattleboro, VT

Community Conversations returns to the community room at Samuel Elliot Towers with a NEW day of the week for its meeting: the third Thursday of the month.

On May 17th, come nurture your sense of possibility as we each answer the question, “What is my one wish for Brattleboro?” Following the large group discussion, there will be an opportunity for smaller groups to expand upon these new visions or to continue discussions from previous meetings (strengthening neighborhoods, expanding community gardens/garden sharing, connecting to the global Transition Town movement, creating local “work”).

There will be time for socializing starting at 6pm. The formal meeting runs from 6:30 - 8:30 and is sponsored by Transition Town Brattleboro. The street address is 107 Elliot St - next to the fire station downtown. There is parking along parts of Elliot St and nearby streets. Please enter through the courtyard behind the bus stop.If you are late, look for the intercom panel to the right just inside the glass doors and press the buzzer labeled “COM”. We’ll come let you in. This monthly gathering is FREE and newcomers are encouraged to join us! Bring your ideas and your friends. This change of venue also allows us to bring our suppers or food to share.


April Community Conversations

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Wednesday April 11th, 2012
Meeting runs 6:45 to 8:45 PM

Socializing starts at 6:15
Gibson-Aiken Building, 
207 Main St, Brattleboro, VT


What experiences have connected you to the land, made you feel part of nature, allowed you to feel a connection to Gaia, or created a sense of "place" for you? Have you discovered this yourself or did you learn about it through books, family, friends or teachers?

Join in a conversation to engage our hearts, connect to our local "places", and to consider what this might mean to us in the development of local community. There will be a large-group discussion on this, which may be followed by smaller groups diving into whatever we uncover that we want to explore, as well as the possibility of continuing some of the discussions from March (creative expressions, community gardens, industrial hemp, and creating local "work") which had some good energy going...



March Community Conversations

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Wednesday, March 14th
Gibson-Aiken Senior Center
207 Main St, Brattleboro
Meeting from 6:45 – 8:45pm
Socializing at 6:15pm

Topic: "Come celebrate spring with novel ideas"  

Come celebrate spring with novel ideas....you are invited to an evening of surprising, thought-provoking, and possibly outrageous ideas – provided by you!  Bring your ideas, bring your friends, and have some fun with this one!  New people always welcome, and all voices will be heard. 

Brattleboro's Community Conversations is now into its third year, and sponsored by Transition Town Brattleboro.  We will be meeting the second Wednesday evening in February, in the basement of the Gibson-Aiken Building at 207 Main Street. There will be time to socialize at 6:30 pm, with the structured conversation beginning at 6:45 and ending at 8:45.  Please remember, there is no food allowed at this venue. 


The Sense Of Place - A 3 Part Series (Rescheduled)

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By Amy Hyatt, Executive Director of the Vermont Wilderness School
February 20th, March 28th, April 25th
6:30-8:00pm
111 High Street
Brattleboro

The three presentations will build on each other yet be accessible even if you cannot come to all three.   

Mon Feb. 20th: Going Local, Going Deep --  Connection with Place –

Transition Towns is all about local resiliency and local capacity. To be successful at this, we need to develop a deep relationship with the land, animals, plants, trees, birds, waters that are all part of our local communities. Join local nature connection educator Amy Hyatt in exploring what it means to be in deep relationship with the land. Amy has been guiding children and adults in deep nature connection with the local land for the past 10 years through programs of Vermont Wilderness School and the Manitou Project.

Wed March 28th: Peacemaking & Local Resiliency

Simply by living life, we encounter moments of conflict and disruption. The more interactions we have as a community and make decisions together, the more likely we are to encounter conflict and disruption. These places of conflict and disruption can be sources of creativity and renewed life or they can be sources of breakdown and disintegration. For a community to become regenerative, we need to have some practices and tools that allow us to engage conflict and disruption in a way that leads to creativity, renewed life, and deeper relationships. Local nature connection educator & presenter Amy Hyatt will be sharing stories and lessons from the Peacemaker and Haudonausaunee who went from rampant warfare and destruction to the Great Law of Peace - an alliance that has lasted for over 1000 years. She will also be sharing current practices and principles that we can use today in our lives, community relations, and governance (i.e. community decision making). 

Wed April 25th - (Rescheduled from Wed Feb. 29th): Community Mentoring and Local Resiliency

Have you ever known someone who knew a lot about a skill like building a house, growing a fabulous garden, preserving food, or playing the fiddle but didn't pass the skill on before the person died? Have you found yourself wishing you knew how to do something or for the support of someone else in handling a challenge in your life? Did you know that current research on learning and brain development tells us that we learn best engaged with people, nature and real life situations? We are wired to learn from each other and, in past generations, the vitality of our families and communities were dependent on older generations passing their skills and insights on to younger generations and younger generations sharing their vitality and imagination with older generations. Join local nature connection educator & presenter Amy Hyatt in exploring aspects of mentoring, learning, and creating resiliency in our local knowledge-base and relationships.  


Transition Handbook Study Series

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Three consecutive Sunday Evenings: 
February 12th, 19th, and 26th

5:00 - 6:30pm
111 High Street, Apt 1
Brattleboro


Each evening will focus on one section of the Handbook: Head, Heart, and Hands.

The first  session, Feb 12, will focus on the concepts and issues central to the case of needing to prepare for a very different future given the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change.

Feb.19 will deal with the importance of having a positive vision, understanding the psychology of change, and harnessing the power of a positive vision.

The last session, Feb 26th will explore the Transition model for inspiring local resilience-building.

Participants are asked to choose two or three brief selections  from the section which seem particularly important.  These selections will shape the discussion.


February Community Conversations - Personal Inspiration

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Wednesday, February 8th
Gibson-Aiken Senior Center
207 Main St, Brattleboro
Meeting from 6:45 – 8:45pm
Socializing at 6:30pm

Topic: "Tell us about someone who has inspired you in the last 12 months." 

From this conversation starter, we will dive in to what really makes inspiration and action happen for us in the year of 2012.  And for a February conversation, something to get us all out of the mid-winter blahs and thinking about both inspiration and doing things should be perfect!
 
Brattleboro's Community Conversations is now into its third year, and sponsored by Transition Town Brattleboro.  We will be meeting the second Wednesday evening in February, in the basement of the Gibson-Aiken Building at 207 Main Street. There will be time to socialize at 6:30 pm, with the structured conversation beginning at 6:45 and ending at 8:45.  Please remember, there is no food allowed at this venue.


Community Food Sustainability - Cooking Seasonal Veggies.

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This is the third part of a 3-part series in growing, 
preserving, and cooking local veggies.  


Thursday, January 26, 2012, 7–8:30 PM
Brattleboro Savings & Loan
221 Main Street
Brattleboro, VT


Focusing on fall and winter vegetables, cookbook author Leda Scheintaub will share two of her favorite time and energy‐saving techniques for the post‐petroleum world: slow‐cooking and no‐cooking, so with alittle advance planning you will be able to put together a balanced meal in very little active time. She’ll also provide tips on navigating the kitchen with ease and how to read a recipe. Participants are encouraged to share one or two of their favorite kitchen tips and to bring a recipe they’ve been wanting to tackle; we’ll deconstruct it to take the guesswork out of successfully executing that recipe in your kitchen.


PUT PEOPLE FIRST COMMUNITY MEETING 

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Hosted by the Vermont Workers’ Center

Monday, January 16th, 2012, 6–8:30PM
Agape Church
30 Canal Street

Brattleboro, VT

Struggling with...
healthcare, food, housing, student debt, jobs, transportation, services for disabilities, Irene, safe environment, heat?  You Are Not Alone.

Imagine, a Vermont which meets its communities’ needs
Imagine, a Vermont that Puts People First!

Dinner, Raffle, Childcare

For more information please contact Kiera at (802) 380–0857 or kiera@workerscenter.org.

For ASL interpreters and disability-related requests please contact Joyce Werntgen 802–229–5472 or joywert@yahoo.com at least 5 days before this event.

Out of respect for people with multiple chemical sensitivities, please refrain from using chemically scented products while attending this event.


January Community Conversations - Winter Seed Catalog Dream

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Wednesday, January 11th
Gibson-Aiken Senior Center
207 Main St, Brattleboro
Meeting from 6:45 – 8:45pm
Socializing at 6:30pm


The first Community Conversation of the new year starts with the topic: What is your "Winter Seed Catalog Dream"?  We'll be tapping into the dreaming/fantasizing/planning that traditionally goes on in the winter, while we're recharging our energy, treading over frozen ground, and waiting for the next season.  (In this fantasy, next season will be free from bugs, plant diseases, raccoons, deer, and woodchucks - all our crops will actually look like the pictures in the seed catalogs only better!) 

We'll also continue the discussion of what it's like to ask for and to accept help, as we explore the concepts of Mutual Aid groups which were introduced by Tim Stevenson and Kiera Lewis at the December meeting.


December Community Conversations

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Wednesday, December 14th
Gibson-Aiken Senior Center
207 Main St, Brattleboro
Meeting from 6:30 – 8:40pm
Socializing 6 – 6:30pm


The December Community Conversation will have 2 main sections; a conversation starter and a discussion on Mutual Aid Groups.

Conversation Starter:
What have been your experiences of helping a friend in need or of receiving help from a friend? Are experiences of helping one another different when they happen outside the context of close friendships? That is, what is it like to "help one another" when the one receiving or offering the help happens to be a neighbor, an acquaintance, or a community member who is unfamiliar to you? How do these forms of community-building feel different from giving/receiving charity?

Discussion on Mutual Aid Groups - Led by Tim Stevenson of Post Oil Solutions and Kiera Lewis
Check out the files below for more information.

mutual_aid_11.08.11.docx
File Size: 18 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

mutual_aid_11.29.11.docx
File Size: 20 kb
File Type: docx
Download File


Brattleboro Area Transition Town Training

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Friday December 9th - Sunday December 11th.
Dummerston Congregational Church
Intersection of Middle Road and East-West Road 
Dummerston, Vermont

We require $65 from each participate to cover costs.

Friday evening December 9 from 5:30 to 9:00 including a potluck meal 
continuing Saturday December 10 from 9:15 to 5:30 
and finishing Sunday afternoon December 11 from 1:00 to 5:30

One way we can make the future positive is through involving ourselves in a Transition Town.   Transition US has created a training for those who want to make a Transition Town work where they live.   Several organizers from Brattleboro and Dummerston are inviting you to bring your commitment, your fears, your good will, and even your skepticism to a highly participatory weekend of training, networking, and creativity.  This training will be facilitated by Tina Clarke, East Coast Transition Trainer, Scott McKeown, Training Coordinator for TransitionUS, and Rev.Jim Demming, national environmental justice program director for the United Church of Christ.

Whether or not you live in Brattleboro or Dummerston you will benefit both from the general activities and the small groupings by geographical location.

MARK YOUR CALENDER and come to this weekend training!

Contact Cara Benedetto childrenotf@comcast.net  for more information, for driving or carpooling information and to register. 

Contact Numbers:
Through December 8th: 802-254-8582
Friday Decmber 9th and later: 802-258-2655
Once you are registered we’ll be in touch with some materials to enhance your experience that weekend.
See http://www.transitionnetwork.org/training for more information.

DIRECTIONS  TO  DUMMERSTON   CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH

1535 Middle Road
At intersection of Middle Road and East-West Road
Dummerston, VT

From 91 South, take Exit 3, go ¾ around circle to Rte 5 N. 1.4 miles t
Middle Road on left
Stay on Middle Road 2.5 miles to top (road takes a left at .6miles)
Church is at top of hill on your left.

From 91 North
Take Exit 4
Turn Left onto Rte 5 S.
Turn R onto Schoolhouse Road (stay straight as it becomes East-West Road)
Climb 3 miles to top. Church is ahead on left

From RT 30
Go over covered bridge and turn right.
Climb East-West-Road 3 miles to top
Church is on right at intersection



Brattleboro Winter Biking Workshop

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Thursday, November 17,  2011, 
River Garden, Main St.  7-8:30 p.m.  
          
Don’t hide inside. Ride!     

We warmly invite you to come discover the thrill of winter biking!  Take 
action against climate change and have an absolute blast while avoiding 
“winter body syndrome” this year. Come learn important tips on clothing, 
equipment and safety for commuting, errands, or just plain ol’ having 
fun.  Plus explore how thousands enjoy winter biking in Chicago, 
Minneapolis, New York City, Toronto, Montreal, and elsewhere.   
     
There’s a bicycle revolution happening now…come join us! 
  • Presentations from seasoned riders and shop owners 
  • Videos – from the vibrant winter bike communities in Toronto & Chicago
  • Slide show – great examples of winter bikes and adventures
  • Demonstrations – winter gear and important riding tips
  • Drinks & snacks
Everyone from dedicated winter riders to the curious invited.  Experienced winter cyclists are encouraged to come and  
teach us how you ride and thrive in the winter. 

Co-sponsored by Post Oil Solutions  & The Children and Parents Project  

For more info call 802.258.7013 
brattleborowinterbike@gmail.com




Save the Secrets of the Seasons: A Global Warming Co-Opera

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Written and performed by John Ungerleider and Bill Conley

Friday, October 28th 7pm
Dummerston Congregational Church
  

Suggested donation $10 to benefit the Greater Brattleboro Area December Transition Town Training

An original, participatory musical reflective journey that engages the audience with the challenges Global Warming brings to our lives.  For information: susanna@griefen.com; 802-257-0544

Secret of The Seasons Video:


Coming Together in a Time of Challenge & Change

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The Windham County Transition Towns
Invite Everyone to a Conversation

Sunday, July 17th, 7 - 9 PM.  Free.  All Invited!
 The Stone Church, 210 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT



You are invited to a conversation about how to strengthen our towns and region in changing times. The cost of energy is rising and with it the cost of food, home heating, transportation and nearly everything in our lives.  These rising costs, combined with economic deterioration and weather disruptions from climate change, pose a “Triple Challenge” that requires strong action.  We cannot wait for others to rescue us.

Transition Towns is a fast-growing, global movement tackling the triple challenge with creative action.  The aim is to increase local resilience and economic vitality.

Thousands of communities around the world are exploring and using this positive, solutions-focused approach. In Vermont, nine towns have started Transition Initiatives, 24 in Massachusetts and one in New Hampshire.  In the Transition movement people come together to talk, innovate, and support each other in making the transition from a society dependent on expensive, health-damaging, weather-disrupting energy to a safer, economically stronger future.

Join a highly participatory conversation and evening of networking and creativity facilitated by Tina Clarke, The USA’s East Coast Transition Trainer.