CCCA Announces Photo Contest Winners

Submitted by Peter J. LaBelle 

The judging has concluded in the annual photo contest sponsored by the Cavendish Community and Conservation Association.  A three judge panel selected winners in three age categories.  This year the judges awarded Stacia Spaulding first prize in the adult category for her photo - Doe Re Mi.  Runner-ups to 1st prize were Jillian Palmer's Winter Morning and Mary McCallum's Summer Greens.  The winner in age category 13-18 is Chris Palmer for his photo Cat Tails, and first prize in age category 5 to 12 goes to Emery Benoit for her photo Red White and Blue. 

All photographs had to be taken in Cavendish, including Proctorsville by a full or part time Cavendish resident.  The theme of the contest this year was “A View of Cavendish.” 

As well as vying for top prize, each photograph was entered in a contest for inclusion in the CCCA 2012 calendar.  This year marks the seventh year of the CCCA’s annual calendar, and the fourth year of the annual photo contest.  Calendar photos are selected by vote of Cavendish residents, and the photo with the most votes receives the Popular Choice Award. 

The choices for the next calendar are: Main St by James Burt; Spring Deer by Paula Felt; Seeds of Love by Martha Mott; Milkweed by Svetlana Phillips; Winter Morning by Jillian Palmer; Black River Valley by Winston Churchill; Purple Beauties by Cindy Fitzgibbons; Stop and Smell the Flowers by Tim O'Donoghue; Glad to be Back by Hans Schrag; Doe Re Mi by Stacia Spaulding; Apple Blossoms by Ellen Parrish; and Cat Tails by Chris Palmer. 

Best in show is Spring Deer, by Paula Felt with runner ups Doe Re Mi by Stacia Spaulding and Playground Pug by Gail Verheyen. 

CCCA has already announced that the next contest will occur in spring 2012, so Cavendish residents should be pointing their cameras around town and taking their best shots.

RWSU August Meeting Schedule

August 3, 2011	7:00 PM	Union #39 School Board
		Regular Meeting
		Mt Holly Elementary School
August 3,  2011	7:00 PM	Mount Holly Elementary School Board
		Regular Meeting
		Mt Holly Elementary School
August 15, 2011	4:00 PM	Plymouth School Board
		Regular Meeting
		Superintendent’s Office
August 16, 2011	6:30 PM	Rutland Windsor S.U.
		Governance Committee Mtg.
		Cavendish Town Elementary School
August 24, 2011	7:00 PM	Rutland Windsor S.U.
		Regular Meeting
		Superintendent’s Office

Cavendish Concerts Continue with Voodoo Alien Blues Band

Submitted by Peter J. LaBelle 

The Cavendish Community and Conservation Association invites everyone to come to the Proctorsville Green on Route 131 for the continuing Cavendish summer music series on Wednesday, August 10^th at 6:00 p.m. to listen to Voodoo Alien Blues Band. 

The Rutland based all star rhythm and blues band is led by local blues legend Steve Audsley and appears regularly at a variety of Vermont venues.  

This will be the last in the series of Wednesday evening concerts this year.  Come to Proctorsville and enjoy a warm summer evening with your neighbors and friends in front of the gazebo on the green.  Relax in the grass on your blanket or favorite lawn chair – have a picnic or just listen to the music. 

As always, the concerts are free and open to the public and will be held rain or shine.

Garden Club Herb Luncheon August 11

Submitted by  JoAnn Milza

The Garden Club of Ludlow will hold its Annual Herb Luncheon on Thursday, August 11 at 12pm  at the home of Emily Clifford. Members are asked to bring a luncheon dish made from their own gardens , herbs or home grown produce. After lunch, there will be a Garden Tour. Members who wish to carpool  will meet at Shaw's Parking Lot at 11:40.  For further information, please call 672-4041.

U39 School Board Agenda, August 3

Submitted by UNION #39 SCHOOL BOARD

Regular Meeting

Wednesday, August 3, 2011 -  7:00 PM

Mount Holly Elementary School 

A G E N D A

I. CALL TO ORDER:
a. Roll Call
II. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT:
III. PUBLIC COMMENTS:
IV. POLICIES, JOINT:
V. DEPARTMENT/COMMITTEE REPORTS, JOINT:
a. Technology 

VI. RECESS TO INDIVIDUAL BOARD’S LOCATIONS:
VII. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL:
VIII. COMMUNICATIONS:
a. Public Comments
b. Oral Communications
c. Written Communications
d. Board Comments
 
IX. MINUTES, APPROVAL:
a. July 6, 2011, Regular Meeting
b. July 19, 2011, RWSU/WSWSU Meeting (for reference)

X. BUSINESS ITEMS:
a. Expenditure Report
b. High School Choice with Mill River
c. Student Participation in Sports Not Offered at Black River –update on policy
d. Food Service Contract Outcome
e. Heating Oil
f. Approval of Exchange Program/French Immersion Program

XI. DEPARTMENT/COMMITTEE/PRINCIPAL REPORTS:
a. Principal Report
i. Handbook Review:
i. Student
ii. Faculty
iii. Athletics
XII. POLICY:
XIII. CONTRACTS/HIRING/ RESIGNATIONS:
a. Long Term Substitute Science Teacher

XIV. BOARD GOALS:
XV. NEXT MEETING & SET AGENDA ITEMS:
a. Schedule Retreat
XVI. EXECUTIVE  SESSION:
XVII. ADJOURNMENT:

Next Meeting:                   September 7, 2011, Regular Meeting, Black River High School, Regular Meeting

Cavendish Concert on the Green Continues with Gypsy Reel

Submitted by Peter J. LaBelle 

The Cavendish Community and Conservation Association invites everyone to spend an evening having fun on the Proctorsville Green listening to the continuing summer music series on Wednesday, August 3^rd at 6:00 p.m. when CCCA presents Gypsy Reel.

For over twenty years they have been acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.  Gypsy Reel, in their own words, is not a rock band that Celts, but a Celt band that rocks.  They play high energy, stirring music rooted in the Celtic tradition but garnered from the whole world. 

This will be the fourth of five concerts that are held on consecutive Wednesday nights in July and August.  CCCA encourages all area residents and visitors to join their friends and neighbors in front of the gazebo on the green.  Bring a blanket or a comfortable chair, have a picnic, or just lay back and relax on the grass.  It’s a fun way to enjoy the summer weather and either reconnect with old friends or make new ones.  

As always, the concerts are free and open to the public. 

OKEMO HOPS IN THE HILLS BEER FESTIVAL AUG. 6

Submitted by Okemo Mtn Resort 

Okemo Mountain Resort will host its third annual Hops in the Hills Beer Festival and Chicken Wing Championship, from 1-6 p.m., on Saturday, Aug. 6. Jackson Gore will be the setting for enjoying the great outdoors while sampling a variety of beers from local and regional brewers. The Chris Kleeman Band and Sly Geralds will provide live musical accompaniment to the beer tasting and chicken wing chomping. A number of local restaurants will vie for the highly coveted title of Chicken Wing Champion during this event as well. 

A fee of $20 will include admission to the Hops in the Hills Beer Festival, a logo pint glass and four tickets for beer samples. Additional beer tickets will be sold at $5 for four samples. Some of the breweries expected to attend are: Harpoon, Long Trail, Magic Hat, Otter Creek, Switchback, Sam Adams, Allagash, Saranac and Woodchuck Cider.  

Tom’s Loft was the winner of Okemo’s premiere Chicken Wing Championship and this year’s lineup of contenders are: The Killarney, Outback Pizza, The Cool Moose Cafe, Tom’s Loft, and Squeels on Wheels BBQ. Wings will be priced at 12 for $10 or 5 for $5 and wing tasters will determine the champion. The award will be presented at the end of the day. 

Okemo Mountain Resort, best known as a winter sports destination resort, is fast becoming a summer site for outdoor adventure, live concerts and festivals. 

On Friday nights throughout the summer season, the lawn in the courtyard at Okemo’s Jackson Gore Inn is transformed into an outdoor concert venue featuring popular local and regional entertainers. Admission to the Jackson Gore Outdoor Music Series is free and the grounds open at 5 p.m. Concerts are slated to run from 6 to 9 p.m. Families are welcome and all attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or picnic blankets. In case of rain, the concerts will move indoors. Dining options include traditional fresh-from-the-grill fare, or full-service dining with an al fresco seating option at Jackson Gore’s Coleman Brook Tavern. 

Okemo’s ever-evolving Adventure Zone is open to concert-goers with mountain coaster rides, trampoline bungee jumping and disc golf. Miniature golf should be ready for later this summer. 

In addition to the Jackson Gore Outdoor Music Series and Hops in the Hills Beer Festival, Okemo will host its annual Parrothead Party with Jimmy Buffett tribute band, Changes in Latitudes, on Oct. 8.

Mt Holly Pork Dinner August 6

 

FOOD NEEDED AT BRGNS FOOD SHELF

Submitted by Christine Fuller

There has been as unprecedented demand for food recently at the Black River Good Neighbor Services Food Shelf, the shelves are getting bare and there is an urgent need for food. 

The following items are needed to help feed our local families, children and senior citizens:
Canned Tuna                 Cereal
Canned Meat                 Pasta    
Juice                             Soup
Canned Baked Beans     Canned Mandarin Oranges
Canned Pineapple          Rice Mixes
Jelly                              Mac & Cheese

Please help spread the word so that the food shelves can continue to stop hunger in our area.  Or, if you would prefer to donate money BRGNS will do the food shopping.  Checks can be made out to BRGNS and mailed or delivered to BRGNS Food Shelf & Thrift Shop, 37B Main Street, Ludlow, VT 05149.

The Shop is open from 10am to 4pm Monday through Saturday.  For more information please call 802-228-3663.

An Open Letter to the Congress and President of the United States

By Ralph Pace

Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is with deep regret that I find it necessary to pen this epistle to you but I find the circumstances reaching a more than dire level of significance. 

You (and I mean both the legislative and executive branches of our national government) have permitted the question of our national debt to become a problem of your own making that finds you unable to accept the consequences of your actions.

Our debt ceiling has to be raised; on this matter, there is no question as to need.

Our reduction of government spending needs to be dramatically (notice that I have avoided the word 'drastically') reduced.

You have had the opportunity to review the Bowles-Simpson Commission's recommendations on debt reduction.  It represents the only action that can claim bi-partisan support of any kind.  It addresses the critical issues that need to be addressed in a manner that is a fair as can be expected given the prevailing financial and political circumstances.

Yet you have failed to take any action on it.  The so-called Ryan Plan lacks any reasonable definition of how debt would be reduced; it simply proposes a 'sledge hammer' approach that would ultimately be self-defeating in terms of results.  The President has failed to demostrate any real leadership in suggesting alternatives.

Like or not, the Bowles-Simpson proposal is the only proposal on the table that has the long-term impact of correcting our debt situation without creating a set of worse problems.

The nation is tired of hearing your ideological justifications for your inability to resolve this fundamental problem.

We are faced with a dilemma of gigantic proportions - and you sit and bicker about your ideologies.

This is a situation where we all must share in the resolution to the problem - indeed, it's a problem we helped to willingly create.  Whether it be taxes on the wealthy or reduction in social security benefits, they need to be enacted.

You trumpet the words that you cannot do this or that because it will be contrary to the interests of your constituents.  The truth is if you fail to act to reduce this debt, the interests of constituents will become a moot question; the subsequent suffering most of the nation will endure will drag this country into a third-world mentality.

You were elected to make decisions that support the growth and health of this nation; not to claim that "it's the other guys fault".  While the media may label you liberal, conservative, tea party member, or moderate, you are charged with a responsibility that transcends labels.