6:30 pm until 9:00 pm

Where: the Wilder Center, on Route 5 in WILDER VT, just north of WRJ

Join Rural Vermont supporters from near and far for our biggest and best event of the year! Over live music, catch up with friends, hear updates about RV’s work, participate in a lively keynote and discussion led by Ben Hewitt, author of The Town the Food Saved and Making Supper Safe.

Bring a potluck finger food item to share, your friends and neighbors, and some cash for the Farm Fresh Five raffle!

Free for Rural Vermont members
$5-$10 sliding scale for all else

for more info, visit www.ruralvermont.org

Register on Facebook

Dear friends,

Today, we get a powerful new tool to take on the fossil fuel industry.

I just got off the stage with Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Keith Ellison at a big rally at the Capitol to launch a new piece of legislation that would repeal $113 billion of tax-breaks, handouts, and subsidies for the fossil fuel industry over the next 10 years.

You see, not only is the fossil fuel industry the richest on earth, but any of us who pay taxes write it a hefty check each year. It’s as if we’re paying them a performance bonus for wrecking the climate. We’ll never get to renewable energy if we keep handing gobs of money to oil and coal and gas.

The bill introduced today would strip away these outrageous subsidies. As you can imagine, the fossil fuel industry is going to fight back hard, so we need to come out as strong as possible.

Please check out what’s in the bill and add your name to this push: www.350.org/subsidies

This won’t be any normal legislative push.

First, that’s just not how we do things here at 350.org. But more importantly, we know that if we confine this effort to Capitol Hill, the fossil fuel industry will just drown us in dollars — they could spend $100 million fighting this thing and still have plenty left over. So, we’re going to have to find other currencies to work in: our creativity, energy, and grassroots organizing power. This needs to be a “people’s bill” through and through.

In the coming days, we’ll be back to you with more info about how you can get involved in everything from getting your member of Congress on the record, to helping beat back industry propaganda, even a way to give recalcitrant politicians special blazers, outfitted with the logos of the companies that give them cash.

Last weekend we Connected the Dots and saw the human face of global warming (if you want to relive a little bit of our day of action, take a minute to watch this video right now — it’ll move you to tears and then to action). With that in our hearts, we need to take the fight to the fossil fuel industry’s own turf.

Beginning now our job is wipe the smirk off the faces of corporate polluters. We’re going to have fun with this, and it all starts by signing on here: www.350.org/subsidies

Onwards,
Bill McKibben

We will give $113 billion dollars in taxpayer money to the fossil fuel industry over the next 10 years. But corporate polluters don’t deserve our money, and the planet can’t afford it.
Add your voice to a brand new effort to end fossil fuel subsidies: www.350.org/subsidies

The Randolph Energy Advisory Committee, Vermont Technical College and the Randolph Area Chamber of Commerce invite YOU to an ENERGY EXPO
at Vermont Technical College’s JUDD HALL

Meet with experienced contractors, builders and lenders. Learn ways to make your home or business more energy efficient.
Attend presentations on the following topics:

• Weatherization: Air sealing, Insulation, Windows
• Solar Energy: Water, Air, Heating, Electricity
• Biomass: Pellet stoves, Wood boilers
• Financing: Loans, VT Rebates, Tax incentives

Contact Larry Richburg at: 802.522.5944,  if you offer goods or services related to energy efficiency and wish to be part of this event.
There is no fee for booth space.

For additional information, set-up times and other logistics email Pat French at: pat@municipaloffice.randolph.vt.us

Great Communities Don’t Just Happen ~ Become a Member Today!

To learn more, contact:
Randolph Area Community Development Corporation
21 Main Street
P.O. Box 409
Randolph, VT 05060
Phone: 802.728.4305
E-mail: racdc@racdc.com

RACDC Web Site

Randolph Area Community Development Corporation (RACDC) is a not-for-profit community-based organization established in 1993.

Joan Bowman

“Spacious Living Series”

May 9, 2012 at 12pm to May 24, 2012 at 1:30pm
Location: Marlboro Grad Center, The Chill Room
Organized By: Joan Bowman

Event Description:
Join us for a brown bag lunch in the comfortable Chill Room at the Marlboro College Grad Center at Noon on any or all of the following days:

• Wednesday May 9 –The Joy of Mindful Living, Happiness depends on one’s response to negative mental states. Thursday May 10– Gaining new Emotional Safety A body-centered perspective, with emphasis on personal space and the renewal of authentic self-care.
• Tuesday May 15–The Rewards of Mindful Communication Mindfulness of self and other is a key – examine the obstacles to communication and discover antidote to these hindrances.
• Wednesday May 16– “I’m so busy” What is behind the message “I just don’t have time”…? When is being “creative” or “productive” just doing too much, not balance?
• Thursday May 17– Relaxation Why is it so difficult for some folks to just slow down? Because this an altered state of consciousness.
• Wednesday May 23– Awakening Our Senses Participants will discover how the spaciousness of their world opens up as they bring mindfulness to their sensory experiences.
• Thursday May 24– Body-centered Mindfulness Noticing the impact of conflicts, strain and struggle – How can you bring yourself some new habits, effectively?

By donation, no one will be turned away. Contact me anytime for more information at 802-275-2512.

See more details and RSVP on Transition Vermont:  www.transitionvermont.ning.com

This is it, Vermont. Tomorrow, May 5, people all across the state will stand with our global community to connect the dots on climate impacts::  www.climatedots.org

Here in the Green Mountains, we’ll gather in Waitsfield to share our stories, make art, plant trees and then close this epic day with a huge rally and an iconic group photo. We won’t solve the climate crisis in one day, but together we can help the world understand the urgency of the challenge.

The rally starts at 3:30 and will include Bill McKibben, Governor Shumlin, Bernie Sanders, and other local leaders.

Please RSVP here:  act.climatedots.org/event

Full schedule and event details below.

We’re hoping to see many of you in Waitsfield tomorrow, but if you can’t make it or if this event isn’t right for you, find other Climate Impacts Day events here:  act.climatedots.org/event

Let’s show the world we’re ready to do the serious work ahead. Let’s connect the dots to the new Vermont.

Best,
David, for 350Vermont

_________________________________________________________

Vermont Connect the Dots & Climate Impacts Day
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Waitsfield, VT

Kid-friendly activities, music, and food vendors from Mad River Localvores.

• Plus free ice cream from Ben and Jerry’s scoop truck!
• 9:00 Public art and tree planting along the Mad River. Meet at Quench Artspace on Bridge Street (map)

Flemer Field (map):

• 1:00 – 3:30 Stories from the front lines of climate change in Vermont. A mixture of conference, fair, and town meeting will bring to life the rich mixture of voices from our statewide community.
• 3:30 Rally with Governor Shumlin, Bernie Sanders, and local leaders.
• 4:00 Bill McKibben will connect the dots to the international climate movement and stage the largest aerial photo ever taken for climate action in Vermont.

Please park at Waitsfield Telecom, Waitsfield Elementary School, or Kenyon’s Field (parking shuttle provided by Aldo the GreaseVan, which runs on locally sourced waste vegetable oil and is provided courtesy of the Tunbridge Grease Collective). Carpooling and locally organized transportation info can be found here (transportation)

On Saturday May 5, thousands of people will gather in communities around the globe for Climate Impacts Day. We’re connecting the dots between climate change and the very real impacts already being felt — from Vermont to Samoa. Here in Waitsfield, we’ll gather for a day of rallying, learning, tree planting, art making, and more. Please join us!

WHAT: Connect the Dots — to the New Vermont
WHERE: Flemer Field Community Green, Waitsfield, VT
WHEN: Saturday, 5/5/12, 1:00 PM

Please RSVP here:   act.climatedots.org/event

We’ll highlight the recent devastation of Hurricane Irene as well as other local climate impacts, and we’ll talk about solutions to this growing crisis. Join Bill McKibben, Governor Shumlin, Bernie Sanders, and other local leaders, and participate in the largest aerial photo ever taken for climate action in Vermont! Our photos from the day will join a global chorus calling for action.

I hope you can join me this Saturday. But if you can’t make it or if this event isn’t right for you, find other Climate Impacts Day events and actions here. Or take your own Connect the Dots photo — it’s not too late!

Please join all of us as we connect the dots and put a human face on climate change.

Best,
David & 350.org

You Wanted to be a Farmer: a Discussion of Scale,  April 17

Rural Vermont and the Upper Valley Food Co-op host “You Wanted to be a Farmer: A Discussion of Scale” film screening on April 17th, at 7 pm,

Upstairs at the Co-op, Upper Valley Food Co-op, White River Junction. Courtesy of Food for Maine’s Future, the new documentary takes a bottom-up look at food policy and raises important questions about the need for scale-appropriate regulation for neighbors feeding neighbors.  Based on real and current events in Blue Hill, Maine. Free and open to the public.

Sweetwater,  April 19

Third Thursday Movie, April 19, 7 PM.

An elegy to the American West showing the last sheep drive up into Montana’s breathtaking and dangerous Beartooth Mountains. This astonishingly beautiful, yet unsparing film reveals a world in which nature and culture, animals and humans, vulnerability and violence are all intimately meshed.

Organic popcorn and cider!

For more info, call Rural Vermont at (802) 223-7222 or visit: www.ruralvermont.org

Here’s an opportunity to add your views, suggestions, and advocacy on current energy initiatives.

2012 is a critical year for energy legislation!  With our US Senate and Ouse of Representatives in grid-lock, progress – particularly – on energy issues becomes more important at the state level, and the VT Legislature has gotten that message.

Several robust legislative initiatives have been introduced and passed in the VT House; they now go to the Senate.  We need public input to make sure that these initiatives stay robust, pass the Senate and get signed by Governor Shumlin in a timely manner.

So … concerned citizens are gathering NEXT TUESDAY at the Norwich Public Library.  Ben Walsh of VPIRG will brief us on the content and status of the several important initiatives at issue. Then we’ll open the floor to YOUR input and suggestions.  We’ll provide contact information for key VT legislators and for area media outlets plus “talking points” for suggested content of communications.

PLEASE join us for some tasty refreshments, share in the up-beat atmosphere of kindred mind-sets and get satisfaction from knowing you’re helping make progress.  RSVPing to Denis Rydjeski [DRR@Dartmouth.edu] will help us make sure we have enough “energy resources” on hand for your consumption.

VNRC supports a ban on fracking in Vermont. There are natural gas deposits in the northwestern region of the state, and VNRC and our partners want to protect our natural resources and communities by banning the practice here before it starts. An anti-fracking bill is pending in the Legislature, but still has to clear several hurdles to be enacted.

Join us at Don’t Frack Vermont, a public forum next Wednesday March 28. At the forum you will learn more about the issue, hear about the pending legislation on fracking in Vermont and find out how you can get involved.

Don’t Frack Vermont Forum
Thursday, March 28 7-8:30 p.m.

Capitol Plaza Hotel – Governor’s Ballroom
100 State St. Montpelier

The forum is free, but please register here.

VNRC is partnering with VPRIG and 350VT to host the forum. Panelist include:

• Bill McKibben—Author, environmentalist and Schumann Distinguished Scholar, Middlebury College
• Paul Burns—Executive Director, VPIRG
• Wes Gillingham—Program Director, Catskill Mountainkeepers, a leading anti-fracking group in New York
• Tracy Bach—Professor of Law, Vermont Law School
• Ginny Lyons—Chair, Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee

We look forward to seeing you there and thanks for all you do!

The VNRC Team

The first 100 people to register will receive a DVD of the acclaimed documentary Gasland that will be featured at the forum.

This year the Go Green Fair and Farmer’s Market will be held on April 7th from 10:30-3:00 see details below.

FREE! GO GREEN FAIR AND FARMER’S MARKET at Windham High School

• FREE Family Movie

APRIL 7th 10:30- 3:00 @ Windham High School, NH

• Want to support local earth-friendly businesses?
• Like to enter raffles for cool prizes?
• Want to see what you can do big and small – to help the environment, while supporting local farms and local businesses?
• Then spread the news and save the date!

The fair will be held indoors at Windham High School, so come out to support us – rain or shine!

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
10:30-3:00 Take time to enjoy what local vendors have to offer, purchase raffle tickets for some great prizes (Super Duck Tours & Upper Deck Trolley Tours), buy inexpensive Save the Earth