Cavendish Update 9/28/25: Give Back Bags/PVFD/Events
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The Cavendish Historical Society is the beneficiary of Shaw’s October Give Back Where it Counts Reusable Bag Program. CHS receives a $1 donation for every $3 Give Back Where it Counts Reusable bag sold. Money raised will be used to help with the Young Historians program and for the 250thAnniversary programs honoring the start of the Revolutionary War and the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
SUNDAY PROGRAM: 2 PM at the Cavendish Historical Society Museum. Dr. Charis Boke will be speaking about the history of air pollution, miasma and herbal support for lungs. Dr. Boke, is a research scientist at Dartmouth, with a specialty in Medical and /Environmental anthropology, and a focus on herbalism and alternative medicine.
9/26/25
1. Tea Blending Workshop
2. Proctorsville Fire Department Awarded FEMA Grant
3. Events Calendar
1. TEA BLENDING WORKSHOP: As we continue to honor the historic 250th anniversaries of the start of the Revolutionary War and the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Cavendish. Historical Society (CHS) has been looking at colonial life. Tea was the beverage of choice until the Boston Tea Party. According to the US. Census, Although tea was a popular beverage in the United States, Americans began drinking more coffee than tea as a direct result of the Tea Act of 1773, the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution … Boston-area merchants like John Hancock were so enraged by the 3-cents-per-pound tax on tea arriving in colonial ports that he declared that anyone who drank the ‘baneful weed’ and paid the tea tax was an ‘Enemy of America’."
Vermonters, like other patriotic colonists, started brewing “liberty teas,” using herbal infusions from local plants. They would have used ingredients like chamomile, red clover, and winter green. Herbal teas played an important role in medicinal care.
CHS is hosting a tea blending workshop with Dr. Charis Boke, a research scientist at Dartmouth, with a specialty in Medical and /Environmental anthropology, and a focus on herbalism and alternative medicine. This is a hands-on class where you will learn about teas, herbs, and spices, their history and how to blend them for maximum taste and effect. Participants will take home a tea they’ve blended for their personal use.
The workshop takes place at 2 pm on Saturday, October 11 at ToGather (home of SuperRoasted), 73 Depot Street, Proctorsville. While this is a free workshop, registration is required, which can be done by e-mailing margocaulfield@icloud.com or calling 802-226-7807.
2. PROCTORSVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT AWARDED FEMA GRANT: Proctorsville Fire Department has been awarded a $64,542.85 FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant . The funds will be used to offer two separate courses in our immediate area next spring -- Swiftwater Rescue Technician and Ropes Rescue Technician.
In February of 2024, Chiefs and officers from Proctorsville Fire, Ludlow Fire, Ludlow Ambulance, Mt. Holly Fire, Plymouth Fire, and later, Chester Fire worked together to found Okemo Valley Technical Rescue (OVTR) -- a nonprofit that would work to secure funding and provide steering for member departments to train and equip a technical rescue team. This grant is a direct outcome of the OVTR team effort.
Additional efforts include a pending donation of over $50,000 from an undisclosed local nonprofit and a $5,000 budget contribution from each member town.
The swiftwater and ropes courses will be offered to experienced firefighters from the member departments. It costs roughly $10,000 to train and equip a single rescue technician, so the collaborative effort was necessary; it simply would not have been feasible for each respective department to go it alone. By summer of 2026, the Okemo Valley and surrounding area will have a team of 12-15 certified and equipped rescue technicians capable of responding to swiftwater and high angle rescue emergencies. (Currently, Chester Fire has these capabilities.)
OVTR would like to thank the member towns for their support as well as local businesses such as Knight Tubs, Cookster, and M&T bank for their donations that helped to get the organization off of the ground.
3. EVENTS
SEPTEMBER 28 (SUNDAY): 2PM at the Cavendish Historical Society Museum. Dr. Charis Boke will be speaking about the history of air pollution, miasma and herbal support for lungs. Dr. Boke, is a research scientist at Dartmouth, with a specialty in Medical and /Environmental anthropology, and a focus on herbalism and alternative medicine. FMI 802-226-7807 or margocaulfield@icloud.com
OCTOBER 11 (SATURDAY): Tea Blending workshop with Dr. Charis Boke. This will be held at 2 pm at Togather (Super Roasted Coffee) 73 Depot Street, Proctorsville. Please register by calling 802-226-7807 or margocaulfield@icloud.com
OCTOBER 12 (SUNDAY): Last day the CHS Museum is open for the season
OCTOBER 13 (MONDAY): Indigenous Peoples Day, Town Office Closed
OCTOBER 18 (SATURDAY) The 20 Mile MOG (Mid October Gravel) Ride, starts at the Big Red Barn on the corner of Chapman and Twenty Mile Stream
OCTOBER 31 (FRIDAY): Happy Halloween
NOVEMBER 1 (SATURDAY): Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) workshop 3-5 at ToGather (home of SuperRoasted, 73 Depot St, Proctorsville. Sponsored by the Cavendish Historical Society. Free and open to the public.
NOVEMBER 9 (SUNDAY): Cavendish Historical Society’s Proctorsville Ghost Walk. Meet at the Proctorsville War Memorial at 2 pm. Wear comfortable walking shoes. This walk includes the Proctor Cemetery. We will be giving away free Cemetery Guides. FMI: 802-226-7807 or margocaulfield@icloud.com
