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10//6/17 /Cavendish Update
1. Cavendish Related News
2. Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Cavendish’s First People
3. Cavendish to Host Workshop on Heat Pump Technology
4. Events
1. CAVENDISH RELATED NEWS
Neals Opens in Table 19 Location: Neal Baron opened his restaurant on Friday, Sept. 22, with an American comfort-food menu and a friendly staff that will all greet you with smiling faces. Most of the foods are local Vermont products, such as the Boyden Farms fresh organic pasture-raised beef that Baron uses in his burgers. VT Journal
CHS Briefs for Oct: The Cavendish Historical Society’s news briefs for October is now available at the CHS blog.
BRGN Changes Donation Policy: Due to higher tipping fees in Ludlow and Cavendish, there has been a steep increase in unusable donations; therefore the donation shed at Black River Good Neighbor has been closed. All donations must be made during business hours-Monday through Saturday 10-4 pm. Do not leave items outside. Please see The Dish for places to donate and recycle items. Before you make a purchase, think about how you will dispose of the item.
New Merger Plan Would Close Black River High School in Two Years: A committee of the Ludlow and Mount Holly school districts decided Tuesday night to merge into one district and operate two elementary schools and – temporarily – the Black River middle/high school until it can be closed. After that, students from the two towns will be able to attend the public or private school of their choice with tuition paid by the district. If approved by the State Board of Education and the voters of both towns, the new Ludlow-Mount Holly Unified Union School District— or LMHUUSD — would become operative on July 1, 2018, the same day as the new Green Mountain Unified School District, and would be eligible for incentives offered by the state. While it was not part of the equation for the supervisory union, the delay in closing Black River would give proponents of opening a private school in Ludlow time to plan and fund raise. Chester Telegraph
Introducing Mama’s Classic, Family Italian Restaurant in Ludlow: If you’ve lived in or around Ludlow for a long time, you may remember Mama Valente’s Italian restaurant on 190 Main Street. Now, Abby and Rogan Lechthaler, owners of The Downtown Grocer, are preparing to open Mama’s in the same space for Columbus Day weekend. In addition to a family-friendly dinner experience, Mama’s will have lunch and takeaway meals starting at 11 a.m. until late afternoon. Lunch will also include soup, salads, wine and beer, and hot prepared meals. A display case will hold house-made pastas, cheese, and cured meats. For customers looking to bring home an easy to make dinner, VT Journal
Property Taxes to Go Up by 8 Cents: As school boards start to budget for next year, the forecast for school spending is grim. Rebecca Holcombe, the secretary of the Agency of Education, says Vermonters are looking at a 7-cent to 9-cent increase in the statewide property tax, unless the state can find millions of dollars in cuts. VT Digger
Where VT Families Can Find Help Paying for College: Sen. Bernie Sanders is set to host a series of college fairs in Vermont for high school students and their parents to learn more about educational opportunities here in Vermont and the resources available to help pay for them. The first workshop will be on Oct. 7 at Lyndon State College. The 2nd one is at Castleton University on Oct. 14 at the Spartan Athletic Complex. Doors open at 10 and Sanders will speak at 12:30. Call 800-339-9834 to RSVP. WCAX
2. CELEBRATING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY -CAVENDISH’S 1ST PEOPLE: A holiday since 1937, Columbus Day was designed to celebrate Italian-American culture and heritage. Starting in the 1970s, alternatives to the holiday emerged as attention was called to the fact that Columbus and other Europeans interactions with the indigenous peoples resulted in hundreds of years of violence and slavery; forced assimilation and conversion to Christianity; and a host of new diseases, e.g. small pox, that killed thousands of native peoples. While Columbus may have been a very brave and skillful sailor, he was also a deeply flawed human who set the stage for the Spanish conquistadors who looted and killed natives by the thousands.
Columbus was also not the first European to reach America. Leif Ericksson arrived well before Columbus in what is today Newfoundland and it’s very possible that St. Brendan’s voyage from Ireland took place 500 years before Ericksson and 1,000 years before Columbus. However, they are “Johnny come latelies,” as the Americas were occupied, possibly as early as 16,000 years ago.
Based on archeological study, it is believed that Cavendish was occupied by hunter/gatherers around 11,000 years ago and may have had an upland village between 5,000-7,000 years ago. These people would be part of the Abenaki nation.
Due to discrimination, and Vermont’s Eugenics movement, where many Abenaki were sterilized between 1931-1957, many have been reluctant to identify as Indian, and instead were referred to as “dark” or “colored” French or gypsies. However, at least one Cavendish resident, Gratia Denny was of Abenaki descent.
As part of Indigenous Peoples Day, the Cavendish Historical Society (CHS) has developed a special post on what is known about Cavendish’s first peoples, available at their blog.
3. CAVENDISH TO HOST WORKSHOP ON HEAT PUMP TECHNOLOGY: Are you fed up with the high cost of heating your home? Are you ready to look into alternatives? The Cavendish Energy Committee will host a heat pump workshop on Tuesday, October 17, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. in the town office meeting room, 37 High Street in Cavendish.
The workshop will include a presentation by Brent Coleman, a local heat pump installer who will talk about how air-to-air and ground source heat pumps work and why they can be an effective heat source for a climate such as ours in Vermont. While nobody can predict future housing concerns, energy consumption should be at the top of the list. Heat pumps can cool a house in summer, and warm it in winter, and each owner can recognize an immediate payback in comfort and significant energy bill savings, while lowering his or her carbon footprint.
The presentation will be both informational and educational, focusing on the steps to take in order to make homes more energy efficient with new technology. There will be plenty of time for Q&A and at the end of the workshop you will understand more about the way your home uses energy and one way that you can use to make it more efficient. The workshop is free and residents of any town are invited to attend. FMI:Peter LaBelle at 802-226-7250.
4. EVENTS
OCTOBER 7 (SATURDAY): Pig Roast to benefit Cavendish Snow fleas
OCTOBER 8 (SUNDAY): Cavendish Historical Society’s Proctorsville Ghost Walk. Meet at the Proctorsville War Memorial on route 131 at 2 pm.
OCTOBER 9 (MONDAY): Indigenous Peoples Day in VT. A legal holiday the town office and schools closed. Note that the Cavendish SB meeting will take place on Oct. 16.
For information on upcoming events, go to the Cavendish Connects Calendar. For area events, check the Okemo Valley Chamber of Commerce calendar.
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