Are you one of the 63% of American small businesses
that still doesn’t have a website or online presence? Did you know that 97% of
Americans look online for local products and services? That means you’re
virtually invisible to many potential customers. The Addison County Chamber Of Commerce is pleased to
announce that two free Google seminars providing the tools and resources for
Vermont businesses to get online and succeed online are coming to the Ilsley
Public Library in Middlebury this Friday August 17th. These are free seminars
for small businesses run by real Google employees. Space is strictly limited to
25 people per session, so register now!
Visit today’s local news section at 9-2-1 WVTK Dot Com for a link to
register. To register for the seminar click HERE.
The Middlebury Select Board will be holding its regular
meeting tomorrow evening at the Russ Sholes Senior Center at 7PM. Items on tomorrow’s agenda include
Appointments to the Recreation Committee, reception of the Town Plan from the
Planning Commission & Set Schedule for the Board's review & adoption of
the Town Plan as well as bids awarded for the Painter Hills Water Main Project
and the Riverfront Project. Other
items include reports from various committees and the Approval of the Bonding
Certificate for Refunding of the 2004 Police Department Bond. You can find more information by
visiting the Select Board page at the Town’s Website.
Matthew Welz’s robust smoked porter beer, brewed in
his Cornwall home last year, will be served at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough,
MA during the upcoming New England Patriots season. The beer is this year’s winner of the fifth annual
Samuel Adams Patriots Homebrew Contest.
It was his first time in this particular contest. Welz, who recently completed his
doctorate in mathematics at the University of Vermont, began brewing beer at
home about three years ago. He said he had helped friends brew with a home kit,
but it took him a couple of years to begin doing it seriously. His winning
beer, which Samuel Adams called “Welz’s Robust Smoked Porter,” is a dark
mahogany porter brewed with five varieties of malt.
A New Jersey man was injured in a crash in Addison
last Thursday afternoon. According
to Vermont State Police a vehicle driven by Kyle Birchmore of Addison was about
to turn left into the DAR State Park when a vehicle driven by Paul Guider of
Chatham, NJ hit Birchmore from behind.
As a result of the crash Birchmore’s vehicle sustained damage to the
front bumper and hood. Guider’s vehicle was totaled. Both operators were wearing their seat belts at the time of
the crash. Birchmore was uninjured
while Guider sustained minor injuries, according to the VSP report. Guider was transported to Porter Hospital where he was
treated and then released.
A site in Killington once proposed as a welcome
center for the mountain town and its Chamber of Commerce is up for auction by
the owners. Bill’s Country Store,
located at the intersection of Routes 4 and 100, will be sold September 14th at
3PM to the highest bidder regardless of price. The current owners are retiring. The 2011 appraised value is
$605,230. The property tax bill this year is $10,573.
The Ticonderoga Festival Guild will conclude its
2012 Arts Trek children’s series this Wednesday morning at 10:15 at the Knights
of Columbus pavilion. Stan Burdick
will present “Animals I Have Known.” Cartoon posters will illustrate stories
and poems of real and fictional animals. Animal songs will also be included. Although
this is the final summer program of the regular series, two more programs are
slated for fall. For information about any Ticonderoga Festival Guild programs
or about membership, call Executive Director Cathie Burdick, 585-7015.
The Lake George Association is asking the public to
be on the lookout for yellow iris a highly invasive species, currently in
bloom. The yellow iris is known as
a “botanical bully” because it is poisonous and it spreads aggressively. Its
roots can connect hundreds of plants, choking native wetland plants,
restricting water flow and degrading habitat for fish, plants and other
animals. Its seeds spread long distances along the edges of ponds, rivers,
streams and lakes. While it is
widely sold legally in New York State, Vermont recently passed a law banning
its sale. For more information visit www.lakegeorgeassociation.org.
A nonprofit group that has a 38% stake in the
company that owns and manages Vermont's high voltage electric transmission
system is seeking three people to serve on the VELCO Board of Directors. The Vermont Low Income Trust for
Electricity was formed as a part of the now-completed merger of Green Mountain
Power and the Central Vermont Public Service Corp. The state’s electric utilities and the Low Income Trust own
VELCO. Candidates for the board
must possess technical, governance, public interest and other experience. Those interested in the positions have
until August 31st to submit applications.
Apple orchards in parts of northern New England
caught a break this spring when a frost hit but many orchards' flower buds had
not opened enough to get wiped out.
Growers in parts of Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire and northern New
York have been monitoring their trees to see what the impact was from an early
warm-up followed by the frost in late April. Terry Bradshaw, president of Vermont Tree Fruit Growers Association,
says that "by all textbooks we shouldn't have any apples in the
state." A warm spell followed by cold snaps had decimated crops in big
apple states like Michigan. But
Bradshaw says growers in northern New England are pleasantly surprised.
Congressman Peter Welch says he's optimistic that
Congress will pass a new five-year Farm bill before the current law expires at
the end of September. He's working
with a bipartisan group of House members to break the current logjam on this
legislation. The U.S. Senate has
given its approval to a new five-year farm bill and the House Agriculture
committee has voted on its own version of this legislation. But the bill is in
limbo because House Republican leaders have decided to keep the legislation off
of the House floor for the foreseeable future because they say they don't have
the votes to pass the bill at this time. Congress is on its annual August
recess until the beginning of next month and Welch is hopeful that backers of
the farm bill will contact their local representatives about this issue.
The Vermont Health Department is asking for public
input as officials develop a comprehensive set of 10-year goals for improving
the overall health of the state. A
draft plan has been posted on the health department's website. Public comments
will be accepted through August 31.
Director of Planning and Healthcare Quality Deb Wilcox says all
suggestions and comments, whether broad or specific, are welcome and will be
considered as officials finalize the publication Healthy Vermont 2020. The plan focuses on four broad areas, a
healthy life; providing for better health; environment and health and chronic
disease and health conditions. There are also 21 topic areas and 85 objectives.
Just visit http://healthvermont.gov.
What a deal, as the Visiting Nurse Associations of
Chittenden County is not only hiring people but also training them for
free. The V-N-A is looking to hire
150 new employees, offering a three-week free intensive training program
through a partnership with the Community College of Vermont and the Department
of Labor. There have already been
several open houses recruiting applicants, with the next ones scheduled for
August 23rd and 24th, at the Visiting Nurse Association office on Prim Road in
Colchester.
A local businessman and long-time public servant,
according to the Brattleboro Reformer, is now a judge. Governor Peter Shumlin selected Lamont
Barnett as a Windham County side judge following the resignation of Joe Spano,
who stepped down due to health issues.
Barnett is co-owner of The Rock and Hammer, and says the new job
involves developing the county budget, sitting with presiding judges and in on
traffic court, small claims and uncontested divorces. Each of Vermont's 14 counties has two side judges, with the
other in Windham County being Patricia Duff of Brattleboro.
The Vermont Air National Guard says more military
training flights will be departing from the Burlington International Airport
base this month. Starting today, guard members will be performing close air
support training in areas over New York and New Hampshire. Visiting aircraft
will be arriving at the base on Saturday and Sunday.
The USDA says crop production this year in New York
is expected to be mostly higher than last year. That news comes despite the hot
and dry summer. Officials say yields for soybeans, oats, and dry beans are
expected to be higher while winter wheat and corn for grain are expected to be
lower.
New York State officials say they're providing
almost $16 million to 67 organizations around the state to help fight
homelessness and provide housing. Many of the grants are to renew funding for
existing programs.
More than 500 beekeepers and honeybee experts from
the eastern United States and Canada are expected to attend a conference at the
University of Vermont this week. The
Vermont Beekeepers Association and the Eastern Apicultural Society is holding
the 5-day conference called Bees and Beyond starting today. Organizers say beekeeping has grown in
popularity in recent years as people want to produce their own food and to
support bee and other pollinator populations. The Vermont Beekeepers
Association says there are about 2,000 beekeepers in Vermont and roughly
100,000 nationwide.
Moriahstock is hoping for better luck this year. The inaugural music festival in Port
Henry in 2011 just happened to fall on the same weekend Hurricane Irene hit the
area. The second annual Moriahstock
will be held Saturday, August 25th at the Port Henry Band Stand in Park Place
beginning at 1PM. Sponsored by
Adirondack Auto group in Elizabethtown and by Boyea’s Deli and Lakeside in Port
Henry and Moriah Center, the concert will feature five local performers. The
free event is part of an ongoing revitalization effort organized by the Moriah
Community and Economic Development group along with pH7 and the Moriah Chamber
of Commerce with the support of the town of Moriah and the village of Port
Henry.
Thanks to the Stewart’s Holiday Match the Retired
& Senior Volunteer Program of Essex County was able to participate in the
Ticonderoga Elementary School’s year-end kindergarten program on ponds. Kindergarten teachers along with
RSVP volunteer Fred Hammann coordinated the event. The children studied ponds and their ecosystems. Barb
Brassard stated, “Special thanks goes out to Stewart’s Holiday Match for providing
the books, to Russ and the elementary school staff for their enthusiasm for
this project and to RSVP volunteer Fred Hammann for his time working to mentor
our children and provide an inter-generational experience.”
Villari’s Self Defense and Wellness Center of
Addison County awarded local
students who recently completed the martial-arts black-belt level or higher
rankings. Among the black belts
students were college instructors, physical and massage therapists, business
owners and professionals, EMT and firefighters, parents, and students.
A church official in Ludlow has stumbled across the
original marriage record of Civil War hero and former Vermont Governor Peter
Washburn. The Rutland Herald reports that United Church of Ludlow president
Robert Kottkamp was cleaning out the church archives when he found the 1839
document recording Washburn's first marriage, to Almira Ferris of Swanton.
Washburn was elected governor in 1869 and died a year later while in office.
The 31st annual Winter In August Celebration will
be held tomorrow from 5 to 8 PM at 50 Merchants Row in Rutland. The event, which recognizes the
economic impact of the ski industry, features items from area restaurants,
caterers and businesses. The
event will be held rain or shine outside the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce
office at Merchants Row and West Street and the street will be closed to
traffic. Restaurants will
also compete for the Best Taste and Best Display awards. Tickets for the annual food fest
and tribute to the ski industry are $10 or $9, if purchased in advance. Some space is still available for
food vendors. For more
information, call 773-2747.
From Fox 44 and ABC 22 News – Your Voice in Vermont
& New York:
Getting dirty for a good cause...yesterday was the
23rd annual mud volleyball tournament in Essex. Thirty teams competed on slushy courts to raise money to fight
epilepsy. Tournament organizers
say it was the most successful event they've ever had, they raised nine
thousand dollars. For
tournament directors Joanne Winter and Rick Codling it meant a lot. ”We had a friend that had a child who
had epilepsy and unfortunately he passed away from it. So the cause meant a lot
to us.” This was the first year
that every team that signed up came and competed.
The Vermont farm food center wants to create a year
round home for the Rutland farmer's market. And they need your help. Organizers are pushing for a November third opening date. Volunteers come on Sundays to help
maintain the new space. The new
market will have a dry storage area, a branch of the Vermont food bank. And a
full service commercial kitchen. "We
can take food that would otherwise be thrown away, we can process it, freeze
it, and use it to make ready to eat meals. And just be a focus and a distribution
point for food in this area".
Volunteers are needed and welcome Sundays from 10 til-4.
