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Living story sections

The Dragon of Fear

by Lise | Spiritual

A long time ago, before I was born, a world leader named Roosevelt said: “The only thing to fear is fear itself.”  And, of course, he was right.  We live in a world where there are millions of things to fear, millions of things that might potentially get us.  More and more, the simple occasions of daily life are occasions for fear, from going to the doctor to using the Internet.  If you really thought about it, you would be paralyzed!

For most people who have fears (I feel I can say this, being a person with fears), it’s not the present moment that’s the problem.  It’s what the realities that the present moment might lead to.  Yes, we want to fix the problems of the present but it’s the problems of the future that really bother us.  So many bad things could potentially happen.  Even if you think you’re not a fearful person, think of how many times you say “I didn’t do such and such because I was afraid such and so might happen.”  Fear and worry are future oriented but the future hasn’t happened yet so none of those fears are “real”.  They are imaginings, usually fairly dark imaginings at that.

Single Payer in Vermont?

by Not Signed In | Questions & Answers

Can anyone explain how the “Single Payer Medical Insurance” for Vermont will affect me. I’m so confused. Will it interfere with “Affordable Care Act”? I have MVP through my employer. Will I be able to pick my own Insurance? Someone told me that paying for my insurance will not come out of my paycheck and that it will come out of my taxes? Any truth to that?

Thanks.

Scrabble Anyone?

by EdLiebfried | Recreation & Sports

A Scrabble Club meets every Thursday night beginning at 6:00 PM at the Marlboro College Grad Center on Vernon Street.  We are an eclectic group of word nerds who play the game as it is played in a tournament setting, yet value and support newcomers in their exploration of Scrabble beyond the dining room table or cell phone.  

If I’ve piqued your curiosity and you don’t mind finding out how much you DON’T know about Scrabble, we invite you to bring that curiosity along with your sense of humor to our club.  

Help Clean Up Pliny Park on Wednesday

by Not Signed In | Activism

We’re cleaning up Pliny Park and need your help!

When: Wednesday, October 2nd – 5:30 p.m.

We’ll be raking, sweeping, and picking up trash Bring gloves, rakes, brooms or wheelbarrows if you have them.

Feel free to share this email with a friend!

This message is from your friends at
Building a Better Brattleboro
P.O. Box 961 – Brattleboro, VT 05302
(802) 257-4886

Corn Maze?

by ecrawf | Questions & Answers

Does anyone know of a corn maze in this area that’s open now? It looks like the one in Guilford doesn’t open until Columbus Day weekend. Thanks!

Blue Moose Bistro Serves Classic Italian “A La Ken”

by Not Signed In | Food

Brattleboro, VT – Ken Flutie didn’t realize how his love and passion for food would change him when Italian grandmothers took him under their wings and taught him to cook the old-world or classic Italian way.

Born and raised in New York, Ken Flutie worked in restaurants as a line cook and sous chef with classical to traditional training during college, but when he first started working in retail (his professional career for thirty years) after graduation, the “Nonnas” (term of endearment which pays tribute to all the women and the women they learned from), who taught Ken to cook the Italian way – with passion, flavor and love. The Nonnas took him under their wing, made sure he knew how to cook and enjoy classic Italian home-made foods. Flutie kept his recipes and love of Italian cooking personal by serving family, friends and sometimes catering events until after he retired in 2005 from the retail business working for Phillips Van Heusen/Calvin Klein when he became a professional chef.

Free Parenting Course Begins October 2nd – Childcare is Included

by BAPC | Family

FREE award-winning parenting class, Guiding Good Choices, Wednesdays, from Oct. 2-30.

Guiding Good Choices is a free, five-session workshop that aids parents and/or caregivers of students in grades 4-8. The course covers how to set clear guidelines with both positive and negative consequences, how to control and express anger constructively, promote family bonds, and prepare kids with “refusal” skills for that time down the road when trouble may tempt them.

The NeighborWorks HEAT Squad Comes to Windham and Windsor Counties

by Not Signed In | Home & Garden

The NeighborWorks HEAT Squad (heatsquad.org) is Vermont’s one-stop-shop for helping homeowners complete home energy efficiency improvements to their homes. The Squad helps customers of all income levels every step of the way to a comfortable and affordable home – from education and engagement, to scheduling an energy audit, to managing and even financing energy efficiency improvements (single family residences and apartments up to four units).

Please Join SeVWA On The Morning of Oct. 5th For The 17th Annual CRWC Source to Sea Cleanup!

by sevwa.wqmp | Nature

Please join SeVWA for Connecticut River Watershed Council’s (CRWC’s) 17th Annual Source to Sea Cleanup!

On the morning of October 5th help us clean-up some of our most favorite local swimming holes and recreational sites along the West River in Brattleboro, Dummerston and Newfane – be a part of making these locations cleaner and safer for those of us that visit and enjoy these sites, for the wildlife too, and to protect the river’s water quality.

BMH Kicks Off Community Engagement Portion of “The Doorway to Exceptional Care” Capital Campaign

by BMH | Health

YOUR DOOR HELPS OPEN OURS!

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) announced the start of the community engagement portion of its Emergency Department capital campaign today. The hospital is seeking to raise $3.5 million to renovate and expand the 31-year-old facility.

Co-chaired by Art Greenbaum and Martha O’Connor, a committee of community leaders has spent the past year working to solicit charitable support from the hospital board, the campaign committee and key supporters, as well as from BMH leadership, physicians and employees. Now that over $3 million has been committed they are asking the community to join them in supporting the facility that impacts every life in the greater Brattleboro area.

Wednesday Farmers’ Market: Fall Harvest Downtown! Through October!

by Not Signed In | Food

Please keep the Wednesday Farmers’ Market on your to-do list- we are open through October!

This small, friendly market boasts orchards and several farms, offering shoppers a ton of great fall produce, storage crops, apples and cider, plus maple syrup, baked goods, flower bouquets, and pasture-raised pork.
Anon’s Thai Cuisine, too.

EBT and debit welcome! 10-2, Wednesdays, downtown by the Brattleboro Food Coop, through October!

802-254-8885

Source To Sea Clean Up Day – Oct. 5th

by Not Signed In | Nature

Wantastiquet Hellgrammites Volunteer for the Connecticut River Watershed Council

The Windham Regional Commission (WRC) is organizing a volunteer opportunity for those who are eager to help clean up the shorelines of our regional resource of beauty and recreation, the Connecticut River. The Wantastiquet Local River Subcommittee of the Connecticut River Joint Commissions is pulling together a group of volunteers to clean up the island under the Hinsdale Bridge in Brattleboro/Hinsdale.

Meet up at our base camp on Oct. 5th at 9:15 am at the Amtrak Vermonter Train Stop parking lot, 36 Bridge Street, Brattleboro. Look for a big tent. Please join the community of volunteers that day. Gloves, trash bags, and refreshments will be provided.

Need For Help As Your Fellow Community Members

by sumwhere.over.a.rainbow | Activism

We are desperately seeking a tent as well as a place to pitch it, we are willing to pay anyone that has a large quantity of land or at least a decent amount. … and we are willing to pay quiet a bit to stay there until we are able to find housing. please contact me via FB by private message if you can help and are interested. THANKS SO MUCH!!!!

Saturday Rally for the Climate & Against the Pipeline

by Will Stomp | Activism

About 50 people rallied in Brattleboro on Sunday for action on climate change and in opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline.  The latter, if built, would bring petroleum from Alberta, Canada to ports in New England for trans-Atlantic shipping, but at terrific cost to the environment in Alberta and the climate in general.  A contingent of students from Williams College made the trip to Brattleboro, a number came from down in the Pioneer Valley as well as from up valley.

Aaron Shams Helminski, MD, Joins BMH Hospitalist Staff

by BMH | Health

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital announced Aaron Shams Helminski, MD, has joined its Department of Hospitalist Medicine.

Dr. Helminski attended University of Vermont in Burlington for both his pre-med and doctoral programs. He completed an internship in internal medicine at University of Hawaii in 2011 and returned to UVM/Fletcher Allen to complete his residency in 2013, where he was chief resident. He resides in Putney.

BMH Adds Insurance Exchange Navigator to Community Health Team

by BMH | Health

The Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Community Health Team announced the hiring of Joan Bowman as a Navigator for Vermont’s new insurance exchange program.

As a trained and certified Vermont Health Connect exchange navigator, Bowman’s role is to make sure individuals, families and small businesses in Windham County understand their options and have access to the tools and resources needed to apply for health insurance.

Free Parenting Class: Guiding Good Choices

by BAPC | Family

Come learn the skills to keep your child safe! Guiding Good Choices is a free five-session workshop that aids parents and/ or caregivers of 4th through 8th graders. The course covers how to set clear guidelines with both positive and negative consequences, how to control and express anger constructively, promote family bonds, and prepare kids with “refusal” skills for that time down the road when trouble may tempt
them.