Moments of the Day

Working as a volunteer this past Saturday for the Onion River Century Ride brought great moments throughout the day. Jan Schlosser and I staffed the second food stop in Barton at the Sugarmill Farm. Jeannette, the owner, is incredibly friendly, helpful and generous. Her grandson's dog, Tucker, was a big hit with the riders this year. Although he wasn't suppose to eat our food (due to allergies) he stayed close at hand to clean up any crumbs that hit the ground.

The surroundings at Sugarmill Farm are really beautiful like this big, red barn. It makes a great backdrop for the cyclists.
The cyclists are a fun and varied crew, too. I especially enjoyed the riders who suggested that we have contests among the food stops next year. Which food stop is the most fun - contest. We got points for having Tucker the dog, and for holding an umbrella over the riders when we had a few raindrops. Many riders commented on the vast array of good food. We aim to please!

Memorable moments: Watching Mary Hooper, Montpelier's Mayor ride 113 miles! Kudos to you, Mary. Watching Nina Otter ride 113 miles after very little training! Watching Jacob Klein ride 60 miles - his first time out on his bike this year! Tom celebrating his 50th birthday by riding 113 miles! Two of the riders doing head stands at each food stop to drain the blood from their feet! (Click here to see photos of the headstands from the Montpeleir Matters Blog.)



We stopped to save a 10 inch turtle in the middle of the road. Others saw a moose on Rt12.



The camaraderie among the cyclists and volunteers was great to behold! Volunteers -get your bid in for which food stop you want at next year's Century Ride! I call the Barton Food Stop!

ORS Century Ride Raffle Winners

The winners of the Onion River Century Ride Raffle are:

Jay Kimberley - Onion River Sports Car Rack System
Joel Page - Capitol Plaza Hotel - One overnight for 2 people with movie passes
Bob McCullough - Sarducci's Restaurant - $40 gift certificate
Meg Scherbatsky - Bear Pond Books - $35 gift certificate
Matthew Lavey - Julio's Cantina - $25 gift certificate
Cameron Cope - Coffee Corner $25 gift certificate
Gerrie Dennison - Buch Spieler $20 gift certificate
Seth Dunn - Capitol Video $10 gift certificate
Kerrin Kritchmar - Rhapsody $10 gift certificate
Dell McDonough - Lake Elmore State Park two half day boat rentals.

Congratulations to these winners! Please support these local businesses!

Haiku. Do you?

Okay, so I like making up haiku. We all have failings. They're really fun, though: short and, once you get the rhythm down, easy to compose. [De-composing? That's harder.] Here's how they go:

Haiku

Are five, seven, five
Syllables, that is. Titles?
You just make 'em up

A Strange Library Meteorological Phenomenon Observed

Rain pours down. Thunder
roars, lightning crackles overhead.
Must get videos.

And on a mostly unrelated note I'm reading Little Heathens. It's a memoir of growing up on an Iowa farm during the Depression years by a woman named Mildred Kalish and it's wonderful.
She writes of old family recipes and cures, of favored animals and relatives, and of the sheer joy to be had from working hard and living simply. AND she's a listmaker on the level of E.B. White, which I find quite enjoyable. The book's available here at the library and there's only one person after me on the hold list. Reserve your copy now...

George

Library fundraising report

This is the latest update on our local fundraising. (Remember, a secure donation to Kellogg-Hubbard can be made online.)

Summer Reading Grand Slam at the Mountaineers!

The Barre Altrusa International Club's Summer Reading Grand Slam Vermont Mountaineers Night was rained out on July 9th. The good news is that the rain date is Monday, July 23 and kids still have time to participate in this fun event. Kids get in free with their completed list of nine books read (one book for each inning), receive a free book from the Altrusa Club, and get their names entered into a drawing for six $50 gift certificates from local book stores. The kids should arrive at the Montpelier Recreation Field at 6:00 pm with their list in hand. They will go out onto the field to be recognized when the Mountaineers players' names are called. To get your reading list form click here. You even get to meet some of the players!

AmeriCorps VISTA position at Kellogg-Hubbard

Kellogg-Hubbard seeks a motivated and creative person for an AmeriCorps VISTA position. The position is available mid-August and lasts for one year.

The A*VISTA member will have three primary responsibilities. (1) Assist program and development coordinator with an active and exciting array of library events for the public. (2) Assist library outreach coordinator with start-up tasks for a new program of outreach and home delivery to underserved populations in the community. (3) Research sources of financial support for the library.

This will be a rewarding position at a great library! The full position description is available here (this will download a MS Word file). Follow this link for information on the AmeriCorps VISTA program.

Questing in Montpelier

Questing: Discovering Hidden Treasures in Your Town!
On Tuesday, July 17 at 2:00 PM at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library.
Hiding in our communities are special places and hidden stories: Want to discover treasures? Learn how to create treasure hunts that map Montpelier’s treasures. With Steven Glazer from Valley Quest. Check it out! For people ages 8 and up. For more information you can call the children's library at 223-4665.

*Updated July 14, 2007: This program is co-sponsored by the VT Department of Libraries. DOL also co-sponsors the Summer Reading Program, "Get a Clue"!

Creating a Natural Garden

Judith Irven, of Outdoor Spaces Landscape Designs in Goshen, Vermont will be presenting a gardening program on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 7pm at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in the Hayes Room. Vermont’s spectacular rural landscape—with its mountains, farms and canopied forests-- inspires gardens that reflect these surroundings. In this talk, using a rich mix of photographs, we explore the influences of the rural landscape on creating a natural garden. These range from design aesthetics and sustainability to plant selection and cultural practices. Co-sponsored by the Washington-Orange Chapter of the Vermont Master GardenerProgram.

ORS Century Ride and Raffle

This is the fourth year that Onion River Sports hosts a Century Ride and Raffle to benefit the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Carrie, ORS’s special events person, has organized a raffle that includes several great prizes. The big raffle prize is a car rack system. Other prizes include a boat rental at Lake Elmore; an overnight stay for two at the Capitol Plaza, and several gift certificates to Montpelier restaurants and businesses.
Tickets are $5 each or 5 tickets for $20. You can buy them at Onion River Sports or at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library.
Drawing is Saturday, July 28, 2007.

We are grateful to Onion River Sports and all the businesses that contribute to this fundraiser for the library!

For more information or to register for the Century Ride click here.

The History Expo

So, I'm just now recovering from the Vermont History Expo this past weekend and wanted to say - again, but online this time - what a great event it was: Tunbridge Fairgrounds, two days of great weather, and everywhere you looked, happy, happy History Geeks [of which I would be one]. I think the theme this year was ostensibly transportation, but really it's more an opportunity to get together, look at other towns' exhibits, and wander aimlessly around the grounds. Which this year weren't so very crowded but by all rights should have been. I think my favorite event the last few years [the Expo's been going for eight years now] has been the parade. It's random & a teeny bit disorganized [but in a good way - sometimes the parade participants are so far apart that spectators get sucked into the march] and wends its way through the entire Midway. The first year it took place there were animals involved, too: cows, calves, oxen, sheep, goats & such. About halfway through the parade route a small goat decided it really didn't want to walk any more and plopped itself firmly on the ground. Whereupon its owner [a youngish person not really very much bigger than the goat] tugged hopefully on the halter a couple of times, shrugged, picked the goat up, and lugged it the rest of the way. It's that kind of parade, and, in every good way, that kind of Expo. Long may it run...

And I guess if one needed to tie this in with our library somehow [because this is after all a library website] I would point out that there are, umm, a lot of Vermont History books here? Yeah yeah, that's it. Well, there are...Have fun, Rachel.

George