Monthly Archives: October 2016
How to sell a used car in Vermont
“Car sold. This was the only place I advertised! Whew, that was easy. Thanks Front Porch Forum.”
• David, Fairfax FPF
“The big surprise was FPF’s finding local buyers for our used car. Craigslist and commercial used-car-sales services with hundreds of listings produced no calls after a month. We gave it a shot on FPF. Result: Satisfied local buyers who could inspect the car thoroughly and conveniently, and us as happy sellers with no concerns about transaction security.”
• Earl, Richmond FPF
Thanks to Walden’s Chimney Brush Fairy
“Not sure who, but some little fairy left me some chimney brushes on my deck. You’re so sweet! Thank you!”
• Angela, Hardwick Walden Front Porch Forum
Efficiency Vermont, FPF and South Burlington Energy Committee work to reduce residential electricity use by neighborhood
South Burlington Residential Electricity Reduction by Neighborhood
By Kristan Hatfield
Program Manager for Efficiency Vermont
The South Burlington Energy Committee, Front Porch Forum, and Efficiency Vermont partnered together to create a map of the city that displays changes in residential electricity consumption. The incorporation of neighborhood boundaries has added a relevant new dimension to the tool’s visualizations. The tool calculates changes in each of the Front Porch Forum neighborhood’s average kWh use per home.
A new understanding of community electricity use in the residential and municipal sectors has been inspired by three Vermont teams, South Burlington, Montpelier, and Waterbury/Duxbury, who are participating in the Georgetown University Energy Prize. The City of South Burlington and their partners have worked together to develop innovations in communicating trends in residential electricity and natural gas use. The result: South Burlington used less electricity per capita in 2015 than had been used in 2013 and 2014.
South Burlington Residents can look for the Map Update in The Other Paper this Fall (pp. 14-15) to see how each neighborhood is performing in 2016.
Supporting community in the Vermont tradition
“I would like to add my support to FPF’s outreach for membership donations. Who doesn’t read it avidly every single time? Who has not felt an expanded and enriched sense of community through its pages? Front Porch Forum makes us into a family, one who gives and shares, asks and finds, communicates and discusses issues that concern us. How many of us have been given just what we needed for free, many times over? Whose desire for recommendations has not been fulfilled by some caring neighbor? Who has not experienced the gratification that comes of giving something no longer wanted to someone who desperately needs it? This rich experiment in active, compassionate community has changed us for the better. And I believe FPF deserves our active gratitude: that is, membership funds. They have asked for no specific amount. Just think of the money you haven’t spent because you got something for free! That money could circle back to the source. I am glad to be a Supporting Member of Front Porch Forum, and am infinitely grateful for the sense of belonging and communal friendship and care that it brings to me over and over again.”
• Tami, Montpelier FPF
“I read Front Porch Forum everyday and I post a few times a year. I just made an annual donation to support its existence. If you also read FPF, and particularly if you post on it, please make a donation so it will continue to provide the service we enjoy.”
• Rachel, Morrisville FPF
“I just became a supporting member of Front Porch Forum (again)! Front Porch Forum is one of the best values around for local information. It’s a great institution in the Vermont tradition, a homespun digital business providing great service to its neighbors. If you can, help out at http://frontporchforum.com/supporting-members. Spread the word to your neighbors to try out the forum. It’s a great way to build neighborhood community. And thanks to the great Front Porch Forum team for this great resource.”
• Gary, Colchester FPF
Pear Predation near Plainfield
What a fine neighborhood we live in, and what a fine, smart service is this new way of combining and circulating information that Front Porch Forum has become.
I put out a query on Sunday about the astonishing disappearance, overnight, I think, of the considerable remainder of the finest pear crop ever on our oldest tree. I dismissed the idea of a human taker because of the obscure location of the tree, and the considerable height of it, 25 feet, I would guess, from which every last pear had been taken, top to bottom. The responses came in quickly, 8 or so, with suggestions & hypotheses: crows took them, or raccoons, turkeys, woodchucks, moose, hunters wanting to bait deer, and maybe a Drone.
The crow theorists had the most decisive evidence: they had themselves seen crows ransacking pear trees, dramatically.
So as far as our family is concerned, the crows have it… and had them, the pears.
“Crows” and “thieves” are words joined in my mind. I try to push that identification away. The idea of “thief” is an altogether human artifact. Crows do genuinely what comes naturally to them. They’re natural opportunists.
And they were here first, besides. We planted our pear trees on their ancestral land.
We shouldn’t plant our epithets on them, as well; although I do.
• Jules, Marshfield-Plainfield FPF
Invest in Your FPF… Become a Supporting Member Today
Hello FPF friends
If Front Porch Forum is useful to you, please take a minute to contribute today. Every October we ask folks to become Supporting Members. Today we kick off our 2016 campaign.
Contribute here (credit card, PayPal or check):
https://frontporchforum.com/supporting-members
More than 125,000 Vermont households participate on their local FPFs. As you’ve seen, neighbors find lost pets, report break-ins, recommend electricians, organize block parties, and so much more. And each exchange among neighbors carries the promise of community building.
If you agree that FPF is something special, then please help keep it strong. We are a Vermont business, hosting FPFs in each of the state’s 251 towns. Our staff of 14 work seven days a week to deliver our service. Most of our operating expenses are covered through ad sales to Vermont businesses. Your Supporting Member contributions help cover the rest.
Contributions are voluntary. Any amount you can give brings us closer to our 2016 goal, and makes FPF vibrant in your community. If you value FPF, become a supporting member now and help us reach our $150,000 annual statewide goal: https://frontporchforum.com/supporting-members
Many thanks from the FPF team!
Michael, Nina, Linda, Gisele, Jonna, Natanya, Christine, Carolyn, Kate, Suzie, Wendy, Jodi, Lynn and Jan
Front Porch Forum
Pay online, or mail a check to:
Front Porch Forum
PO Box 64781
Burlington, VT 05406-4781
P.S. FPF is not a charity and contributions are not tax deductible.
How do I love thee, let me count the ways
Huge shout out to Front Porch Forum. Over the years we have used it to:
- Borrow a neighbor’s ladder to reach higher up our cherry tree in exchange for some cherries
- Get a free dog crate to go pick up chickens and then pass on that free dog crate to a new home
- Know of bobcat or bear sightings in our neighborhood to close up the chicken coop
- Ross found a job
- Recommend and find great service providers (trash pick up, window washing, tree service, etc.)
- Get a heads-up on great upcoming community events
- This weekend David got a free bed for a previously homeless person setting up housing
It is such a great community resource. Win/win/win.
• Maureen, Charlotte FPF
Vermont contractors use FPF to find good customers
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“Thanks to everyone who suggested roofers for the project I listed last week. I met several roofers, got bids that were all competitive and decided to go with Clayton Flye who many of you FPF members mentioned. He had a brief gap in his schedule and jumped right on the project, finishing the job this afternoon. I couldn’t be more satisfied with the work. I let him know I would be adding my name to a growing number of Front Porch Forum‘s satisfied customers.”
• Tina, East Montpelier FPF
Click here for details about putting FPF to work for your business or nonprofit.
Making connections for small businesses
“Thanks to everyone who replied with names of people who do brush hogging! I am all set now. Brush hoggers – if you don’t get a call from me, you might get calls from a couple other folks who asked me to forward the responses to them as they’re looking for brush hogging services as well!”
• Amy, Waterbury Front Porch Forum
About Blog
Ghost of Midnight is an online journal about fostering community within neighborhoods, with a special focus on Front Porch Forum (FPF). My wife, Valerie, and I founded FPF in 2006... read more
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