#VT - A few weeks ago I posted on Front Porch Forum to get ideas for gifts for two girls graduating from college. I received wonderful responses.  Thank you so much. The gift idea I chose was to get paintings from a local artist Nancy Stone. She did the most beautiful “pet” paintings for the girls and at such a reasonable price. I am so thrilled, I had to share.

Posted on FPF in Williston today by Linda.

My cat went missing a several days ago, we figured either someone took him in or he got “lost” (read: eaten by fisher cat) in the woods beside our house. Thanks to Front Porch Forum and a kind neighbor’s posting that there was a cat in a tree, we found him. He remained scared and “trapped” for 2 nights – yesterday this kind neighbor used tree spurs to climb the 25-30 feet in the air to rescue Max.

It’s hard to explain in words how amazing this was – thank you for saving our Max. He’s very happy to be home and adjusting to “indoor only” status.  My son especially thanks you as Max is his cat. He was devastated when we couldn’t find him.

Thanks again -
Max and family!

UPDATE:  Now Patricia adds a dog story from the same Essex neighborhood on FPF…

I just want to say what a great neighborhood we live in, as Jenna (owner of the treed kitty) can attest.

Tonight, my recently adopted Cairn Terrier, Toto, made another escape from my home, and happily ran like the dickens straight to Maple Street with me in pursuit.  Some wonderful neighbor whom I have never met, stopped his car at the corner of East & Maple, got out, and apprehended the little rascal for me.

Another neighbor, seeing me quite winded and struggling to carry Toto home, offered me a much appreciated ride home.

This is not the first time a kind neighbor has helped me out in this way, and I am so happy to be living here and happy to have Maple Street Front Porch Forum at our disposal.  Thanks to all concerned!

Hi All… I left my tennis racquet at the Perley Collins Sports Center in St. Albans and wonder if anyone who travels between the Burlington area and St. Albans might be able to bring it down to The Edge Club at Farrell St in So. Burlington? A $10 delivery tip is included!  Thanks!

And today she followed up with…

Thanks so very much to Marcia for stopping in St. Albans to get my tennis racquet and returning it right to my door in Burlington. So very kind and very much appreciated!

Thanks to Front Porch Forum as well… thanks for another successful connection… a really great community networking service.

I read through the most recent issue of Front Porch Forum and could only feel gratitude for this community.

Thank you to the person who is offering chicks to people who lost theirs to the bears! Warms my heart to know we live in a community where this kind of thing happens.

Thank you to the people who so well articulated my mixed feelings about the elementary school facility project. I think that the public meeting tomorrow night should focus on some of the questions asked at the end of the letter on FPF not just the dollars and cents…

And thank you for all of the postings about dogs, bears, hummingbirds, town roads and more.

And welcome new members most of whom I do not know but feel that we at least have something in common – a good source of neighborly conversation and important information exchange.

UPDATE:  And here’s another posting on the East Montpelier FPF…

I just want to say that I think FPF is fantastic. I have not caught on to Facebook (and have no urge to do so). This chatting between neighbors is wonderful.

The conversations that are currently taking place over the School Bond have been well written, informative, and respectful. Thanks.

#BTV #VT - From Charles Lawton in yesterday’s Portland Press Herald…

… Two election cycles ago, Howard Dean introduced us to the financial aspect of this [e-government] revolution by showing how Internet-savvy political appeals could mobilize institutionally unconnected individuals into an effective donation and voting bloc.

Since then, Internet appeals and social media have become basic tools of political campaigns.

Another Vermont innovation — Front Porch Forum — has brought the same technological capability to what used to be the town meeting, the pancake breakfast and the church bean supper. It is a virtual meeting place for neighbors to share ideas on topics as mundane as a lost cat and as controversial as ATV trails and town charters. To judge by its glowing testimonials and rapid spread to towns across the Green Mountain state, it has been a great success.

Much is simply an expression of neighborliness — the loan of a sump pump, a reference to a native French speaker, thanks for a bigger-than-average turnout for church bingo.

But other testimonials speak to the forum’s value in building community — “I look forward to reading it every night. I’m not a Facebook fan but I LOVE Front Porch Forum.” And still other comments illustrate its value as a well-utilized source for varying but always respectful, never ranting, opinions on hot-button public issues.

In this last respect, the FPF represents e-government as a reflection not of a more efficient bureaucracy but of a more involved citizenry. And that is its greatest contribution and the one we ought to seek to promote here in Maine.

Increasingly people use FPF to tackle some of the tougher challenges faced by their communities… street crime, school and town budgets, disaster recovery… and currently in Burlington, illegal drug use…

Hello Neighbors – Over the last few months, everyone in our household and that of our downstairs neighbors’ (and landlord’s) had noticed certain vehicles consistently parking on the quiet side street next to our house, and just sitting there for a long time. Of course, this sort of thing makes you wary, but we had not seen or experienced anything overtly suspicious or criminal… until yesterday, when I found two used needles and bloodied alcohol swabs discarded curbside, right next to our house…

Last night, after dark, a cherry red car with a loud muffler pulled up to the same spot and sat. Our downstairs neighbor noticed this, and after a few minutes walked out to have a look/be a presence. The car quickly pulled away, turned around and took off toward North Ave. Sure enough, another pair of used needles and dirty swabs were found on the street. We called the cops, and an officer was sent over to have a look; we described the vehicle to him, and he collected one of the syringes. His idea is that people are buying on North St and then pulling back into our relatively quiet, not-much-patrolled neighborhood to shoot up.

Needless to say, this is disturbing and disheartening, and we’re hoping to help bring a stop to it ASAP. Be aware of stopped vehicles lingering at the curbside in your neighborhood, and be very careful to watch out for discarded needles, especially for the sake of children in your area (“luckily”, the needles that we have found have bright orange plastic components and are easy to spot; also, the idiot users have been thoughtful enough to cap them before dumping). Obviously, direct confrontation is not encouraged, but notice patterns and take down license plates of repeat visitors. And, of course, be very careful and wear gloves when cleaning up after these losers (the cops will come to pick them up if you’re not comfortable doing it, but they do not want them as evidence unless they are still loaded).

Be careful out there, and teach your kids the same!

#VT -

We are getting more hits to our website from Front Porch Forum than from Google at this point!

Learn more and contact FPF to get your ads running in Vermont.

Here’s an example from a new steering committee member of a Burlington Neighborhood Planning Assembly…

My impetus to get involved with my community stems from my childhood in Montpelier where I knew my neighbors and neighbors all helped each other.  FPF has been the missing link in community building for my adult life.

#VT - I have followed the bear situation carefully hoping that they forget their liking of chicken when their habitat provides more to eat AND that they do not take up a liking for young goats. I am concerned that they have learned that chickens are easy pickin’s and that they will continue hunting out chickens and forget their other food sources. I am concerned about the likelihood of more encounters with people and other domestic and farm animals inspite of our best efforts to protect them with electric fences and strong barns/sheds. AND I like that wildlife live in the corridors of woods that weave through East Montpelier.

Is there a need to actually meet about this issue – either in person or using this amazing Front Porch Forum? Maybe questions could be posed that a wildlife specialist responds to… and then we can all post our comments and suggestions.

Lots of bear-related postings on the various Vermont Front Porch Forums this spring… like the one above in East Montpelier.  This particular example highlights how FPF works best… use FPF to start discussing a local issue, then, when it makes sense, use FPF to organize face-to-face community conversations.

And maybe those bears should Eat More Kale.

Tapping Tech 2.0: Transforming Vermont’s Economy

See pp. 16-17 for a write-up of Front Porch Forum.