Yearly Archives: 2013
Honoring Nelson Mandela on His Birthday
#VT – July 18 is Nelson Mandela’s birthday. That is his 95th birthday.
We can honor him by doing something positive in our community.
I will start by voicing my gratitude to our Front Porch Forum for giving us a way to speak with each other.
What a lovely sentiment! Thanks to Patty in Bristol.
Using FPF during crisis…
Paul Costello at Vermont Council on Rural Development shares insights about local communities using Front Porch Forum during the recent flash flooding…
Last week, a post in Richmond enabled a family to find a nearby rental property, after rain ruined their home’s septic system. A farm owner in Waterbury was able to raise enough donations that she got her farm back on track and created a loan fund to help other farmers in need.
A post in the Town of Huntington shared explicit and helpful details about road repair progress throughout the town, as well as the National Guard’s call for a “water buffalo” to aid in the process. The latter turned out to be special equipment that provides a portable water source on a temporary basis. It was relied on heavily while repairs in Huntington were underway.
Community groups get the word out
#VT – I can’t believe that we have over 400 Hyde Park Front Porch Forum neighbors!
Last night, we had a Hyde Park Community Collaborative Group meeting, and we all talked about how often we use Front Porch Forum to get the word out about what we do… the Library, the Hyde Park Community Circle, Hyde Park Partners in Education (P. I.E), the Second Congregational Church, Hyde Park Energy Committee, Village Improvement Association, the Board of Trustees of the Village of Hyde Park, the Town of Hyde Park… as organizations and as individuals in the community.
The more neighbors who read FPF, the more we can keep people informed in an easy, unobtrusive way about what is going on in Hyde Park. Please encourage your friends and neighbors to join FPF, simply so that they may know about all of the amazing things our community has to offer… we’ve had great fun on Front Porch Forum and hope that more friends and neighbors will too!
Posted recently on the Hyde Park FPF by Amy from the town library.
More Addison Co. Towns Open FPFs
#VT – Leicester, Salisbury, Cornwall, and Weybridge joined Front Porch Forum recently… welcome to these Addison County towns! Please tell friends in these towns to sign up at FrontPorchForum.com … thanks!
See the full list of 94 Vermont towns that use FPF (more than 50,000 households!).
Lost calf reunited with mama cow in Williston
#VT – We see lost animal postings every day on Front Porch Forum across Vermont. Here’s a follow-up posting about a lost cat in Williston today…
Thank you everyone who responded! Suki is now home safe and sound:) I can’t thank you enough!
But in the same Williston FPF there was a different kind of lost animal posting…
We received mother and baby calf Saturday afternoon and the calf ran off minutes after it was unloaded. It has been seen on the VAST trail between Christmas Lane in Williston and Lake Iroquois. It is about 3 months old and brown and white. It will run as soon as is sees people but we need to try to get it back to mama who is calling for her calf. Please call if seen.
Followed by…
Are you missing a calf? She was in the pasture with my cows this morning-now inside the barn.
Needless to say, a happy reunion soon followed.
Speeding White Hummer
#VT – Thanks everybody who posted or emailed with ideas for keeping our backroads safe for the all of us. Because of Front Porch Forum, the word got out, and community pressure seems like it is going to have an effect on changing the reckless driving. I am hopeful about it. We’re lucky to have this forum and lucky to live here in this great community.
Posted by Diane on the Moretown FPF today in response to an ongoing conversation about speeding there. This is a popular subject on several FPFs around the state. Vermonters continue to impress with their ability to tackle challenging topics with civility… while getting results.
Neighbors help rescue Radio Flyer
#BTV #VT – Thanks to some observant and helpful neighbors, my adult Radio Flyer bike is back in my possession! Front Porch Forum is great!
Good news shared by Don in Burlington’s South End on his neighborhood FPF today.
One Vermont bookstore blessing…
#BTV #VT – From Josie Leavitt of Flying Pig Bookstore in Shelburne… originally posted on the ShelfTalker blog:
I am blessed to live in Vermont for many reasons, but as a bookstore owner, one of them is access to an amazingly responsive free [service] called Front Porch Forum. FPF is an internet-based “regional network of online neighborhood forums.” It connects people with their neighbors.
It’s so simple, it’s brilliant. Make it easy for neighbors to talk to each other and they talk. You can only join the forum for your town, and this is great because then I’m reading about my town. I’ve gotten to know my neighbors from this. I’ve posted about a swarm of bees in my tree and what to do about them, asked for mechanic recommendations, and more importantly, used FPF as way to talk about the bookstore to people who live close enough to care.
This kind of targeted discussion is so beneficial to the bookstore. We can announce events, book talks, parties, etc. to just about every household in five towns because everyone on staff is a member of their neighborhood forum… There is something about the friendly nature of this type of free-ranging discussion with your neighbors that makes the FPF one of the [things] everyone reads daily. You can follow the saga of the missing Malamutes from the frantic posting that the dogs were lost on the coldest night of the year to the triumphant “they’re home!” posting three days later.
All of our events get posted to the forum and it generates a lot of attendance at events. The nature of the forum works best for spontaneous folks who only need three days notice to come to an event. What’s so great is the wide range of people who read the forum. Folks who’ve never been to the store will come to events because of a posting and then get on our mailing list to find out about future ones. This is a win-win.
Books, boxes and FPF help Williston neighbors connect
#VT – Janet posted the following on the Williston Front Porch Forum today…
The response to my offer of free packing materials was a bit overwhelming as my first outing on FPF. Apparently lots of people are moving around! I’m sorry I couldn’t respond to all of you personally, but want you to know that the boxes have now found new homes.
An interesting FPF connection story: one woman suggested I take some boxes to the Williston library to help with the transport of books for the July book sale. When I took a load over to the library, the very same neighbor was volunteering at sorting books! We met face-to-face and had a chance to chat and hope to see each other around the village again. Sounds like just what FPF is designed to do!
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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