Yearly Archives: 2015
Estate sale re-homes cherished family items
Thanks to Front Porch Forum for helping us sell several items from my parents’ and grandparents’ estates. It feels good to find new homes for our cherished items. I have also met such lovely people through these efforts!
We have vowed to gift 10% of all selling profits to FPF since they are the main vehicle for safe and cordial communication. THANKS so much for all the work you do for our communities.
It is easy to donate… using this link: http://frontporchforum.com/supporting-members
• Linda, Hinesburg FPF
Realtor’s recommendation for homebuyers
“As a real estate agent, when I help folks buy a home, I always recommend signing up with Front Porch Forum. We are so fortunate to have FPF keeping us informed about what is going on… it’s such an easy way to connect with neighbors. Please consider making a contribution, if you can, so that we can continue having this wonderful neighborhood service.”
• Sandy, Burlington FPF
Annual investment in community…
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“It feels good to connect with neighbors through Front Porch Forum. It also feels good to make a donation to support this wonderful resource. It was very easy to do, so please consider contributing here or by mailing in a check: https://frontporchforum.com/supporting-members “
• Sharon, Shelburne FPF
“I just contributed to our forum because I find it to be an invaluable tool to keep in touch with our community in many ways. Most of us use it – please support it!“
• Bruce, Westford FPF
“We just made our annual investment in Front Porch Forum. It was an easy decision. FPF has been a source of valuable information and neighborhood connection, and we depend on it. If we depend on it, then we have to support it. Please join us!“
• Hope, a Burlington neighborhood FPF
Where would I be without…
“Where would I be without Front Porch Forum? My first post, 8 years ago, immediatlety landed me 4 part-time jobs. Those jobs turned into relationships that have shaped my life, leading me to incredible friendships, a rewarding career, the realtor of my dreams, and many other experiences I never thought possible. That post, “seeking odd jobs”, took me further than any other single action! I will always be incredibly grateful for FPF!
“Please support this gem of a resource, and while you’re at it, tell your story! It’s worth it!”
• Shannon, Burlington’s Old North End FPF
How to collect 145 bikes and 55 sewing machines in Vermont
From FPF member Joanne… Last week we held the 17th annual used bike and sewing machine collection for Pedals for Progress (Yep – PFP).
We’re a group of mostly former Peace Corps volunteers who hold this annual event to send practical technology to self-help projects on 4 continents. Since 1999, we’ve sent over 3,000 bikes and 150 sewing machines to partners in Vietnam, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Ghana, among others.
We do not have a budget for marketing (or for anything else) and we count on getting the word out through workplace bulletin boards, organizations, churches, etc. We always beg and hope for a little blurb in the Burlington Free Press. But our main focus this year was to ask friends to post a blurb on their Front Porch Forum. Our goal was to get it on at least 10 – 15 neighborhood/town forums in Chittenden County.
This year, not a word appeared in the Burlington Free Press. But we collected 145 bikes and 55 sewing machines! We asked – as we always do – how people heard about the opportunity to donate. And the single most frequent answer – by a long shot – was “My neighborhood Front Porch Forum.”
SO, PFP sends love and thanks to FPF. My husband and I are monthly FPF Supporting Members, and we encourage our friends and contacts to donate as well.
Converted Montpelier lawn now feeds 20 households
In April 2014, our south yard was a grass lawn. Front Porch Forum posts brought responses from community members, and we formed a community garden. That former lawn now produces hundreds of kinds of fresh, delicious food. We are winding down our second growing season. This year, 20 gardeners grew food here to feed their households. Additionally, the garden provides hundreds of pounds of food for local organizations feeding people in need. Learn more at http://www.thegardenat485elm.org and https://www.facebook.com/thegardenat485elm
Please join me in supporting Front Porch Forum by contributing here: http://frontporchforum.com/supporting-members
Bears, lasers and shoggoths in Richmond
“As the Richmond town Weigher of Coal, I enthusiastically second the idea of everyone becoming a supporting member of Front Porch Forum (which you can do by clicking right here: http://frontporchforum.com/supporting-members).
“Without Front Porch Forum, how would you have heard about the hungry bears going door to door in an unmarked Suburban ‘raising funds’? Or learned about the opportunities to clean Richmond streets with a giant, overpowered laser? Or heard about the shoggoth getting out? These are all things that in times gone by you’d only have heard about much later, *after* the fact, meaning that once again you’d have missed out on assembling at the town green with torches and rakes and other implements of destruction to go ‘protest’ at the Doctor’s castle. And no one wants to miss out on an opportunity to be part of an angry, frightened mob of villagers. Don’t let that happen to you! Support Front Porch Forum!
• Jay, Richmond FPF
Now is the time to support your Front Porch Forum
If Front Porch Forum is useful to you, please take a minute to contribute today. Every October we ask folks to become Supporting Members and today we kick off our 2015 campaign.
Contribute here (credit card or check)
More than 100,000 Vermont households participate on their local FPFs. As you’ve seen, lost pets are found, break-ins are reported to neighbors, electricians are recommended, block parties are organized and so much more. And each exchange among neighbors carries the promise of building community.
If you agree that FPF is something special, then please help keep it strong. We are a Vermont business, hosting FPF in each of the state’s 251 towns. Our staff of 12 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 2015 goal, and makes FPF vibrant in your community. If you value FPF, become a supporting member now and help us reach our $100,000 goal: http://frontporchforum.com/supporting-members
Pay online, or mail a check to:
Front Porch Forum
PO Box 64781
Burlington, VT 05406-4781
Many thanks from the FPF team!
Michael, Nina, Linda, Lynn, Gisele, Suzie, Jonna, Carolyn, Natanya, Wendy, Jodi and Jan
Front Porch Forum
P.S. FPF is not a charity and contributions are not tax deductible.
Chicken thief strikes Berlin… bear, fox, dog… or human?
“Friday night after lock-in a human broke into our back yard chicken coop. This person climbed over the fence, damaging it (dude – the gate was open) and removed the roof of the nesting boxes, placing it on top of the coop (animals can’t do that). Missing are a very friendly 5-6 month old NH Red hen and an older male guinea who is in the process of molting (so extra ugly at the moment). They are banded birds and had been free range during the day. If you have my birds, please consider returning them (anywhere on the property would do – you know where I live). If you wanted a fun pet, know that the guinea is NOT going to transition well to your home/coop, and you are about to severely regret your choice. He is bonded to another one of my birds and will not function well on his own (he barely knew how to function anyway). He is loud and poops more like a goose than a chicken (that’s not good). He’s terrified of anything new and has a monster of a voice. He doesn’t like most other birds. That said, we love our birds. We’d love to have them back. We know it’s a long shot but maybe someone will notice a new hen and guinea bird and let us know! Thanks, Front Porch Forum.”
• Anne, Berlin FPF
“After reading your post, I started to wonder if someone stole our chickens too. We were away for the weekend and when we returned 15 chickens were missing. If anyone wondered why we weren’t putting out fresh eggs this is why. We only had 19 chickens to begin with lately anyway. We did see 2 piles of feathers, but 15 missing chickens we would have thought to see more evidence if a fox were to blame. We did see some LARGE prints of some sort in our garden but that is fenced in. They were of the large dog or bear variety of animal. Unsure if humans were involved but will be obtaining a camera…”
• Sandy, Berlin FPF
Feline disagreements and civil discourse in Burlington’s New North End
“I thought it was great that people could discuss their views in an open and not hostile forum. Life is not always harmonious, but open discussion is a good way to know how others feel, and, if we are truly open minded, we may even change our own view. If not, at least you can see their side and appreciate our differences. Thanks to all who have read the ongoing cat diaries and have at least thought about other view points.”
• Mark, Burlington New North End 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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