Category Archives: Burlington
40,000 Vermonters can’t be wrong
#BTV #VT – Front Porch Forum now has 40,000 members out of its 110,000-household area in Vermont.
How Can FPF be Used in Coming Elections?
#BTV #VT – In response to recent questions about Front Porch Forum and the fall elections…
Yes, you are welcome to post your comments about the various races. Please keep them brief and civil! Front Porch Forum has a rich history of neighbor discussion about candidates and ballot measures.
For anyone running for office or involved in a campaign, we have a new option this year: the FPF Paid Campaign Posting. You can place your message alongside postings from neighbors in any group of FPFs in Vermont. You pick the neighborhoods/towns and the dates. Slots are limited — and once they’re gone, they’re gone. Contact info and details: http://bit.ly/FPF_PCP
Nearly 40,000 Vermonters subscribe to FPF now out of the 40% of the state that we cover.
For the fine print on FPF election use, see no. 19 of the FPF Terms of Use: http://frontporchforum.com/terms-of-use
The Aug. 28 primary is right around the corner!
Neighbors help recover stolen canoe
#BTV #VT – I just wanted to thank my neighbors on Ward Street for their help in recovering our stolen canoe. Within an hour of my original Front Porch Forum post, I received several emails from folks in the neighborhood with information that helped us recover the canoe and will hopefully help us find the perpetrator. Thanks again.
That was just posted from John in Burlington’s ONE West FPF. His canoe was stolen right off the roof of his truck yesterday. Happy ending.
Burlington Ruby Conference July 28-29
#BTV #VT – Vermont’s emerging web application development community will gather at Main Street Landing in Burlington to hear from top developers across North America, including engineers from Twitter and several leading dev. shops. All are welcome. Register today: http://bit.ly/BURUCO
Front Porch Forum, Main Street Landing, Engine Yard, Intridea, and Agilion Apps are sponsors.
Chickens on handlebars and other neighborly acts
#BTV #VT – From Peter in upstate New York…
Recently, I posted on Front Porch Forum for somebody who could do roof repairs, and for some outside work…
Bob W. recommended Phil M., a local man right here in Argyle. Phil quickly found the problem and will be returning to fix the leakage for a very reasonable price.
I also just received a call from a young man from Argyle who will do the outside work that I was looking for.
It’s great to find people right here in our own town. I’d rather spend my money on local people than on people from out of town.
Now I’m looking for topsoil. Please don’t hesitate to email or call!
And from Nick in Burlington’s Old North End…
I really love a city where you can see kids riding around with a chicken on their handlebars and find exactly what you were looking for in a box by the curb. Keep up the good work.
Bears Abound
#BTV #VT – Bear sightings are one of the most popular topics on Front Porch Forum recently, with 500 postings submitted across dozens of Vermont towns. Here are a few samples…
From Dick in Middlesex…
While walking our Vizsla tonight in our woods (right off the intersection of Wood and Shady Rill), Penny raced after something down in the woods. I saw a raccoon-sized animal run for a tree and the dog was barking like crazy so I started down through the pines to check her. There was a lot of tree-scrambling noise and as I yelled, I saw Mama Bear sort of looking at me and realized that several cubs must have been treed. Fortunately, Penny must have also seen the bear because she came right back and went right up the path to the house.
I hope my electric fences protect the beehives — there’s not much out there for her and the kids to eat.
From Christine in Bristol…
I just wanted to let everyone know that the black bear is still on Hardscrabble Road in Bristol. It was seen in the back yard of a home located just a few houses up from the Red Cedar School at about 5am today. It was was walking the perimeter of the yard eating blackberries from the branches. Estimated weight was about 225lbs.
From Ken in Essex Junction Village…
To all my neighbors – Woke up on Thursday to find my bird feeder poles bent over and the feeders on the ground. I thought it was merry pranksters, my wife said it must be a bear, so I straightened out the STEEL pipes and refilled the feeders and went about the day. We did activate the motion sensor lights though. Last night the lights went on and we looked out the window and stayed in the house, unlike our Governor. It is indeed a bear, and a big one, at least 250 pounds.
Posted by the police in Essex Town…
Here is an updated list to those locations we have been told bears have been sighted or known to be around:
- Gentes Road
- Pinewood Development
- Countryside Development
- Sherwood Square on Densmore Road
- Essex Highlands Off Weed Road
- Woods End Drive
- East Street
- Park Avenue
- Lamoille Street
And, from Scott in Westford…
Well, it was only the one bear but here’s what happened. I learned something about bears because of this experience.
From time to time our family will have a little campfire. I’m sure you guys know what I’m talking about: S’mores, maybe some adult beverages, a few friends. Pretty low-key stuff. Well, this one night a little earlier this Spring (when it hadn’t rained for a bit) we were having a fire and generally enjoying ourselves by the fire pit. Maybe it was the smell of the roasting marshmallows that drew the bear towards us, I don’t know. Anyway, I had just put a log on the fire when a spark jumped out and started a little tuft of grass on fire. I stumbled around a bit and I thought I had the loose fire under control. That’s when it happened: This big old bear comes crashing out of the woods and just starts stomping around the fire. He put it right out! We were in shock, to say the least. Then he grabs a shovel and commences to dousing our fire while, I swear this is true, grumbling about idiots lighting fires during the dry season and didn’t we see the warnings about fires and how he lives here too. Then, he grabbed the remaining beers (and the last s’more!) and said “Remember: Only YOU can prevent forest fires” before stomping angrily off to the woods. We were stunned.
I just want to say, while I appreciate bears sharing the land with us, I think Smokey is kind of a jerk for taking the rest of our beer and ruining our get-together. Bears should just stay in the woods.
Do tech start-ups belong in Vermont?
#BTV #VT – Sometimes we get this question from out-of-state folks who think all tech start-ups should be born in Silicon Valley. Well, Burlington and Vermont have been great to Front Porch Forum.
And we’re not alone. CNN today reported that the Kauffman Index ranks Vermont the 8th most entrepreneurial state, and the top state east of the Mississippi River. And Richard Florida’s latest research puts Burlington 11th on a new Technology Index of U.S. metro areas.
I’ll take it one step finer… from state, to city, to neighborhood. Our Five Sisters neighborhood in Burlington’s South End boasts several tech start-ups, including
Thanks to Fresh Tracks Capital and Vermont Business Magazine for some of this information.
KillerStartups covers Vermont’s own FPF
#BTV #VT – Burlington-writer-made-good, Emma McGowan, covered Front Porch Forum for KillerStartups this week.
Ask neighbors for farmers’ market finds
#BTV #VT – Folks in Vermont use Front Porch Forum is lots of ways. Here’s one from today’s FPF in Burlington’s Old North End by a local newspaper reporter…
Dear neighbors: I’ll be sampling breakfast, lunch and snacks at the Burlington Farmers Market this Saturday… Would love recommendations from ONE East about which temptations I shouldn’t miss, which prices are most reasonable. Any and all suggestions welcome.
Help FPF land $250,000 grant!
#BTV #VT – Update 3: Click to vote, enter “Front Porch Forum” in the business name field, AND leave city and state fields BLANK. Click SEARCH button. Then, next to FPF entry, click VOTE button. That’s it! Thank you!
Vermonters, Front Porch Forum members and friends… we need your clicks today. It only takes a minute! We’re in the running for a $250,000 grant that we’ll use to improve the FPF software, add more neighbors and features, and expand to serve more local communities. Will you help? As a small Vermont business, far from Silicon Valley and other capitals of commerce, we’re a long shot but we’ve seen FPF members move mountains before. FPF serves 70 Vermont towns and 1 in upstate New York… 38,000 households participate in this free community service. Let’s see how many votes we can muster! The more votes, the better. 1. Vote for FPF today.
- You must have a Facebook account.
- Go to the contest website and click LOG IN & SUPPORT.
- Enter your Facebook information as needed and click Log In.*
- Once logged in successfully, enter “Front Porch Forum” in the Business Name box (do NOT enter state or city info) and click the SEARCH button. Or search by state.
- When you find the Front Porch Forum entry, click the blue VOTE button next to FPF… that’s it!
- While you’re at it, consider voting for other cool small businesses that you support (you can vote once for as many entrants as you like).
- Voting closed June 30, 2012.
2. Ask your friends to vote for FPF before June 30, 2012.
- Spread the word via FPF, Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.
- Send folks to this blog post for details (http://bit.ly/FPFgrant) or directly to the contest site (http://www.missionsmallbusiness.com).
Wish you success. We LOVE FPF. It is the best mediumm for getting items of interest to the community.
– Barb, Alburgh FPF
- YES, to vote you must have a Facebook account and use it to register with the contest website.
- Once registered on the contest website, enter “Front Porch Forum” into the BUSINESS NAME field and leave the city and state fields untouched/blank… click the SEARCH button. Then click the VOTE button next to the Front Porch Forum entry.
*More details regarding voting… If you are logged into Facebook on your computer:
- When you click to “Support Small Business“, you will be logged into the Mission: Small Businessâ„ site via Facebook Connect
- A permissions screen from Facebook will appear
- The Mission: Small Businessâ„ site will utilize your Facebook credentials for sharing your actions on the site to the Facebook newsfeed
- No information will be posted automatically but you will have the option to share in your Newsfeed your Support, and your Vote on a local merchant
If you are not logged into Facebook:
- When you click to “Support Small Business“, the Mission: Small Businessâ„ site will prompt you to log into Facebook
- Once you log in with your Facebook credentials, you will see a permissions screen from Facebook.
- The Mission: Small Businessâ„ site will utilize your Facebook credentials for sharing your actions on the site to the Facebook newsfeed
- No information will be posted automatically but you will have the option to share in your Newsfeed your Support, and your Vote on a local merchant
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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