Category Archives: e-Vermont
New Haven and Barre City each launch Front Porch Forum
#VT – The Town New Haven and the City of Barre each just launched their own Front Porch Forums.
Please share the news with people you know in Barre and New Haven and send them to FrontPorchForum.com to sign up for this free service.
Front Porch Forum is now available in more than 75 Vermont towns (and one each in New York and New Hampshire!).
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.
Emergent Media for Social Entrepreneurs and Nonprofits in Waitsfield #VT July 12
New/Digital Emergent Media for Social Entrepreneurism and Nonprofits
HigherMind Mediaworks to host free July NetsquaredVermont Event
@ Quench ArtSpace in Waitsfield on Thursday, July 12 from 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Curious about Front Porch Forum? Yakking on YouTube? Friending on Facebook? Tweeting on Twitter? All Mad River Valley residents interested in new digital media platforms and how they can be harnessed for effective social entrepreneurism and nonprofit work are invited to a FREE public forum bringing together some of Vermont’s most forward-thinking nonprofit leaders and social entrepreneurs using new/digital emergent media for positive social change.
Our July 12 @Netsquared guest panelist presenters include:
• Lauren Glenn-Davitian and Eli Harrington, who spearheads CommonGoodVT, a Burlington-based organization dedicated to supporting the Vermont nonprofit community. Connect @ www.commongoodvt.org.
• Michael Wood-Lewis, the co-founder of Front Porch Forum, a free community-building service helping neighbors connect, now being used in dozens of towns around Vermont. Network @ frontporchforum.com.
• Sandy Tarburton, Membership and Communications Director for the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. Paddle @ www.northernforestcanoetrail.org.
• Amanda Levinson, pioneering organizer of @Netsquared in Vermont, who founded the Burlington @Netsquared chapter this past winter. Get squared @ www.netsquared.org.
Extra bonuses? Free food, drink, contemporary art, and the crowd sourced wisdom of your friends and neighbors!
Thanks to our food co-sponsor Liz Lovely Cookies of Waitsfield.
See you @ Quench ArtSpace in Waitsfield on Thursday, July 12 @ 7:00 pm. [Thanks to Rob Williams for sharing this announcement and for organizing!]
KillerStartups covers Vermont’s own FPF
#BTV #VT – Burlington-writer-made-good, Emma McGowan, covered Front Porch Forum for KillerStartups this week.
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
Burlington community engagement survey results
#BTV #VT – Burlington’s Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) just released the results of a new survey that shows that “sense of community” is highly valued by Burlington citizens. About 44% liked their neighborhood because of friendly neighbors and a strong sense of community. And 10% said that an even stronger sense of community would improve their neighborhood more.
The average respondent (588 total) uses Front Porch Forum, is an English-speaking homeowner age 30 to 60, lives with one other adult and no children, works full-time, and has an annual household income greater than $50,000.
Some other tidbits…
Q: How did you find out about your Neighborhood Planning Assembly?
38% Front Porch Forum
22% Word of mouth
5% Newspaper
35% Other
Q: What do you like about your neighborhood?
52% Proximity to amenities
44% Friendly neighbors/strong sense of community
Lots of other options
Q: What would you change about your neighborhood?
13% Less traffic and speeding
11% Nothing
10% More connection to neighbors
Lots of other options
Q: Are you subscribed to Front Porch Forum?
93% Yes
Q: Which (other) social media do you use?
92% Email
69% Facebook
33% YouTube
21% Twitter
17% Google+
4% None
1% LinkedIn
Several others listed
Q: How did you find out about survey?
69% Front Porch Forum
10% CEDO e-newsletter
4% NPA
4% Friend/co-worker
3% Facebook
2% email
2% Bulletin board
1% Twitter
1% Service provider
0.2% Business
Q: Languages spoken in household?
99% English
6% French
4% Spanish
16 other languages selected by respondents
Q: Rent or own your housing?
30% Rent
70% Own
Q: Number of adults (18 or older) living in household?
20% 1
66% 2
9% 3
3% 4
1% 5
0.4% 6-7
Q: Children under 18 in household?
68% 0
14% 1
14% 2
2% 3
1% 4
Q: Your age?
1% Under 18
18% 18-29
34% 30-44
32% 45-61
13% 62-74
3% 75 and over
Q: Your employment?
58% Work full-time
16% Work part-time
11% Retired
5% Student full-time
4% Unemployed
2% Self-employed
1% Disabled
1% More than 1 job
1% Attending school and working
1% Stay-at-home parent
0.4% Student part-time
0.2% Sabbatical
Q: Your annual household income?
13% Less than $20,000
12% $20,000 to $30,000
10% $30,000 to $40,000
10% $40,000 to $50,000
14% $50,000 to $65,000
9% $65,000 to $80,000
15% $80,000 to $100,000
15% More than $100,000
Neighbor Love…
#VT – I posted a request yesterday for a truck and help moving a couch from Burlington to Middlesex. Many people responded and the work will be done today! I love Front Porch Forum and the people in Middlesex. Many thanks!
That’s from Pat today on her Middlesex FPF.
New bike business in Middlesex gets traction
#VT – Last week I posted a notice on Front Porch Forum about ZoomBikes, a new business I’ve started with a friend selling e-bike kits (to add an electric motor to a bicycle). Thanks for your response! In just three days we had more than 300 hits on our website. In case anyone wonders, posting on FPF works!
Posted by Laurie on the Middlesex FPF today.
Gratitude for local community in Central Vermont
#VT – Posted today on the East Montpelier FPF, where one-third of the town has joined in the five months since launching…
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.
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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