Category Archives: e-Vermont
After 24 years, community connection blossoming
#VT – My husband and I have been living in Cambridge, VT for 24 years. We don’t have children of our own which has made it difficult to get to know people in our community and the events that happen here. Front Porch Forum changed that for us… thank you.
The Cambridge FPF covers all 1,500 households in this small rural town, and it has about 1,300 members who use it in wonderful ways. No wonder FPF packs such a wallop for the member quoted above.
Feeling connected…
#VT – “Thanks to Front Porch Forum for the first time I have felt truly connected to the people and happenings in the town I live and grew up in.”
That’s from Elias, who lives in a small town in Vermont.
New Feature: Share Postings with Neighboring FPFs
#BTV #VT – Starting today, Front Porch Forum members can select to share their postings with neighboring FPFs. Look for the check box on the NEW POSTING page at FrontPorchForum.com (login required).
“We don’t need another newspaper, we have Front Porch Forum”
#VT – How fortunate we are in Bristol to have Front Porch Forum at our disposal. I certainly hope that someone is recording all these postings using some media that is not ephemeral (imagine if the Constitution had been recorded on 8 track?) as future generations may be able to use current Front Porch Forum postings the way our generations use the old Bristol Heralds- a view into a time gone by.
I was talking with a good friend the other day who had been considering starting up another newspaper that would deal with only local issues, much like the last several efforts to do the same but which all met an early demise. We don’t need another newspaper- we have Front Porch Forum which meets all those needs.
I just hope that future generations can enjoy this as much as we do and that they will be able to look back to our time and try to understand the issues that confront us in the same way that we use old publications in our quest to understand the issues of earlier times, and as George Santayana observed, “Those who cannot learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.”
Shared by Ted with his Bristol, Vermont, neighbors on their FPF today.
BYO Projects focuses on Vermont success story
#BTV #VT – BYO Projects is a collection of projects curated by BYO consulting staff and submitted by readers. They showcase projects that make the world a better place through creative problem solving, experience design, technology, and community engagement. Today, on MLK, Jr. Day, they focused on Front Porch Forum!
Front Porch Forum‘s mission is to “help neighbors connect and build communityby hosting regional networks of online neighborhood forums.”
Building community resiliency before natural disaster
#VT – Shared recently by Meg Allison, Moretown Elementary School librarian:
Moretown is a typical rural Vermont town, defined by her extraordinary landscape of hills and valleys, and peopled with caring, resilient, and proud people. When the rains of Tropical Storm Irene caused our rivers, the Mad River and the Winooski River, to rise and inundate our neighborhoods, when our village had to be evacuated, when our post office, town office, and elementary school filled with flood waters, when our bridges were compromised and roads washed away, we had one thing going for us that some other towns did not ““ a digital infrastructure and a citizenry who knew how to use digital tools to communicate, to organize, and ultimately, to continue our long-term recovery.
Moretown was the recipient of round two e-Vermont funding that established, among other things, Front Porch Forum, a robust digital network for our residents, digital workshops and training for our residents, computers and wifi access for our town library, and an invaluable partnership with Digital Wish, providing each of our 4th, 5th, and 6th graders and their teachers with netbooks and training for how to learn and teach with them.Without our own local news station, newspaper, or radio station, typical of so many rural Vermont towns, a platform such as Front Porch Forum proved to be vital when we needed it the most. Moretown only had Front Porch Forum for a few months and it was slowly growing. Town officials were embracing it and posting agendas for upcoming select board meetings, some neighbors told of yard sales and extra eggs from their hens to give away, but many weren’t sure of why we had it, or what its purpose was.That changed in the days and weeks immediately following Tropical Storm Irene.Within days, interest in Front Porch Forum exploded. Dozens and dozens of residents signed onto FPF as it became the number one way that town officials and neighbors communicated with one another. It became so important that minutes of our daily emergency response meetings posted onto FPF were printed and tacked to the Town Hall and other outlying areas of our town…
Need smoke detectors advice?
#VT – Pat asked her neighbors in Middlesex for tips this week. Today she shared this follow up…
Front Porch Forum sure is an effective way to get information. I got about 20 helpful responses to my question about smoke detectors. Thanks and happy holidays!
Vermont kindness reaches Olympia boy in nick of time
#VT – Posted on the Cambridge Front Porch Forum a few days ago…
Our daughter is a VISTA (Volunteers in Service To America) for United Way in Washington state this year. Today someone left a note on her car (Vermont Registration). The note writer’s child has been collecting old automobile license plates from all over the country, and has them all, except Vermont! If anyone has an old Vermont number plate, and wants to make a stranger smile, give me a call. I’ll pick it up and get it to Washington. Thanks, Howard and Sue
And then they shared this follow-up today…
A couple of issues ago I posted a note asking for the donation of an expired Vermont license plate to complete the 50 state collection of a child in Washington state, where our daughter, Allison got a request from a stranger. The response was way more than we anticipated: we got almost a dozen calls and emails from folks here in Lamoille County offering to part with their old number plates just to make a stranger’s child smile.
We quickly learned that this young man is in the Ronald McDonald house near Olympia, ill with leukemia, and that his 12th birthday is Dec. 19. The first three plates we collected were shipped to arrive in time for the party. From our daughter about the pick up: “She was crying and hugged me, and said she just couldn’t believe it. She gave me a Starbucks gift card. She was beside herself, and said her friends’ son would be so, so happy! His birthday is tomorrow.”
So Thank You!!! To all of you who took the time to get involved in this tiny but thoughtful generosity. The take-away here is that it takes so little to brighten someone’s day. We should all try to be more mindful of the possibilities inherent in the most casual but heartfelt acts of kindness. And when we do, we’re all the better for trying. Thanks again, Howard and Sue
Reporter needs story? Listen to neighbors on FPF
#VT #BTV – In this week’s Seven Days (Vermont’s excellent free alt. weekly), I’ve already counted three stories that stem from postings made on various Front Porch Forums…
- Silvio’s Silver Lining (3:20 mark).. crime in Cambridge
- Weinberger Wants Year-Round Waterfront Action, But Some Neighbors Are Wary… Burlington politics
- UVM Sets Kill Traps for Dam-Building Beavers in Centennial Woods… wildlife controversy
And they’re not alone… ABC22/Fox44 local news covered a Burlington break-in via FPF this week, and the Burlington Free Press, VPR, WCAX, and many community newspaper frequently turn to FPF.
We love it. FPF helps local traditional media find story leads. And we help grow the audience for the stories that they report. We’ve heard many times from FPF members who rarely tuned into local news before signing up for their Front Porch Forums… and now they pay more attention to community issues. Strong and vibrant local media… it’s crucial for our democracy and we’re honored to play our role.
UPDATE: Just saw these tweets…
This is how Bristol rolls…
#VT – How do Bristol folks use their Front Porch Forum? Here’s a request Martha posted for her neighbors a week ago…
Looking for scrap fabric to make bags to be hung on walkers. RSVP has just sent me their pattern and I’m willing to make bags for them to pass on to hospitals and nursing homes. Most of my scraps are too lightweight. The fabric needs to be heavier than quilters’ cotton. Denim would be good. Or corduroy. Please let me know if you have any that you’d be willing to part with.
And she shared this update today…
A huge thank you to the three ladies who donated fabric for making walker bags. Your generosity is so appreciated! Seven bags completed and six more are just steps away. I’ll deliver them to RSVP on Friday and I’m sure they’ll easily find homes for them.
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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