Category Archives: Stories

Ermine, Fisher Cat, Moose visit City Cousins

Posted on Sunday, May 20, 2007 by • 1 comment

Front Porch Forum members have a way of surprising me. Every time I think the postings are getting predictable, someone writes to their neighbors with something a bit different.

This past week it was an innocent enough question in the King Maple Neighborhood Forum in an urban section of Burlington, VT…

What’s the weirdest animal you’ve seen in your yard?

Some of the answers…

•We’ve had zillions of squirrels, skunks, mice, raccoons and bats. I’d have to say an opossum is the oddest visitor. A couple friends of mine swear they saw a fisher cat run through the yard once, but I think it was some kind of weasel.
•I’ve definitely had possum, used to have a family of badgers till my neighbor ‘eradicated’ them, but the most unusual was a pure white ermine that hung around one winter.
•We have seen possum in our back yard. We also have a family of skunks living under our house, though our neighbors are convinced the family is under their own house. Hard to tell. And raccoons are everywhere, living who knows where, probably in trees at night in the warmer months.
•My beau just reminded me today that we once saw a porcupine passing through here. Some friends said they saw foxes on Main Street. Another friend told me a story about seeing a moose near the Burlington Square Mall around 3 a.m. a few years back. Kooky!

Keeping Tabs on Neighborhood from Afar

Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 by • No comments yet

Peggy wrote today as her one-year abroad is wrapping up…

I must tell you that reading all the FPF postings has been a nice way for me to stay connected with our neighborhood! Just another great reason to be a part of the forum!!

Online Community and Access

Posted on Monday, May 7, 2007 by • No comments yet

Some of our more internet-savvy Front Porch Forum subscribers get frustrated with the lack of features in our current offering. Some requests we get from this group are solid and sensible, while others stray into the bells and whistles category. Ultimately, satisfaction comes to these high-end folks when they adjust their expectations.

Front Porch Forum is a walk down a tree-lined village street vs. some other Web 2.0 sites that are more akin to navigating L.A.’s freeways during rush hour.

One of our long-running goals with this service has been to keep it so simple that anyone who uses the internet can participate… regardless of skill, operating system, connection speed, etc.

I was a little surprised today when Deb, a subscriber who has made great use of her neighborhood’s forum (found a lost dog, met people, raised a crowd of volunteers for a clean-up event, etc.) confessed today that she considers herself very much NOT a computer person. In fact, she has yet to successfully log into the member-only section of our site.

Wow! That’s exactly what we set out to do… reach people who care about their neighborhood, regardless of computer skill. Deb can send and receive email… so she can participate in her neighborhood forum… and she does just that in a big way. When I told her of our goal of wide access, regardless of computer know-how, she answered… “You are succeeding FAMOUSLY with that goal!!” Thanks Deb!

Turn out a crowd of volunteers!

Posted on Monday, May 7, 2007 by • 1 comment

Front Porch Forum continues to be a great way to turn out a crowd for volunteer activities and events.  Deb just wrote in that her neighborhood had a record-breaking group show up for Vermont’s annual Green Up Day…

I continue to be amazed with the effectiveness of the Forum and give it full credit for the historically large turn-out for our recent Green Up Day activities in ONE East.

Front Porch Forum rather than eBay

Posted on Monday, May 7, 2007 by • No comments yet

I wrote a day or two ago about how many of our subscribers prefer using Front Porch Forum rather than other online services for many things. Here’s another example from Pete in Burlington’s Old North End (ONE)…

Hi neighbors – I’d like to sell my pickup truck — it’s way more vehicle than I need. It’s a white 1997 Dodge Ram… The Blue Book value is $6,115, but I’m happy to entertain any and all offers. Feel free to test drive it, too. I’d much rather see it go to an ONE neighbor than deal with the eBay world.

Online Forum Yields Face-to-Face Community

Posted on Monday, May 7, 2007 by • 1 comment

From a not-quite-yet-mature neighborhood forum in South Burlington… C.L. is welcoming long-time neighbors who just subscribed…

Welcome Nancy and Dick! It is kind of sad that this is how we have to communicate! Hope you are doing well and we do need to catch up! XOXO C.L.

As counterintuitive as it seems, people report that their online forums lead to MORE face-to-face time with neighbors. In fact, this is the most valued aspect of Front Porch Forum by members in neighborhoods with active and “full-grown” forums.

When enough folks join a given neighborhood forum and start using it, people seem to start organizing more block parties, street-wide yard sales, Green Up Day efforts, community action to get a new stop sign or potholes filled, etc. Lots of small things too… dog and toddler play groups, school and work carpools, support groups to lend a hand to an elder neighbor with yard chores, a regular poker game, etc.

A generation or two ago, it seems, most homes had a stay-at-home mom who was in the neighborhood all day and family size was larger and the little ones were home all day… lots of bodies in the neighborhood all day. Now, many neighborhoods are ghost towns during the weekday. The face-to-face neighborhood grapevine that thrived over back fence, around the kitchen table over coffee, and, dare I say, on the front porch, has withered in many places. Enter the virtual Front Porch Forum. Not to replace face-to-face… but to help folks rebuild the neighborhood grapevine and connect in person more.

It’s working in many places! A neighborhood forum seems to require 50-100 members to really get rolling. The one above has about 20 members (out of about 300 households) and three local officials who tune in. A simple door-to-door flyering and/or sign-up sheet on a clipboard will push those numbers up toward the critical mass needed.

Every Neighborhood deserves a Maypole

Posted on Sunday, May 6, 2007 by • 1 comment

I love a good neighborhood party. Liz, Bill and Willy hosted a great one last weekend… May Day! We even had a genuine maypole going. Some neighborhood musicians kept the music flowing. Garlands were woven and worn. Little ones underfoot. And a perfect spring day. Thanks neighbors!

Photo:  Wolfgang Hokenmaier

Neighborhood Forum Boosters Make it Happen

Posted on Sunday, May 6, 2007 by • No comments yet

Here’s a great post from the Birch Neighborhood Forum today from Alan S.  It’s folks like Alan that cause Front Porch Forum to catch on and become a valuable service to one neighborhood after another.

I give my hearty welcome to the McGarghans and the Heveys.  I am pleased that you have joined the forum and encourage you to tell others in your personal networks to join their own neighborhood forums.  I think this vehicle for local communication is the best thing since sliced cheese. 🙂 I also am happy that my time spent distributing leaflets about the forum in our neighborhood is paying off.  Please consider doing something similar to spread the word.  Have a great day.

Vote for Winged Monkey

Posted on Friday, May 4, 2007 by • No comments yet

With thousands of Front Porch Forum subscribers posting messages to their nearby neighbors across greater Burlington, VT, there’s always something interesting popping up.  Here’s today’s surprise from the Lakewood Neighborhood Forum in the New North End…

Our three minute winged monkey video is a finalist in the International Contest Sponsored by P.A.N.D.O.R.A.

I write to ask for your vote.  The results will be announced on May 12th.  Please click on this link,  read the instructions, and cast your ballot accordingly.  When you’re done (thank you very much), please pass this along to your friends, associates and email list and ask them to do the same.  Time is of the essence.

You’ll learn something, I guarantee it.  They’ll learn something too, same promise.  Turning the tides of modern medicine is no small task.

Rik Carlson

Rent-a-Husband Encounter Ends Poorly

Posted on Thursday, May 3, 2007 by • 2 comments

As reported here previously, some Front Porch Forum members in the ONE West Neighborhood Forum have taken exception to the name of the local hardware store’s Rent-a-Husband handyman service.  Today a neighbor subscribed to FPF and then provided this update to the controversy…

I’d like to add a little something in regards to the Rent a Husband campaign…  I stopped into the store today and the sign is up again.  The last time I was there it was down (maybe it just fell down or something) but I thought it was gone for good.  Went in today and it was up again.  I went to speak to the owner/manager who was at the paint desk, just standing there.  I told him – in a very reasonable tone of voice – how disappointed I was that it was still there.  Then paid for my purchases and drove over to pick up the bag of concrete I’d bought.  Seconds later the manager came running out of the store yelling at me.  He said I was rude every time I came into the store (Uh?????) He also called me inconsiderate. (Uh?????)  And continuously called me rude over and over.  Then he informed me that I am banned from the store for eternity.

Now listen – I can be a bit of a brassy broad, but rude?  I don’t think so.

Well… I haven’t heard from the store owner, but I do know that this particular store plays an important role for a good many Burlingtonians… I’m not sure banning customers is the best long-term approach.  There must be a constructive solution out there somewhere.

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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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