Posted by Jess to her FPF neighborhood forum near #BTV #VT…
Thanks for the speedy responses for a pet sitter; we found help within 20 minutes of posting on our Front Porch Forum! We are so happy in our new neighborhood, and are enjoying meeting everyone.
Now we’re interested in your recommendations for an experienced and reliable house cleaner. Thanks!
The recent tornado that ransacked Springfield, Mass. tore apart more than buildings. Among the front page stories of tragedy, lesser known tales are now being told. This just in from Vermont photographer Emily McManamy. Her soon-to-be father-in-law and mother-in-law’s home was destroyed in the storm… just weeks before they were to be wed.
The unfortunate reality sunk in during the following weeks as Terry and Kathy collected their belongings, moved to alternate housing, rented cars, notified their employers and lived in suitcases between two states. Everyone was safe, we were lucky for that, and as Kathy put it the things were just things. This tornado was a huge disruption in their lives but a big day was nearing and they had to set their sights on that ““ their wedding day.
Kathy put so much thought into their big day. She wanted it to be a joining of families and a celebration of her children and grandchildren. We had all tried to lend a hand from the beginning but it wasn’t until their unfortunate situation unfolded that Kathy could release the reigns. My sisters, Sara and Erin, and I began planning.
My task: flowers. The day after the tornado I put a plea on our local message board, Front Porch Forum, to see if anyone had an abundance of flowers they’d like to share from their gardens. Two towns and seven people responded. I visited their gardens and walked the grounds to get an idea of what I could cut. Coordinating all of these wonderful people was tricky but extremely satisfying. I met “neighbors” tucked into mountain hillsides and down long, seemingly endless country roads. I met farmers, families and garden enthusiasts. Each person played a part in this wedding and we were all so touched to have them be a part of the big day. They wanted to know the story and a bit about the bride and groom and they, too, were happy to become a part.
Read the full post… a beautiful story of a family rising above hard times to celebrate a new marriage.
#BTV #VT – In the past few hours in one Burlington, VT, neighborhood, folks have posted the following to their Front Porch Forum…
Published recently on BroadbandVT.org #VT…
Thanks to the e-Vermont initiative, 28 more towns now benefit from FrontPorchForum.com, the online service that helps neighbors connect, build community and support local businesses. FPF members tell the story best:
“Thanks FPF for helping to find my missing bicycle lock, meet my neighbors, barter my roof rack carrier for some freshly smoked salmon, find a lost glove, learn more about local politics, and provide a soapbox for whenever I feel the need. I think it’s one of the best things to happen in our town in a long time.”
– John McMurry.
This award-winning Vermont start-up business now serves 60 towns in the state and 27,000 households participate. More than 750 members are engaged in daily community conversation in Bristol, for example (out of 1,500 households in town). In Middlesex, more than 500 neighbors (out of 700 households in town) share almost 200 postings per month. In Middletown Springs, 130 residents signed up for FPF in the first few months (out of about 300 households in town).
And now FPF is expanding to even more Vermont towns. Recently, the local selectboard brought FPF to Johnson and 200 residents have signed up already… and they’ve shared 100 postings in the past month. Next up is St. Albans City, thanks to expansion partner Franklin County Caring Communities.
To bring FPF’s results to your town, contact Michael Wood-Lewis or Jeff Gangemi at 802-540-0069 or FrontPorchForum.com
Public officials use Front PorchForum because they get good results. It’s where a growing number of local leaders turn to connect with their constituents. Today, an FPF member in Burlington posted…
Thanks to all of you who responded to my FPF post a couple weeks back about the dog attacks on North St. I appreciate your concern and all of your suggestions. Before I got a chance to report the incidents to the police, I received an email from a Community Service Officer of the Burlington Police Department. He saw my post on Front Porch Forum and wanted to know more about the attacks. I have to say I was somewhat floored by the email.
Tyler Machado covered the local Social Media Day for Seven Days recently. Congratulations to the many professional communicators recognized for their use of social media. In part…
The day’s schedule included a fun panel discussion about how politicians use social media, with two politico Tweeters Burlington City Councilor Ed Adrian and State Rep./possible-mayoral-hopeful Jason Lorber and blogger-turned-State Senator Philip Baruth. Although Adrian’s a frequent Twitter user he’s been known to spar with fellow Tweeting city councilor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak at the same time they’re presumably debating in real life at council meetings he said that the social network that he finds most useful to connect with his constituents is actually neighborhood email service Front Porch Forum.
Councilor Adrian is not alone. About 400 local public officials across 60 Vermont towns use FPF to connect with their constituents. Unlike some social media, FPF reaches far beyond the usual suspects. E.g., more than half of Burlington households participate in their FPF neighborhood forums, so elected leaders can reach a broad swath of the tax payers.
UPDATE: Terri Hallenbeck weighed in too on her vt.Buzz blog.
Nothing quite so liberating as sticking around campus after a year of college. Move out of the dorm for the first time… find a nearby group house to rent with a bunch of friends. Then ramp up the party! All good, right?
Except for the neighbors. Student noise is a big issue in one Burlington neighborhood near UVM on Front Porch Forum right now. Just posted there today from Stephanie…
Your voices have clearly been heard and now students are aware of the complaints. Below is a copy of the email sent to all off campus students. The noise thread has gone on for several weeks now and everyone has had equal opportunity to voice their opinions. I believe it is now time to “kill” the noise thread… clearly UVM, the city and everyone else on FPF have heard your concerns. Thanks a bunch!
From UVM…
Greetings Off-Campus Students – If you are in Burlington this summer and new to renting hopefully by now you are starting to settle into your off-campus apartment. As the summer swings into full force with the 4th of July holiday weekend, we wanted to give you the heads up about some of the neighborhood concerns being expressed by long-term residents, UVM students, and recent UVM graduates which have been circulating on Front Porch Forum:
- My husband and I have been awoken by noise on our street from time to time since we moved in last August, but recently it has gotten out of hand. Some of the worst examples are 3:30 Saturday morning having people bat beer cans on the street followed by banging around garbage cans, and then at 1:30 this morning we had fire crackers go off. I have resisted calling the cops because I just want to fall back asleep, but this has really gotten out of hand.
- The combination of all-night skateboarding, drunks returning from downtown at 2 a.m., and, worst of all, fireworks has been such an annoyance we regularly wish we could afford to move.
- I like a good party as much as anyone but I (and my roommates) also have to get up at 6 am to go to work. Fireworks at 2am don’t really help much in the sleep department. Wary of coming off as a killjoy or grumpy next door neighbor, but especially when it starts getting hot it would be nice to be able to sleep with the windows open without being woken up by that stuff.
- For all you college students who are NOT participating in this debauchery, can you please remind your friends and roommates to party respectfully It would mean a lot to the rest of us in the neighborhood. Thank you.
As tenants and residents of Burlington we appreciate your help to make our neighborhoods safe and livable places for everyone. Please help us spread the word to those people that may not be aware that their actions are impacting others.
Important Info to be Aware of & to Let Others Know About:
The Noise Ordinance is in affect 24hrs a day. Designated city quiet hours are 10pm to 7am – up to a $500 fine per person on the lease and 3rd offense is criminal. There are Open Container, Minor in Possession, Public Urination Ordinances that are also enforced – up to a $500 fine for each offense. Fireworks are illegal in the City of Burlington. They are also very dangerous and disruptive to unsuspecting neighbors, children, and pets – up to a $500 fine.
For more info on city ordinances and helpful tenant resources check out the UVM Off-Campus Living Survival Guide. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact… the UVM Office of Student & Community Relations (OSCR) at 656-9405.
Thanks,
OSCR Staff
A neighbor recently complained about ads appearing on his Front Porch Forum. Today another FPF member responded to their neighborhood forum…
I appreciate the recent note regarding business ads. Here is another perspective: As a small company operating out of the Old North End, I must say that an occasional notice from us regarding new or updated services is invaluable in getting our word out. A neighborhood, it seems to me, is a combination of people, friends and families living and working locally in support of each other. A neighborhood is, in part, defined by local businesses. What would our neighborhood be like without our shops, farms, services, restaurants, and bakeries, operated by people trying to make a living locally within their communities. Many of the small businesses I’m familiar with find it difficult to pay the going rate for advertising. I believe Front Porch Forum has done a pretty good job of reaching a practical balance in this regard.
I’m curious about others thoughts!
Mark Bromley
One Revolution, Vermont Bikes at Work
“How can you claim that Front Porch Forum builds community? It’s mostly about lost cats, yard sales, and babysitters!” So asked a professional from the world of community development and civic engagement.
Postings about car break-ins and plumber recommendations and the like are our bread and butter… no doubt. But unlike some other online options, each posting on FPF comes from a clearly identified nearby neighbor. Sampling a regular flow of very local news and conversation with not-anonymous neighbors over several months has a strange and wondrous cumulative effect. In a way, each posting weaves a tiny strand, strengthening the local web of community.
People start to feel more connected to those around them after some FPF participation. These members feel more plugged in and informed. Their sense of ownership of place increases. They often get more involved in the life of their neighborhood and town.
This doesn’t happen overnight. It takes months. And the foundation for all this is built on lost cat postings and pleas for babysitters!
Calais FPF has seen this the past week as online discussion sparked by a harsh critique of the conditions of the local unpaved roads and the Road Commission’s performance. While this one resident took the Commission to task, others rushed to his defense. This back and forth generated heat, but no “flame war” has erupted. In fact, the latest batch of comments included a call to rally residents of this rural town for a work day. That’s the ticket!
Here are excepts from some recent postings…
Let’s not worry too much about [the Road Commissioner]: he is a very mature guy and has probably had to suffer all this kind of criticism and worse while the condition of the roads was truly frightful. The letter was very strong admittedly, but also obviously sincere. And the “personal” parts really did relate to public duties. This Front Porch Forum democracy is better off for allowing such frankness even if it does cause discomfort, whether to the target or to FPF readers. It’s also worth keeping in mind that language that strong is likely to create more support that anything else for our beleaguered Road Commissioner.
And another…
You know, Front Porch Forum at times may sound more like a lively Town Meeting than neighbors talking while they rock on their front porches, but in the end we seem to have arrived at a pretty good place. [The critic] has been able to stick to his guns, and most of the rest of us have been able to appreciate the job that the Commissioner and crew have done in this incredible spring. I find that I no longer feel like saying “by all means, Tim, sell and leave” – which, I guess, is the point of having discussions.
And finally…
Two more cents worth on roads, FPF, and a longtime journalist’s perspective.
FPF is a medium that cuts both ways, as we discovered in the last week. It nicely serves to tie us together and keep us informed, and it can also split us apart. No different from anything else, such as town meeting where you get heated discussions, and yet the technology makes it different because it’s not face-to-face discussion and on the Internet I think folks tend to post with less forethought.
Is it monitored? Yes… the general theory is to not censor opinion, and since folks put their names to things and don’t post anonymously, the theory is that there is accountability and less inclination to personal attacks. So far it has worked pretty well: FPF is in some 50 Vermont towns and working as a model for high-tech community building.
I think what this roads discussion shows is that we are all accountable to use self-regulation and civility as a community, and perhaps more importantly, we must accept our own responsibility as citizens…
One thought is this, though folks on the selectboard have busy lives to lead and this adds one more task: Are you all members of FPF? FPF is a good place to address issues and weigh in in between bi-weekly meetings….
UPDATE: Mike Knutson weighed in about this post on Reimagine Rural.
A small-town #VT bakery had a fridge failure at a most inopportune moment. What to do? Turn to the neighbors…
Wow. We stopped counting the number of kind and generous neighbors who offered us a fridge to borrow … it was at least 15!
THANK YOU to everyone for your generosity and support of our local business. And thanks to Front Porch Forum for giving us a way to access that generosity.
With our borrowed fridge in place, we are happy to say that the bakery hours will continue uninterrupted. We look forward to seeing you on Fridays at the Richmond Farmer’s Market and/or on Saturday mornings on our front porch.
And if you were one of the many people who contacted us with a fridge offer, please stop by for a little “thank you” treat!
Thanks again,
Patti Delaney & Dean Menke
Backdoor Bakery
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