Category Archives: Updates and Admin
16,633 Recommendations, 11,498 Lost and Found Postings, and 3,572 Crime Reports and more Help Keep It Rolling
This past year, Front Porch Forum helped a LOT of Vermonters find plumbers and lost pets, and keep watch when prowlers roamed. Many neighbors have found FPF’s service invaluable. And… we need your help to keep it going strong.
Please become a Supporting Member today and help us reach this years $75,000 statewide goal. Contribute here:
http://frontporchforum.com/supporting-members
Neighbors use FPF to connect and build community in hundreds of ways… organizing block parties, reporting vandalism, finding snow removal help, rallying in the face of crisis, sharing Town Meeting info, and much more. As a member from Huntingtons FPF said, “To have this staggering amount of connectedness is invaluable. You are getting the bargain of your life.
We’re working hard to improve Front Porch Forum — now available in every Vermont town! — and we need your help to make it all happen. Each fall we pass the hat among FPF members asking for contributions to help provide this service.
Every dollar counts… whether it’s a few, or a hundred, it all adds up to make FPF vibrant in your community: http://frontporchforum.com/supporting-members
We also accept checks, payable to…
Front Porch Forum
PO Box 64781
Burlington, VT 05406-4781
Heartfelt thanks from the FPF team!
P.S. FPF is not a charity and contributions are not tax deductible. Ad sales to Vermont businesses cover part of our expenses, and your annual supporting-member contributions help close the gap.
Discuss local civic engagement and Front Porch Forum
Michael Wood-Lewis, co-founder of Front Porch Forum, will be speaking at the following events this month…
Western Slopes Business Association session, Richmond, Vermont, Sept. 16, 2014, 8 AM- Vermont Connected Summit, Vermont Statehouse, Montpelier, Sept. 23
- First-Year Seminar about In The Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time, by Peter Lovenheim, Castleton State College, Sept. 23, 7 PM
Please come and join the conversations.
Compelling one-day conference Sept. 23…
Registration just opened for…
Vermont Connected: Envisioning the Future of Vermont’s Digital Economy
Tuesday, September 23, at the Vermont State House in Montpelier.
Vermont Connected will be the culmination of the work of the Vermont Digital Economy Project, looking forward to Vermont’s future and sharing recent lessons learned from helping small businesses, nonprofits and towns in Vermont to effectively use digital tools. Tracks include:
- Educating for a Digital World
- K-12 and Beyond
- Bridging the Digital Divide
- Building Effective Organizations
- For Nonprofits
- For Small Businesses
- Creating Resilient Communities
- Open Data in Government and Beyond
- Resilience through Engagement
- Steering Vermont’s Digital Future
- Vermont’s Technology Industry
- The Creative Economy
Learn more and register today!
Front Porch Forum is one of many participating organizations.
How many towns in VT? How many have access to Front Porch Forum?
Q: How many towns in Vermont?
A: 251 by most counts.
Q: How many Vermont towns have access to Front Porch Forum now?
A: All 251! Every community in the state now has its own local FPF. More than 80,000 households (out of the 260,000 total that exist in Vermont) participate, with thousands more joining every month.
John just posted on his FPF…
I’m new to this forum. Hope we can get everyone on West Road in Chittenden to sign up. We drive by each other rushing back and forth to work. This forum could be a beginning conversation for us to keep in touch… I would like to see sharing of garden crops, arranging get togethers, etc. Anyone out there from West Road?
Sign up today at http://FrontPorchForum.com
Recruit other Vermonters to check it out. Here is a collection of tips and tools to help bring more neighbors on board to your FPF.
Looking for flyers to help grow your local FPF?
Thanks to our friends at the Vermont Council on Rural Development for sharing four flyers about different aspects of Front Porch Forum. They look great! Click here to see the options for downloading.
Also, if you’re already an FPF member and would like a flyer about your specific local FPF, go to FrontPorchForum.com and click LOGIN (if not already logged in). Then click MY NEIGHBORHOOD FORUM and look for the orange button.
Every community in the state of Vermont now has access to a local Front Porch Forum. Thousands of Vermonters sign up every month. Please join and help spread the word.
Talking about community in Vermont
Front Porch Forum‘s service has been and will be the topic of several discussions around Vermont, including:
1/06/2014 – Live and Local on WKVT AM in Brattleboro (click to listen)
3/05/2014 – Franklin Grand Isle Community Partnership monthly meeting in St. Albans
3/26/2014 – Business/Marketing Group regular meeting, hosted by Women’s Small Business Program, CVOEO, CEDO and SBA in Burlington
3/29/2014 – ACORN Sustainable Living Expo in Middlebury with VCRD (write up)
4/02/2014 – 69th Annual Town Officers’ Education Conferences in Fairlee with VCRD (write up)
4/09/2014 – 69th Annual Town Officers’ Education Conferences in Burlington with VCRD
4/23/2014 – 69th Annual Town Officers’ Education Conferences in Killington with VCRD
Please contact us if you’re interested in putting Front Porch Forum on the agenda of your upcoming event.
7 Words for 2014 FPF Raffle
Enter the 7 Words for 2014 FPF Raffle and win a sweet prize! Enter before noon Jan. 9… just submit a posting to your Front Porch Forum that contains EXACTLY seven (7) words and you’ll be in the running for one of these great prizes
• One Apple iPod Touch from Small Dog Electronics
• One overnight room at The Essex Resort and Spa
• Four passes to the Pump House Indoor Waterpark at Jay Peak
• One $50 gift card from Laughing Moon Chocolates
• Seven pints of SoYo frozen yogurt
• One-month family membership to The Edge
• Two tickets to Golden Dragon Acrobats on March 5 at the Flynn Theater
• One $115 gift bag of gardening gear from Gardener’s Supply Company: A puddle proof field bag filled with an array of gardening gear, including Pocket Snips & Pruners, Nitrile Gloves, Fiskars Trowel, set of Wooden Garden Markers, U Mark Garden Marker, & 12 packets of vegetable seeds
Thanks to our wonderful sponsors who contributed the prizes listed above.
I’ll post some of the entries here later see submissions from past years here. Happy posting!
P.S. Comments on this blog posting are welcome, but they will not enter you into the raffle. To enter the raffle, go to FrontPorchForum.com, LOGIN, then click SUBMIT POSTING.
UPDATE: Wow! Front Porch Forum members submitted more than 3,000 postings as entries into the 7 Words for 2014 Raffle. Thanks to everyone who participated.
Without further ado, the winners of the prize drawing are…
One Apple iPod Touch from Small Dog Electronics
• Matt Riley, Middletown Springs
Saw a snowy owl near Addison Sunday.
One overnight room at The Essex Resort & Spa
• Adele Sweet-Mcfarlin, Reading
Kissing nuns? Don’t get in the habit.
Four passes to the Pump House Indoor Waterpark at Jay Peak
• Pamela Campbell, Montpelier
Wanted: free plane ticket to anywhere warmer.
One $50 gift card from Laughing Moon Chocolates
• Saint Rosner, Marlboro
Why’s the sand wet? Because the seaweed.
Seven pints of SoYo frozen yogurt
• Jane Sobel, North Bennington
North Bennington walks vanquish cabin fever blues.
One-month family membership to The Edge
• Susi Taylor, Burlington
Life before Front Porch Forum was complicated.
Two tickets to Golden Dragon Acrobats on March 5 at the Flynn Theater
• George Brewer, Middlebury
For Sale, portable confessional, YES portable confessional.
One field bag full of gardening gear from Gardener’s Supply Company
• Amy Marcinko, Richford
Front Porch Forum is better than Facebook.
Manchester FPF gets rolling
Vermonters in Manchester are talking about their new Front Porch Forum. Posted today…
From Helen:
I have been a fan of Front Porch Forum since I first heard about it several years ago, when it started in the Burlington area. At the time, I was working for The Orton Family Foundation, and we at the Foundation were developing, testing, and advocating for a wide range of community building tools. FPF was in its early stages, but already winning awards, including one I think from the Foundation.
When I am not at home in Manchester, I spend a lot of time in Lyme, New Hampshire, a community that has its own “listserve” – not technically an FPF, but certainly similar. Daily people are looking for something, selling or giving away something, looking for service, seeking lost pets, finding ride-shares, announcing meetings, inviting people to events, etc, etc. I imagine that FPF in Manchester can and will develop into the same sort of well appreciated and powerful local communication tool. In addition to meeting this sort of individual need, the listserve enables lively discussions on community topics….for example, a current topic in Lyme has to do with whether the community should or should not have a skating surface on the common, the related issues, and who is willing step up to maintain it.
At the moment, I have nothing to sell or give away, nor am I looking for a service, but for sure I will post a note when I need to. I am, however, encouraging my friends to join, and I hope you will too. The more people involved, the more powerful the site will be. For those of you who are looking for something or have something to sell or give away, go ahead and post it to get the ball rolling!
Followed by this posting from Linda:
Your post regarding Front Porch Forum was well said and received. I too was living in the Burlington area when FPF was in its infancy and enjoyed hearing about neighborhood yard sales, items for sale, and other general neighborhood news. To my knowledge, nothing inappropriate ever made it to my desktop and it was easy to communicate back and forth with someone seeking a service or product that I might be able to supply. Looking forward to hearing from others in our neighborhood soon.
Upper Valley and NEK neighbors now connecting on Front Porch Forum
Vermont towns in the Upper Valley, as well as the Northeast Kingdom, now all have access Front Porch Forum.
Please share the news with folks you know in these parts of the Green Mountain State, including St. Johnsbury, White River Junction, Royalton, and many other locations.
People use FPF in other parts of Vermont to share catamount sightings (really!), recommend snow plow drivers, find lost cats, report break-ins, sell cars, give away dressers, and much more. And now every Vermont community has its own FPF to do the same.
Please join at http://frontporchforum.com
Front Porch Forum comes to Montpelier and Barre
Live in Montpelier or Barre? Know folks who do? Please send one and all to FrontPorchForum.com to check out FPF and sign up.
This fall, thanks to the Vermont Council on Rural Development and other partners, FPF has been able to bring its community building service to Vermont’s Capital region… and to the entire state.
Vermonters use FPF to connect with neighbors about snow plow recommendations, babysitters, finding lost cell phones, reporting break-ins, selling snow tires, sharing moose sightings and much more.
Please help us spread the news… we depend on word of mouth. Send people to http://FrontPorchForum.com. 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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