From today’s Seven Days…
If you thought the Church Street smoking ban debate was over, think again. One city councilor is floating the idea of putting the decision in voters’ hands.
Following a November 26 city council vote not to pursue a smoking ban on the Marketplace, Councilor Joan Shannon (D-Ward 5) posted comments on her community Front Porch Forum — a neighborhood email listserv — asking her constituency if they would be interested in making the decision themselves. “If there was interest, I would also be supportive of placing the issue on the ballot and letting the voters decide what kind of environment they want on the Marketplace,” Shannon’s posting reads…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 18 October 2007
COMMUNITYMATTERS07
Growth and Character: Having It All
COMMUNITY FILM SERIES
Tuesday, October 23
7:00 – 10:00 PM
The Film House
Main Street Landing, On the Waterfront, Burlington, VT
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
BURLINGTON, VT—The Orton Family Foundation and PlaceMatters are pleased to announce our mini film series, an evening of documentaries on what it means to live, work and play in true community—and the consequences of destroying community. The event is free and open to the public.
Patrick Farrington, Director and Producer of The Champlain Street Urban Renewal Project, will tell you about making his film and answer questions from the audience. See bio below.
The Champlain Street Urban Renewal Project
Ponderosa Productions Presents a Patrick Farrington Film
Opening Theme by Stephen Harrington. Produced by Patrick Farrington and Julie Dutra Farrington. Written, Edited and Directed by Patrick Farrington
Running time: 30 minutes
Imagine being forced out of your home to make way for commercial development. It happened to families living in the Champlain Street Urban Renewal Area in the 1960s. A seemingly forgotten piece of Burlington’s past comes to life in this documentary through heartfelt interviews with former residents and individuals close to the process. Childhood memories and rare photographs tell the story of an established neighborhood that was once the heart of downtown Burlington.
Grow Up Fresh! Vermont School to Farm
Vermont FEED: Food Education Every Day
A partnership of Food Works, Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT), and Shelburne Farms www.vtfeed.org
Produced by Bruce Gibbs, Betsy Rosenbluth, Cabin46Studios, 2007
Running time: 23 minutes
Vermont Feed raises school and community awareness about healthy food, Vermont farms and good nutrition. We act as a catalyst to rebuild health local food systems by cultivating links between classrooms, cafeterias, local farms and communities.
Made possible by the generous support of the Argosy Foundation, Vermont Housing and Conservation Board—Farm Viability Program, and the Center for Whole Communities.
Growing Together: Consensus Building Smart Growth and Community Change
A film by Melissa Paly, Cross Currents Productions, for the New England Environmental Finance Center. Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service. With Support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Running time: 52 minutes
Many communities are finding the issue of how to grow a divisive one. This film offers an alternative to the discord and stalemate that too often occurs over how to approach change as a community—“consensus building.” Speaking in their own words, community officials, concerned citizens and developers of smart growth and revitalization projects discuss how difficult issues can be approached collaboratively to find successful paths for change.
“An inspiring film about how communities and developers can transform can transform typically adversarial relationships into ones that enhance community character, sustainable development, and economic benefit.”
—Patrick Field, Managing Partner
The Consensus Building Institute, Inc.
Cambridge, MA
The Lost People of Mountain Village Jury Award Winner, Mountainfilm in Telluride
Written, Produced, Directed, and Edited by Neal Marlens ands Carol Black
Narrated by Christine Dunford; Director of Photography, Doug Berry; Associate Producer and Additional Photography, Jim Hurst; Sound, Stash Wislocki; Original Music, Mark Leggett; L.A. Producers, Mark Grossan and Raman Rao
Running Time: 15 minutes
Anthropologist Wade Davis calls it “no less than the most spectacular archaeological and anthropological discovery of our lifetimes.” Dr. Jerrold Sapphire, author of Vanished: Why Bad Things Happen to Bad Civilizations, calls it…well, you’ll find out what he calls it. But when a lost backcountry skier high in the Rocky Mountains stumbles on a monumental complex of structures—apparently completely uninhabited—the only thing that experts agree on is that we may never know what really happened to “The Lost People of Mountain Village.”
Patrick Farringtoin BIO: Patrick grew up in South Burlington, the son of Albert and Monica Farrington, both native Burlingtonians.
After living in Los Angeles for a couple of years he returned to Vermont and started working with the video medium in 1992. After several years of producing corporate videos and working on local television spots Patrick looked to produce a story with deeper meaning.
Events surrounding The Champlain Street Urban Renewal Project became the logical choice because there were several family connections to the renewal area. So, in 1998, to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the first home demolished, Patrick began production of his film cleverly titled “The Champlain Street Urban Renewal Project”.
____________________________________
CONTACT:
John Barstow
Director of Communications
The Orton Family Foundation
P.O. Box 111
Middlebury, VT 05753
802-388-6336
www.orton.org
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