Category Archives: Orton Family Foundation
Converted Montpelier lawn now feeds 20 households
In April 2014, our south yard was a grass lawn. Front Porch Forum posts brought responses from community members, and we formed a community garden. That former lawn now produces hundreds of kinds of fresh, delicious food. We are winding down our second growing season. This year, 20 gardeners grew food here to feed their households. Additionally, the garden provides hundreds of pounds of food for local organizations feeding people in need. Learn more at http://www.thegardenat485elm.org and https://www.facebook.com/thegardenat485elm
Please join me in supporting Front Porch Forum by contributing here: http://frontporchforum.com/supporting-members
Cow wars, confederate flags, and new businesses in Jericho
“I just have to comment about our FPF. Civil, helpful, educational, interesting, fun, and useful. Cow wars, confederate flags, and new businesses. Town problems and lost cats. The other day, I needed a log splitter. Immediately I got an offer, and when the splitter had a problem, the owner actually spent her own time to split my wood AND deliver it!!! Who thought up the Front Porch Forum? Who actually believed it could work? What a place to live.”
• Jack, Jericho Front Porch Forum
Calais Community Root Cellar
“As you may remember from previous Front Porch Forum posts, the Calais Vermontivate team won first place in the community division. This means we earned $1,000 toward our mission of building a community root cellar. We will soon be working on the design for a root cellar in the basement of the Maple Corner Community Center. We don’t know yet how big it will be, but, it would help to know — who will want space here to store your roots? Send me an email to let me know if you want to participate.”
• Ginny, Calais FPF
Reckless drivers endangering lives… Vermont discussions heating up
The following Front Porch Forum posting sparked a lively local discussion about texting while driving…
“The past few days while entering and leaving Cambridge Elementary School I have witnessed several drivers texting while leaving the school. We all know it is against the law, but more importantly, there are children who are walking and biking to school and “you” are putting their lives at risk. The text you are responding to is not more important than their lives. Pick up and drop off times at CES is a very busy time and drivers need (and have the duty) to be alert. School officials can only do so much, we are all responsible for the safety of every CES child!”
• Sean, Cambridge FPF
Another Vermonter in Plainfield took a more direct tack…
“Speeding on Laird Pond Rd- Please Stop or I Will Throw Rocks at You… A red truck with a cap came barreling down Laird Pond Rd this afternoon right around bus drop off time 3:30 and sped by my son and honked loudly. He was off to the side, he was not in the way. He is a student walking home from school. Lots of children walk this road every day. Speeding on this road at this time, or any time is unacceptable. I’m serious about the rocks.”
• Erin, Marshfield Plainfield FPF
Given recent tragedies on Vermont roads, these conversations are as important as ever. Local FPFs are a good place to raise these concerns and gauge neighbors’ feelings as well.
Most popular info source for road project updates?
WCAX reported recently that a VTrans survey found Front Porch Forum is the most popular source of information for updates about the Waterbury road projects.
Daily Yonder’s take on FPF
By Dale Mackey, published in The Daily Yonder on Feb. 25, 2015…
A Vermont-based social media platform helps residents communicate with neighbors. In the process, participants feel more connected to each other and their communities, says the project’s founder… [click to read full article]
A block party for the Five Sisters neighborhood in Burlington, Vermont, which was Front Porch Forum’s launch neighborhood. Photo: Carolyn Bates
Roots of Passion… finding happiness thru meaningful work
Check out Live Happy magazine on newsstands everywhere this month (Feb. 2015). “Roots of Passion” focuses on four people who “found happiness in lives filled with purpose and meaning,” including 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben and Front Porch Forum co-founder Michael Wood-Lewis…
Business owner offers $5,000 reward on FPF for info about fire
The Stowe Reporter used the Morrisville Front Porch Forum recently to learn…
A Morristown man is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for a fire that destroyed his business last year. But state fire investigators say the blaze wasn’t suspicious and there is no active investigation.
Most traditional media outlets in Vermont use their local FPFs for leads to stories that they investigate and report on. We’re glad to play this role… and others. Further, we appreciate when proper attribution is included in the piece, e.g….
He posted a notice on Front Porch Forum last week, offering a $5,000 reward in hope that someone would contact state police with information.
Stowe and the surround communities are fortunate to have the Reporter and the Record digging into local stories.
Vermont towns post public meetings to their local FPF
An increasing number of municipal boards and committees post their public meeting warnings and minutes on their local Front Porch Forums. Many have done this for years, but more have started doing it lately. For example, the New Haven Conservation Commission posted an invitation to the community to attend its upcoming meeting, followed by the agenda.
It started with this lovely invitation…
We welcome all who wish to express their ideas, thoughts and opportunities. As we continue the goals of this commission it is important that we hear from the townspeople that we will serve. Please come join us.
And ended with…
Posted December 27, 2014, Town Office, Village Green Market, Post Office, Website, Front Porch Forum.
Creating resilient communities in Vermont
Front Porch Forum is proud to be part of the Vermont Digital Economy Project, which has had a big impact across the state over the past couple years.
“VCRD launched the Vermont Digital Economy Project to offer free support to speed flood recovery, spur economic development and job growth, and improve community resilience to disasters. The project worked directly with Vermont towns affected by 2011’s floods to help businesses, nonprofits and municipalities expand their use of online tools. Together with project partners, we helped increase digital literacy and online workforce training, added Wi-Fi and other public access points, brought a community-based social network to every Vermont town, created town websites and community calendars, promoted the use of “cloud” applications, and provided customized small-business and nonprofit training.”
Check out this interactive map for lots of stories and real-world results:
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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