Category Archives: Vermont

Hometown Daily Covers Front Porch Forum

Posted on Friday, July 4, 2008 by • Comments are off for this post

Thanks to Sally Pollak who wrote an excellent feature article about Front Porch Forum for the Burlington Free Press yesterday.


Photo credit: Alison Redlich, Free Press

Dam Break unleashes Wall of Water in Richmond, VT

Posted on Saturday, June 28, 2008 by • 1 comment

A posting today from Gary to his neighbors in the FPF Richmond East Neighborhood Forum…

Friday night around 7pm, I was at the junction of the Huntington Winooski Rivers, just playing in the water with my kids. All of the sudden, 4 people were on the Cochran Road bridge yelling and screaming at us frantically. We couldn’t really hear exactly what they were saying. A fisherman was nearby us.

All of the sudden the water, which was at our ankles all the way across, started rushing and getting deeper. In a matter of seconds it was a fierce and fast river with large logs floating by. It was surreal — I felt like I was in a movie and the “great flood” was beginning.

Luckily we were near the shore when it happened and we got out just in time or we would have been in serious trouble. The fisherman was a different story. I watched him try to get to the shore. The water level kept rising and soon it was up to his neck. I think he lost his pole and everything and was just trying to get to the shore. I was really worried and thinking what I would do if he went under. Finally he made it to the other side of the winooski, by the railroad tracks, and waved to us that he was OK.

Still, we were stuck on the wrong side of the Huntington, with all our stuff (and the path home) inaccessible. We waited about a half hour but it never let up. We had to forge a way to the Jonesville bridge and walk all the way around back to where our stuff was. On the way we saw a police officer who was responding to a call about the distressed fisherman. She told us that a dam had broke somewhere upstream. It must have been a big dam because even an hour after it hit, the water was still rushing and very high.

I never saw anything like this. I hope everyone upstream was OK. Does anyone know what happened? Where is the dam that broke? Where is all this water coming from?

UPDATE: A follow up posted by Tim today…

Gary – First of all, it’s great news to hear you and your family got away from the river safely the other night.  We heard the firetrucks and police go down toward the Jonesville Store and heard on the scanner that they were looking for the fisherman.  They thought they saw him get to the side safely but didn’t see him again so they had to keep looking.  Apparently he’d made his way up to his vehicle by Wes White Hill Road and they saw him there.  They were also talking about a big beaver dam having given away and the debris and water came rushing down the Huntington River.  We happened to be coming back from Richmond, down Cochran Road, about an hour later and we also noticed how brown the water still was.  Very scary stuff.  At least everyone is safe.

Is Front Porch Forum Nationwide?

Posted on Monday, June 23, 2008 by • Comments are off for this post

Front Porch Forum subscribers frequently are surprised to learn that this free service was created right here in our corner of Vermont. It’s no secret… our start-up story has gotten decent local media coverage.

Here’s today’s example from a relatively long-time and active subscriber from Essex Junction…

First of all — will someone please tell me the “once upon a time” of Front Porch Forum. Since I’ve been a member, I’ve been singing its praises to family in Texas and most recently Oregon. But you know what!! I really don’t know where this started and I’m just now barely getting little hints and cues that this actually STARTED in VERMONT!!

Is this true?!! And if so, yet another reason for pride in this little state of ours.

Here I’ve been telling Texans and Oregonians — “Check out your own neighborhood. I’m assuming ‘Front Porch Forum’ is national, if not international.” Sooooo, if it hasn’t been done recently, I’d love to have someone fill in those of us who are in the dark. Or maybe post the “history” on the website under ABOUT US. Thanks in advance.

Second of all — I am indeed reaping the benefits of Front Porch Forum. I’ve established a weekly connection with a high school student who comes over and aids me with certain chores — recycle and trash out, groceries in, other lifting and tugging. He’s pleasant, dependable, willing, and courteous, and also a kindred theatre spirit by way of EHS drama program! He gets paid right away; and when he helped us with unloading and setting up our tag sale, he was able to earn more.

Make every posting count… twice

Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008 by • Comments are off for this post

Steve Yelvington posted today…

Knowledge@Wharton has an interview with Joe Kraus, director of product management at Google, in which he highlights the importance of social interaction on the Web:

“So, the killer apps that have really worked on the web have always been about connecting people to one another. So, whether it is instant messaging and e-mail as communications to connect people to one another, whether it’s photo-sharing as a way to connect people to one another through photos, or blogging as a way to connect people to one another through the words, people have always been social and the killer apps that have really succeeded on the web have always been social.”

This got me thinking about a couple recent conversations with folks asking about huge powerhouse online companies that have outposts in Burlington, VT, where we operate Front Porch Forum‘s pilot. The gist was… “Wouldn’t people be better off selling their car on Craigslist Burlington, seeking plumber recommendations on Angie’s List Burlington, giving away their old couch on FreeCycle Burlington and just using Front Porch Forum to organize block parties and find lost cats?”

Good question and I encourage people to use multiple services when they have the need. But like Krause says above, it’s all about connection. While websites offering classified ads, reviews, give-away matching, etc. by location COULD help people connect in some meaningful way, I don’t think they do. My sense is that they help facilitate the immediate and direct need (selling a car, finding a plumber), but they don’t touch the other… they don’t capitalize on the opportunity to add a brick to the house of local community with each interaction.

That’s what Front Porch Forum is all about. We aim to take every posting by clearly identified nearby neighbors and cobble them all together to build real community among neighbors and townsfolk. Why give away your moving boxes to anonymous distant strangers when you can offer them to your nearby neighbors and actually get to meet some people who live near you? That’s tapping the real potential of the internet… as Google’s Joe Krause says… it’s all about connecting people.

Or, as Wolfgang reported a month ago…

Just wanted to let you know that we sold our Minivan today to a neighbor through Front Porch Forum. We had more people expressing interest and more people showing up to look at the van who found out through the Forum than the interest generated by Burlington Free Press, Cars.com and Craigslist combined. Thanks!

So, again, I encourage folks in our service area to post their messages on any site they like… AND to post it on Front Porch Forum. The results typically speak for themselves.

Can’t beat an informed electorate with a stick

Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008 by • 1 comment

The good people of the Town of Westford are engaged in a running debate about deciding some local issues, like the school budget, via traditional town meeting vs. Australian ballot.  Front Porch Forum has hosted many well-conceived postings about this from a variety of angles.

I was struck by Mary’s posting on the FPF Westford Neighborhood Forum today where she hammered home the importance of citizens getting educated on the issues before weighing in, whether it’s at Town Meeting or a ballot box.

She went on to say…

Front Porch Forum is an excellent tool for distributing information, but obviously it does not reach everyone in town.  Which leads to sending out much information to the public to prepare them for what they are voting on.

I will say between info mailed, The Forum and added meetings helped out tremendously with preparing us for the [failed school] unification vote.

An idea to share:  check with your neighbors and see if they belong to Front Porch Forum.  If not, highly recommend they join.  If you know of elderly people who do not use computers, offer to print out the forum postings once a week or every other.  They would probably love to read this info and people’s postings.

About one-third (270) of Westford households subscribe to Front Porch Forum so far, with more joining every week.  Last month, FPF published five issues of the Westford Neighborhood Forum per week, each issue comprised of about five postings from residents.

Live Blogging Vermont’s e-Future

Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 by • Comments are off for this post

Hey, hey… should be a good event tomorrow (May 29, 2008) at Champlain College (Burlington, VT)…

Fulfilling Vermont’s e-State Potential
Building Community in a “Connected Age”

Front Porch Forum will be among several community-building efforts featured. Lewis Feldstein from New Hampshire, who co-wrote Robert Putnam’s follow up to Bowling Alone, will provide the keynote.

Another fun angle… Cathy Resmer from Seven Days and Bill Simmon from Candleblog will be live blogging the event… so tune in, follow along, and comment as we go. I hope that blog comments will find their way into the live conversation at the event.

UPDATE: A good day! Read all about it…

And Bill even snapped some art photos… or whatever you call this one…

Future of Vermont June 19

Posted on Friday, May 23, 2008 by • Comments are off for this post

Glenn McRea of the Snelling Center for Government posted the following on his neighborhood’s Front Porch Forum today…

The Future of Vermont is is an important opportunity coming up.  The Vermont Council on Rural Development is sponsoring a series of statewide forums on the “future” of Vermont.  Front Porch Forum is an important part of that future as a vehicle and a connected community.  I hope people will put this on their calendar and come and talk about FPF and other vital issues about the future of our Vermont community.

Forum on the future of Vermont – City Hall Auditorium in Burlington, from 6:00 to 8:30 on June 19th. Please check out the website at http:/www.futureofvermont.org to learn more, to take an on-line survey, or to contribute ideas electronically to this statewide dialogue.

Thanks Glenn!  I plan to attend.

Door-to-Door Magazine Crews Sweep Chittenden Co.

Posted on Friday, May 23, 2008 by • 1 comment

A number of Front Porch Forum neighborhoods have lit up recently about door-to-door salespeople. In particular, young folks have been sweeping through local neighborhoods pushing magazine subscriptions and odd stories that raise suspicions. Hundreds, if not thousands, of local folks seem to be talking about this. Some people are afraid, others annoyed… a couple fathers even have a kind of vigilante approach in the works. In fact, some of these sales folks have posted their pitch on Front Porch Forum too. I had an aggressive kid at my front door in Burlington just the other day with a cockamamie story.

So I was keen to read Irene Wrenner’s post today. Irene’s an Essex Town Selectboard Member.

This is a follow-up to various messages posted on Front Porch Forum in recent days by those who wonder about young magazine sellers canvassing their neighborhoods. On the internet I found two sites that were informative and appear to be legitimate. They discuss the abusive living / working situations that some captive youth endure.

Parent Watch is a clearinghouse for information on child and youth labor abuse in the traveling door-to-door sales crew industry.

http://www.magcrew.com is dedicated to helping individuals who have sold or are currently selling magazines or other items for a traveling sales crew. It boasts a central area where people can come together and share stories about door-to-door magazine selling. Their aim is to help those who are being or have been abused by Magazine Crews.

The New York Times article by Ian Urbina, “For Youths, a Grim Tour on Magazine Crews,” was published February 21, 2007 and contains advice for those of us who wonder what to do when approached:

“Ms. Williams, from Parent Watch, said her organization advised customers not to buy from the sellers or to let them in the house, but to offer them a phone to call home or her organization’s phone number to help anyone who might want to arrange a bus ticket home. She said her organization had lobbied for legislation to prevent sellers from being categorized as independent contractors and to provide them with minimum wage and safety and health protections.”

I hope the above is helpful to those who are concerned, as I am, about these solicitors.

UPDATE: More and more neighbors are posting stories about these young folks ringing their doorbells.  Mara in South Burlington offered these links for tales…

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/190/RipOff0190670.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/258/RipOff0258651.htm
http://www.scamclub.com/blog/2006/11/freedom-sales-is-scam-dont-get-fooled.html

Local Elected Officials put FPF to Use

Posted on Friday, May 23, 2008 by • Comments are off for this post

Thanks to a local selectboard member for sharing her experience with Front Porch Forum in her Vermont town…

I am constantly amazed at how much good thought and work you put into making this happen. I think FPF is really having a positive effect in Hinesburg. I find it incredibly useful as an elected official to know what is going on all around town.

About 200 local public officials in FPF’s pilot area subscribe to the service currently.  More are welcome.

Federal Economic Stimulus Check Spent Locally

Posted on Thursday, May 15, 2008 by • Comments are off for this post

Peg from Shelburne sent a financial contribution to Front Porch Forum today along with this note of explanation…

I’m trying to put some of my “stimulus” cash into good causes since the gov’t apparently does not know how to do so.  Plus, without Front Porch Forum, I would not have had so many neighborhood folks come to my yard sale over the weekend (and hence have so much extra cash in my pocket!).

Much needed and much appreciated, Peg!  Every dollar received by FPF gets plowed back into the service.

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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