Category Archives: Vermont

Neighbor loves her Forum

Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 by • No comments yet

People say the most lovely things about Front Porch Forum!  Thanks to all who have sent in messages… your kind words keep us motivated.  Here’s a note received today from C.C., a member of the Addition Neighborhood Forum in Burlington’s South End.

Because I don’t want to miss any editions of this forum, which I enjoy so much… I wanted to confirm that you have my new email address. So just checking that all is well. Thanks!!

By the way, our forum has helped me find childcare and porch builders, provided a conduit for contacting my city councilor about traffic safety and the police to express a concern. It’s also offered me a regular opportunity to appreciate how many cool things are going on in our community, and — most important! — provided me with a deeper sense of connection with neighbors and friends. Many thanks.

I love her last line… not only is she appreciating the direct results of connections to babysitters and contractors, but the sum of all those messages are adding up to her feeling more a part of a community… her neighborhood.  Hey!  That’s our mission… to help neighbors connect and foster community in the neighborhood.

U-G-L-Y Bloggers have no Alibi

Posted on Wednesday, March 7, 2007 by • No comments yet

Winner of the Vermont-bloggers-are-not-the-most-photogenic-lot essay contest? Philip Baruth, hands down:

Never have so many wonderful people, filled with so many lovely ideas, produced so many aesthetically questionable photographs.

And did he really have to include so much damning evidence to make his case? Seven snapshots and 677 words… I can mount no defense… guilty as charged.

P.S. It was a great event:

In no particular order, we had a full Seven Days contingent, with Freyne and Resmer (as well as mini-Resmer); the men of Green Mountain Daily (J.D. Ryan, Jack McCullough), as well as an erstwhile man of GMD, Odum; Neil Jensen and unflappable friend Oliver; Charity Tensel and Haik Bedrosian; the reclusive Yusef; Jason Lorber and Max, his extremely cool son; Michael Wood-Lewis, of the Front Porch Forum; Bill Simmon, who kicked off the event with a spontaneous Youtube seminar; and many more.

Crazy Idea + Neighborhood Forum = Igloos

Posted on Monday, March 5, 2007 by • 1 comment

Congratulations to the visionaries in the Lakeside neighborhood in Burlington’s South End. They declared an igloo building contest about a week ago, with the judging set for yesterday (Sunday) afternoon. The weather, especially Saturday, was ideal… tons of snow and warm temps… perfect!

A group of neighbors recently formed to look at global climate change decided to hold the contest (“before it’s too late!”). One of their members, Joan Shannon, put Front Porch Forum to good use, spreading the word of the event to the neighborhood with a few keystrokes. Lake Champlain Chocolates supplied prizes! WCAX showed up to interview some of the kids and shoot the igloos:

Thanks to Nik (proud father) on Conger Avenue for a better quality version of this video. Enjoy!

Monthly Sampler: Neighborhood Poker Game

Posted on Wednesday, February 28, 2007 by • No comments yet

So I tried listing a week’s worth of message titles a couple times (here and here), and now a month and nearly 2,000 new messages have slipped by… too many to list. Let’s go with some samples of what Front Porch Forum members wrote in February:

  • Let’s get a neighborhood poker game started in the King Maple area of Burlington.
  • Dog lost in the big box parking lots. Dog found!
  • Did anyone else’s propane price go up nearly 50% last month in Hinesburg?
  • Warm maple-cinnamon buns delivered to your Charlotte home for school fundraiser.
  • New baby coming and hand-me-downs needed in the Five Sisters.
  • Lots of ideas discussed for underutilized corner store space on St. Paul Street.
  • Neighbors stepping up to reclaim ailing pocket park at S. Winooski and St. Paul.
  • Seeking kombucha tea culture… I have no idea what this is.
  • Snowpants needed for Somali Bantu kids sledding this week.
  • Details of emergencies sent to specific neighborhoods from Burlington Fire Department.
  • Discussion about changing Barlow Street to one-way in Winooski.
  • Intervale car break-ins reported and discussed.
  • South End car ransacker nabbed; police ask forum members to reclaim recovered loot.
  • The usual array of housing, cars, furniture, contractor, etc. postings.
  • Free couch, iMac, printers, linens, baby stuff, desk, slip cover, ficus plant, misc. electronics, etc.
  • Lots of discussions about broadband and TV options across the county.
  • Lots of Town Meeting lead-up announcements and opinions.
  • Lots and lots snow-related requests, offers, complaints and thanks.
  • Oh… and there’s always cats. This month’s tip… look under your porch after a blizzard. Several folks found snowed-in kitties eager to get out, get fed and get warm!

Build Igloo for Chocolate… before it’s too late!

Posted on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 by • 1 comment

A group of Lakeside Neighborhood Forum members in Burlington’s South End recently formed the Lakeside Climate Club… or something to that effect. They gather to take a hard look at global climate change and discuss a personal and neighborhood response.

But this group isn’t letting a little cataclysmic manmade disaster get in the way of some fun. Witness their first action… a neighborhood igloo building contest… “before it’s too late!” I love it.

And the kicker, all neighborhood participants (kids and adults) will get a treat from neighboring Lake Champlain Chocolates, with the grand champion carting home something even better from this favorite local sponsor… a chocolate polar bear? Have to wait until Sunday’s judging to see, I guess (March 4 at noon).

And this isn’t the only neighborhood group forming locally to address global climate change. Others in the South Union, Five Sisters, The Addition, and Lakewood Neighborhood Forums have met at least once. Some are using a program called the Low Carbon Diet from the Empowerment Institute.

In fact, my wife just told me that we’re hosting the second meeting of just such a group in our neighborhood this weekend… but, alas, no mention of igloos or chocolate. Gotta work on that.

Anyone in Chittenden County interested in getting something going in his/her neighborhood, it’s simple… post a notice on your neighborhood forum, hold a first meeting/social event, and get rolling. Use the Low Carbon Diet, watch Al Gore’s award-winning movie, or forge your own path.

Winooski turns to Front Porch Forum

Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 by • No comments yet

Andy Potter filed a wonderful story for Channel 3 News tonight about how the City of Winooski is turning to Front Porch Forum. Video below. Text here and on the WCAX website.

Local Government and Front Porch Forum

Posted on Saturday, February 24, 2007 by • No comments yet

Local officials continue to pick up on the potential value of Front Porch Forum for their work. I had three state reps., a village trustee, and a schoolboard member join their neighborhood forums in the past couple days. Each signed up for the several neighborhood forums covering his/her district.

Still other folks are spreading the word about Front Porch Forum through public channels. A school commissioner running for reelection included a bit about FPF in her campaign literature. Volunteers in Westford, Jericho, Underhill and perhaps Williston plan to set up a table on Town Meeting Day to hand out FPF flyers. Any other volunteers out there for other parts of Chittenden County?

And then the Burlington Free Press reported the following today:

Erik Heikel, 29, is running a write-in campaign to fill [a] vacated seat [on Winooski’s City Council]. Heikel sees himself as part of the new population trend of Winooski — people in their late 20s and early 30s moving into Winooski to find affordable housing for their families. Heikel has been involved with Winooski’s “Front Porch Forum,” a neighborhood Internet site. Heikel said he wants to use the forum to keep younger people involved in city government.

And from K.G. in The Addition Neighborhood Forum in Burlington:

It is amazing to be a part of this forum because you get a glimpse at how our city government operates.

Forum Members answer Call to Shovel

Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 by • 1 comment

Dozens of Front Porch Forum members requested help from their neighbors in the wake of the blizzard… most in need of snow removal. Others posted generous offers to help. We also were glad to help spread the word about Operation Snow Shovel… apparently to good effect:

Thanks so, so much for posting the message about Operation Snow Shovel throughout Burlington. The response was incredible! Can you believe that I’ve heard from 57 people willing to volunteer to shovel? 57! (That’s in addition to the 33 permanent volunteers who shovel for a particular person each time it snows– many of them were recruited through Front Porch Forum, too.) A large percentage of volunteers said they’d heard about the need through their neighborhood forum.

As of right now, every single elderly or disabled person in need of help that contacted OSS has been accommodated. And those I’ve yet to hear from will get help quickly. What a wonderful resource these forums are! Many, many thanks!

Angie Spong
The Center for Community and Neighborhoods

WCAX covered this story on the evening news too.

Fire and Police turn to FPF in Crisis

Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 by • 1 comment

During the toughest stretch of our recent record-breaking blizzard, local police and fire departments turned to Front Porch Forum. Some examples:

1. Police could not spare the manpower to aid a stranded motorist out on East Ave. Sun was setting, temp was dropping, and snow was accumulating around this older gentleman. We responded by immediately calling about 300 households within a ten-minute walk.

2. In a similar case, a single mom reported that two elderly women on her block were snowed in and incommunicado. No signs of life from the outside… just snow drifted up and over the entryways. We notified about 75 nearby neighbors and asked for immediate help.

3. As the first of dozens of carbon monoxide emergencies showed up in Burlington, the Fire Department realized that snow was drifting over the outside vents of many residential gas-fired appliances causing CO backup and in many cases poisonings. Front Porch Forum broadcast the word the night of the storm and heard back things like…

After reading the message posted about clearing your vents I braved the outside at 11:30 PM and couldn’t even find my vent. I came back with my shovel and after poking around a bit I found it and cleared it… I’m sure I’ll have to do it every hour with the wind but thank you for the reminder!  -ONE West Neighborhood Forum

My Kids and Obama

Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 by • 2 comments

One benefit of running Front Porch Forum is that I read of happenings, rumors and news from all across the region often before they reach the mainstream media. It’s mostly just fun to be plugged in that way. But occasionally I learn of something that I would have missed otherwise.

For example, back in December 2006, I read about a kick-off meeting for a draft Obama movement in Vermont. I heard Barack Obama speak at the last Democratic National Convention and was impressed. Further, I was one of thousands who tried in vain to hear him speak at the University of Vermont last fall… overflow crowds overwhelmed the facilities that had been set up. I couldn’t even get into the back-up space that had been rigged with sound.

So, it’s still so early and I’m looking at candidates from across the spectrum – this is bound to be a long and interesting election cycle – but he’s definitely offering exciting possibilities.

So, as a proud papa, I’ve got to “out” my kids too. Philip Baruth has an excellent piece on his take on Obama that he filed for VPR (audio, text). Here’s my favorite line:

One couple even brought their three kids, all in their PJs, and the kids crashed around the place and produced the excellent sort of mayhem that kids produce near or just past their bedtimes.

For the record, we had all four of our kids, but our seven-year-old passed on the jammies and wore his school clothes. And, yes, they were crashing around. Thanks again to the accommodating group and cafe proprietors!

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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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