Ghost of Midnight
… about neighbors, community and Front Porch Forum
Burlington’s Five Sisters recognized by This Old House
#BTV #VT – Front Porch Forum‘s flagship neighborhood — the Five Sisters — was just named by This Old House as one of their Best Old House Neighborhoods of 2012. Nice…
The Five Sisters neighborhood is in the south end of Burlington near the shores of Lake Champlain. Its five primary streets bear the names of Caroline, Charlotte, Catherine, Margaret, and Marian, hence the moniker. Here you’ll find around 300 houses and cottages developed from 1900 through the 1950s for working-class families employed by the nearby Queen City Cotton Mill and the American Woolen Company, among others. These days, it’s attracting young families, who often take turns walking kids to school, a practice known as the “walking school bus.”
Vermonters have many choices…
#VT – Lots of great discussion of various online tools today at the e-Vermont workshop in Randolph. I was blown away by first-hand accounts of Moretown citizens responding to Hurricane Irene, as well as the folks of Westford self-organizing a food shelf to help neighbors in need.
Vermonters have so many digital media tools in the toolbox from which to choose. That said, I’m partial to our Front Porch Forum for many applications. Apparently Doris in Argyle, NY feels the same way (from her current posting)…
Thanks to everyone who posted or emailed info about the Pleasant Valley public hearings, which my husband will attend tonight. I was pleased to see that Front Porch Forum published the info in a timely manner.
It occurs to me that one week of following FPF has given me more positive information and ideas than several years of trying to negotiate Facebook. With Facebook I have struggled to figure out who is seeing what information and I have not gleaned much of anything from a world of “friends” except for gossip and a lot of negative interaction. So, goodbye Facebook, and hello Front Porch Forum!
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t share this bit about Twitter… just in fun, of course…
Update: And from Carrie in Argyle…
Doris, I agree…been thinking the same thing about getting rid of facebook. I love that the FPF news I hear is local!!! I feel so much more connected.
Drawing a crowd to your FPF on Town Meeting Day…
Each neighborhood and town is unique… we can testify to that fact through our hosting of 170 different FPFs across Vermont.
While each place is different, they all get more value out of Front Porch Forum as more neighbors sign up.
Recruiting new FPF members on Town Meeting Day has proven a great way to boost your own FPF. Handing out flyers, passing around a sign-up sheet, speaking from the floor about your FPF during the meeting itself… we’ve heard of lots of successful approaches. In fact, Jeff just sent this note in today…
I would say FPF in Richmond has been a smashing success. My Town Energy Committee will have a table set up on Town Meeting Day. While FPF is a little off topic for our group, I see no reason why we can’t have flyers on our table… FPF has been a wonderful addition to our town and to the state.
Neighbors to the rescue… lost dog and cat edition
#VT – We love happy endings at Front Porch Forum. Here are a couple from today. First, from Ben regarding a missing pup in Hinesburg…
I just wanted to extend a sincere thank you for your help. Charlie was located early this morning and is now warming up and having a bite to eat inside. The phone calls received from the network of Hinesburg FPF members were invaluable to the search effort. Katy and Charlie really can’t thank you (and the callers) enough for what you’ve done. Many, many thanks.
And from Joel in Charlotte…
Our grey tiger kitty has been found, thanks to connections made through Front Porch Forum. I thank everyone who played a part in her return, and I thank those who kept their eyes open.
Neighbors like to talk about real estate
Lots of real estate moves through Front Porch Forum… houses and commercial properties for sale, apartment and office space for rent, families searching for information about neighborhoods, school, homeowners discussing property values and taxes, etc. FPF helps neighbors connect about whatever it is they’d like to discuss… and real estate is a consistent theme.
From Daily Real Estate News today…
There are sites and tools out there that are more directly focused on location: the online places where people talk about their physical places. Some of these are simply Facebook pages. But some are more specialized.
My favorite example is always Burlington, Vt.’s Front Porch Forum,… [which] is broken down by neighborhood. The only people talking on the list are actual neighbors. It’s super useful, but not very common.
Owning a similar social media site like this would be a strategic advantage in towns where it doesn’t already exist. It would be like a newsletter, but instead of being a social product it would be a social activity.
Argyle, NY welcomes Front Porch Forum!
We’re thrilled to bring Front Porch Forum to Argyle, our first foray into New York state. Thanks to ACET and a number of local folks for making this happen. If you live in Argyle, sign up here!
Helping neighbors in need… past and present
#BTV #VT – Great point from Joan in Burlington’s Lakeside neighborhood today…
I have been doing some genealogy research lately and came across this:
“March 19, 1887 Yonkers Statesman: Thomas Mitchell of Webster Avenue who has been suffering for two weeks past with rheumatism and throat affection is able to be out again.”
Looks like back in the day the newspaper actually watched our for the community. I think Front Porch Forum is filling that nitch today (I know the Free Press certainly isn’t). If you are holed up and need a little help at some point, I hope you’ll let your neighbors know. We’ll bring soup.
See you at the rink!
Neighbors and Loss…
#VT Beautiful sentiments posted on the Richmond Front Porch Forum today…
Dear Friends and Neighbors: I have lived in this wonderful community of Richmond for the past twenty seven years. It’s been a wonderful place to raise my two children Adam and Beth. Beth is now grown, a college student, and I continue to partially support her during her college years.
As most of you know, I lost Adam in Iraq four years ago and the town was wonderful. I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for the support and kind words, especially allowing me to place a bench at the Round Church Park in remembrance of him, which will bring me back to visit often. I hope that when soccer and little league season starts, you will all remember that Adam played soccer and baseball here in Richmond. I hope that when you see a log drifting down the Winooski River on a hot summer day, you will remember that Adam, Anthony and Dylan would float down the Winooski River. I hope that on the 4th of July, Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day, when you see all the flags, it’s because of Adam that they can be replaced at no cost to the town.
Beth and I must leave this wonderful community now. I have sold my home and will move to a place that is almost as peaceful. Everyone say’s that I raised two wonderful children but the fact is, the families of Richmond also helped. This is truly a wonderful community, Beth and I will miss this place immensely.
Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Kathrine
PS: To Bridge Street Caf©, could you please bring back the messy whessy? That was Adam’s favorite meal just because he liked to say Messy Whessy.
And more evidence of Vermonters’ capacity to support their neighbors was shared on the Charlotte FPF…
I noticed a very kind comment from someone in Charlotte (who I can only hope is on Front Porch Forum) posted about an essay I wrote for Salon.com.
It brought up a nagging guilt over the fact that I never said anything close to a proper thank you for everything so many people in our town — those who know me and those who don’t — did for our family when my husband was dying of cancer. I can only plead overwhelming grief, exhaustion and the fact that every resource I could summon was directed at keeping our teetering little boat afloat. And then so much time passed.
But I was raised with better manners. So I hope you’ll now accept my utter gratitude for the meals, the shoveled steps, incredibly, the beautiful bulbs planted in our yard so that we would have a bright memory of Kevin in spring. For that and so much of the organization of these things I especially thank my dear friends Liza and Tom Wright. But there are so many more. We do, as the commenter noted, live in a loving community and I feel enormously lucky for that.
The feelings expressed in the essay were never meant to ignore or diminish any of these considerable gifts. There are clearly things the best intentioned neighbors cannot fix.
Warmly,
Lee Ann
Free Speech TV is coming to Burlington!
#BTV #VT – Front Porch Forum is pleased to sponsor this action. Click here to donate to their Kickstarter campaign!
Thanks to the work of many in our community, Free Speech TV is bringing its 24/7 independent news, analysis and documentaries to Burlington Telecom. Starting March 1st, we’ll be able to tune in to FSTV on BT’s newest channel (122) on its “basic tier.”
But first, we need to rally to finish the task of making Burlington the first city in the country to offer a fulltime FSTV channel on cable. FSTV has until the end of February to raise a one-time $10,000 to cover its start-up costs.
Here’s some more good news: We raised half the money before we even launched this page.
A group of us founded the Friends of Free Speech TV in Burlington, and we’ve already pledged $5,000 as a Founding Friends Challenge Fund. That means that for every dollar you pledge here, we’ll kick in another dollar to match you. If we can raise just $5,000 by the end of February, FSTV will receive the full $10,000 it needs to launch its new channel in our community.
Vermont Communities in a Digital Age Workshop
#VT – Vermont Communities in a Digital Age
When: Thursday, February 16, 2012: 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
Where: Vermont Technical College, Randolph Center
Register: Visit http://evermontworkshop.org for details and to register
Join community leaders from around the state to share ideas and learn how online tools are being used to create jobs, reinvent schools, attract visitors, improve civic involvement, and enliven Vermont communities. The workshop is sponsored by the e-Vermont Community Broadband Project.
Anne Galloway of VtDigger.org will be the keynote speaker. Session topics include mobilizing community resources for emergencies, a hands-on lab exploring online tools for business, a showcase of how technology is expanding the classroom for 4-6th graders, a look at conducting town meetings in the digital age, and ways to increase public Internet access in your town (and why).
Registration is $20 and includes course offerings, refreshments, lunch and the chance to win a Kindle reader and other prizes in our raffle drawing.
For more information about the day go to evermontworkshop.org. Pre-register online, by phone 802-859-3090, or by e-mail joanna@snellingcenter.org.
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
Post Categories
- Uncategorized
- PDF2009
- Calendar
- Northeast Kingdom
- podcast
- Peer Rental
- Localization
- Big Tech
- Events
- PDF2007
- Web Traffic
- Google AdSense
- Pay It Forward
- Elections
- berkmansunlight
- Maps
- Video
- Upstate New York
- Coupons
- Wildlife
- Mobile
- Viral Marketing
- Raffle
- Crisis Response
- Donations
- Lost & Found
- Real Estate
- College Students
- Gratitude
- Social Responsibility
- Orton Family Foundation
- Start ups
- Make It Your Own Awards
- Online Civility
- Clay Shirky
- Newspapers
- Humor
- How To Use FPF
- Online Classified Ads
- Best of FPF
- Peer Reviews
- Politics
- Community Management
- Economic Development
- Local Reviews
- Case Foundation
- Borrow and Lend
- Neighborhood Watch
- Good Government
- Small Business Advertising
- Citizen Journalism
- e-Vermont
- Democracy
- Local Search
- Knight Foundation
- Burlington
- MacArthur Fellows
- Civic Engagement
- Social Media
- social capital
- Social Networking
- Vermont
- Neighborhood
- Community Building
- Local Online
- Front Porch Forum