Ghost of Midnight
… about neighbors, community and Front Porch Forum
Local Business Success on FPF!
Timely Tire started at an untimely moment for a new business — right before the pandemic. Between a brilliant business concept and an effective channel to get the word out to neighbors, the business not only survived, but thrived over the past year and a half.
With the help of FPF ads and neighbor recommendations, Timely Tire grew from a startup to serving nearly 600 cars in nine weeks. This growth was featured in Seven Days and the Burlington Free Press.
Set up a business profile today, you’ll also automatically get your business listed in the new FPF Directory.
Introducing the FPF Directory
Finding great local businesses just got easier with the FPF Directory.
The Directory is a collection of more than 10,000 Vermont businesses and nonprofits that participate in Front Porch Forum. Browse the 245+ categories to find local businesses and organizations that meet your needs:
Find featured listings at the top of the Directory page:
Scroll down to check out new listings in your area:
A slider at the top of the page allows you to search for the local businesses closest to your community, or to search across the entire state:
You can also “favorite” businesses to add them to your personal “My Favorites” list:
Have a look at the FPF Directory today, and start building a list of your favorite local businesses!
Strange but true FPF tales
We’re often pleasantly surprised by the stories, fun and witty moments found on Front Porch Forum. Here’s one to bring a smile to your Monday:
“Did you drop a cheese ball on Berlin St. Friday afternoon? I saw it rolling down the sidewalk too late to get your attention. We have it safe in the fridge, hopefully it wasn’t for tonight’s dinner!” • Ken in Montpelier
“If it weren’t for Front Porch Forum would we even know about the runaway mozzarella ball rolling down Berlin Street, rescued by kind strangers? Good to know these oddball random acts of kindness.” • Kristin in Montpelier
FPF Seeking Ace Advertising Sales Rep
Terrific earning opportunity for a skilled Sales Pro!
FPF is a Vermont-based Benefit Corporation and we’re seeking an additional Sales Rep Professional to join our growing team. Help FPF fulfill its community-building mission while supporting local businesses to meet their goals.
Healthy portfolio of existing customers and inbound leads. Remote work and Burlington office options.
Learn more and apply: https://frontporchforum.com/about-us/careers-at-fpf
UPDATE: Position filled.
Recommendations and help from neighbors
Front Porch Forum members share their knowledge and recommendations with neighbors.
“A couple of months ago there was a posting recommending Brian S. to wash windows. It was so complimentary I immediately contacted Brian, who did my windows today. As promised he did a beautiful, thorough job. Which gets me thinking about FPF and the great service it provides to our community. Thank you FPF for giving us the ability to converse as a community and to support each other.“ • Ellen in Ferrisburgh
“Hi Conrad: Thank you for posting the results of your request for dairy farm recommendations! This is very helpful. What a great community we have of FPF members willing to share their knowledge & experiences.” • Madeline in St. Johnsbury
“What an amazing and generous community this is! I’d like to thank all the women who responded to my urgent, pre-surgical need for a house cleaner, everyone who offered help and recommendations. It astonishes me that I found the Perfect Person on the very same day I sent out my posting! As usual with Front Porch Forum, I seem to have found not only a helper but a new and delightful friend. And how many other friends are out there, just waiting to be met! A dip into FPF always reminds me of this. So gratitude to all.” • Tami in Montpelier
“Dear FPF friends, I had asked for an electrician who would call me back. I was overwhelmed by the volume of responses, both privately and on the Forum–far too many of you wonderful folks responded for me to thank you individually. But, I am beyond grateful for your kindness. Thank you, FPF!!!” • Elizabeth in Middlebury
“Thanks to all who sent recommendations for a good HVAC company, it was most appreciated. I love FPF and this is why I contribute yearly.” • Jackie in Williston
Did you find something helpful from a neighbor on Front Porch Forum? Remember to share your findings on FPF!
Cool Finds and Neighbor Connections on FPF
FPF is the place where members can go to call dibs on cool freebies, offer up their surplus zucchini, or ask neighbors if they have an old elliptical lying around that they don’t use anymore. It’s a beautiful give and take, but most importantly it introduces folks to the people who share their community. See some recent exchanges from your neighbors on FPF:
“I just want to encourage folks out there to join the forum. It’s so informative that you want to always be checking on what’s coming next! There is a need for all to join to express your feelings, to want to buy / looking for something or wow didn’t know about that. It’s beneficial, exciting and you want to tell everyone about FRONTPORCHFORUM. When animals are lost I write their names down so I can be on the look out for them. Please if you don’t join you don’t know what you’re missing out on.” · Ellie in Ferrisburgh
“Hello neighbors, I am looking for an old Shepard’s hook (a stake with a hook on the end, and an old metal watering can. While I’m here, I want to give a huge Shout Out to FPF and this amazing community. A few weeks ago, I posted about a lost hoodie at The Grift. It was returned to me from word-of-mouth because someone saw my post. I’m So Grateful” · Gretchen in Mad River Valley
“Guess how many responses I had to my posting looking for a dog crate? Six, plus great recommendations to purchase at the Humane Society and at Recycle North. Amazing. I will definitely post again before running off to buy anything new. Thanks.” · John in Burlington
Connect with your neighbors on Front Porch Forum and you may have some pleasant surprises in store!
FPF to Speak on Panel: Reimagine the Internet
Detail of Civic Logic, by Fiammetta Ghedini, RIVA Illustrations
Front Porch Forum‘s co-founder, Michael Wood-Lewis, will speak on a panel for the virtual conference, Reimagine the Internet, on Thu., May 13 at 12:00 p.m. The event is co-hosted by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and the soon-to-be-launched Initiative on Digital Public Infrastructure at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
FPF will be joined by many notable panelists, including Cory Doctorow of Electronic Frontier Foundation, Evelyn Douek of Harvard Law School and Katherine Maher of Wikimedia Foundation.
Front Porch Forum will be part of Thursday’s discussion:
Lessons from Experiments in Local Community-Building
Thursday, May 13, 2021
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
This panel will focus on lessons learned from local communities and the implications of these lessons for online spaces. Sara Lomax-Reese is the CEO of WURD, a family-owned talk radio station in Philadelphia that serves that city’s Black community. Michael Wood-Lewis is co-founder of Front Porch Forum, an online community of mailing lists that serves every town in Vermont. Individually and in dialog, both will address lessons learned in building hyperlocal media and the ways in which online communities build trusted relationships.
Panelists
- Sara Lomax-Reese, WURD Radio
- Michael Wood-Lewis, Front Porch Forum
Moderator
- Ethan Zuckerman, Initiative on Digital Public Infrastructure at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University
Learn more about the virtual conference or RSVP here.
Lost Home, Found Community
When a tornado struck an Addison County family’s home, so much was lost. In the wake of the disaster, the community came together to help offer support. See this beautiful message of gratitude shared on their FPF, after having shared their initial story:
“My son and I want to thank all the people who read our original FPF posting and responded with such sincerity and caring. Whether offering us a place to stay, coming over to help clean up, letting us know you’re willing to lend a hand down the road or sending messages that continue to lift our spirits, your presence is being felt, and it is comforting and reassuring.
Our deepest thanks to Randy and his wife (of Randy’s Service Center.) One of the first calls I received was from Randy, offering us the loaner car in his shop. He’s given us the gift of ease in the midst of much that is challenging.
I wish I had the capacity to respond to each and every one of you. Your poems, stories and heartfelt words have encouraged us as we get our bearings along a new and different road. We want you to know that your reaching out in these creative and caring ways is quite literally brightening our days.
The further we get from the “event,” the more we’re appreciating that we’ve not been forgotten by the people around us. My son and I are grateful for your continuing companionship.”
As they start to envision their next steps forward, the family reflected on “the new normal” and the transitional state that most in the world are facing. They bring to their community an imagination circle to bring new hope, ideas, and possibilities for the future.
Strength and hope can be found in difficult times when a community comes together. FPF is happy to be a resource where neighbors can connect in times of need as well as in times of hope.
FPF applauds those who took part in Good Citizen Challenge!
Wow! A number of students and families participated in this year’s “At-Home” version of the Good Citizen Challenge, complete with 40-plus activities encouraging learning in History, Government, Community Service and News Literacy. Many put FPF to work to complete the activities:
Team Tiki in Wolcott organized donations to the Hardwick Area Food Pantry. Blaine, 6, chose the charity. “It was all him,” said mom Laura.
Laura put out a call for donations on their Front Porch Forum, and neighbors they’d never met responded, dropping food off at their house. They’d beep when they arrived, said Laura, and “We’d wave from the window” or help unload the items.
She said delivering the donations was a big moment for Blaine. “I think it was the first time he really had an experience where he could actually feel that he had an impact on the world,” she said. “Things like that really sink in for children. I think he won’t ever forget that.”
Pick up the April issue of Kids VT, which is in this week’s Seven Days to learn more, or read online.
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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