Post Oil Solutions

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

 

Present: Janet, Walter, Dora, George, Sherry, Tim, Travis, Hallel, Jane, Steve, Tom, Gail,

Announcements & Sharing

• POS has a regular space/column in The Commons, Tim invited Jane to think about a piece about the Community Gardens and others with interest in writing about POS work/issues
• POS will have a table set up at BS&L during the talk by Dave Timmons on "Understanding Local Food in Vermont" from 7-9pm. Janet, Travis, Sherry will be there for the tabling.
• Dora & Audrey are running for 1 year seats on the Brat Select board. Rich Garant is running for a 3 year seat.
• The Great Warming is about to be in theatrical release. We may consider that for an August forum slot.
• Selectboard meeting – Fair Trade is trying to get Brattleboro designated as a Fair Trade Town – would be second in the country. Fair Trade will be showing a movie on Feb 19^th on this issue. This group has wanted to connect with POS, but they meet on same nights as POS. Suggestion that a rep from POS could go to one of their meetings at the Marlboro Grad Center (6pm). The designation involves having a certain percentage of fair trade goods sold throughout town and Brattleboro already meets that criteria.
• Note the Local Foods Action Conference for Brattleboro area farmers Mar 16^th.
• Flavors of the Valley – (the major annual event for Valley Food & Farm who publishes the Locally Grown Guide) will be held on April 17^th at Hartford High School, just north of White River Junction. This is the greater Upper Valley's premier tasting, informational, and buying event for locally grown foods. It brings together dozens of local farmers and chefs answer questions about their food and farm products. Doors open from 3pm to 8pm, and you may save on $5 admission if you arrive before 5pm (children 6 and under are free). Mini-workshops related to gardening, and local food topics as well as other highlights are planned. More details can be found at www.vitalcommunities.org/Agriculture/flavors.htm.

Updates

• First forum, great to see lots of new faces, active participants, discussed issue of showing films publicly. All members are encouraged to offer speaker or film ideas for future forums.
• Community Gardens – There will be a new garden at Academy School this year…Hooray Jane and crew!

New ideas

No Idling-

• Tim updated group on the efforts to pass an ordinance to call for turning off engines after 2 minutes. It is seen as an effort to raise awareness, and not as something for tickets/enforcement. POS members were asked to take petitions and get signatures from Brattleboro residents, age is not an issue (i.e. no need to be a registered voter or even of voting age). Also flyers were available to take and share with folks when discussing the No Idling campaign. A number of observations were shared by those present. Discussed putting them on windshields, seeing if the Coop would insert them in newsletter mailing.
• Tom noted that walking by the Transportation Center recently buses were sitting idling for extended period.

Earth Day-Bill McKibben has put out a call for rallies to raise awareness of climate change with local and national events.

• Janisse is organizing a bike event for the day
• Tim has been meeting with groups of students from BUHS, Compass School, Marlboro College and Marlboro Elementary school, SIT and others looking to plan an event. Thoughts focus on an upbeat, festival representing the area youth. Questions - Have Home-schoolers been invited to participate, Hilltop, other elementary schools, Vermont Wilderness School? They are arranging to have display in the Chamber's window on Main St. Other ideas have included the Solar Store, Green Building, VEI, POS and others having a presence, seeing if Brown & Roberts would put out a display of CF bulbs. .

Bike-Ped Coalition – Alice Charkes is working on making travel by bike and foot safer for residents.

• Alice wants to work with POS on a "Curb Your Car Challenge" in May in conjunction with Upper Valley Rideshare to encourage people to think of other Ways to Go than cars or join with others to reduce trips in the car – a shopping pool, car pooling to churches, bike library or Bike Co-op. Other related issues raised in discussion included the difficulty of being a bike or pedestrian, especially on Putney Rd., the fuel savings from reducing speed to 55 on highways. Will revisit and continue to generate ideas

Application for grant through Rural Development/ Creative Communities Program

• Dora has submitted a letter of interest around re-localization and sustainability and centered around the River Garden and downtown area.
• Lots of work has been done through this program in Rutland and in Bellows Falls
• Is POS interested in helping to move this forward?
• Dora will keep us posted and provide more information on what this might entail

Other Business -

• Returned to the discussion of how to use the proceeds POS realized from the Winter Market. Tim proposed POS keep the funds to support POS work. And it looks like we may be organizing the Winter Market again next year, but this time would pay a manager. Other ideas such as sponsoring special events/speakers/the Earth Day events, etc. would be appropriate uses for this money.
• Group agreed that POS should keep Winter Market funds to support POS work.

 

Core Committee

• Travis suggested a kids/education oriented session in the forum that might be done by some of the younger people who are involved in these issues.
• Greg Paul from ACORN will be a speaker on community based energy in September
• Tom Fugate is willing to do a Bio-intensive gardening workshop for a fee.
• Dora has the video (DVD) documentary on the Franklin Farm,
• November, December forums are right by the holidays – what should we do? Jane suggested no forum in December, Dora suggested the Franklin Farm Film to be shown on Nov date. Also discussed trying to put together a celebration for holidays that is an alternative to the highly commercialized/consuming oriented experience.
• Discussed some thoughts on container garden ideas to help bring more community gardening to communities without space.

Remember POS February Forum:

Wed. Feb 21,7:00 PM, Marlboro Grad Center, Brattleboro

NEXT ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING:

Wed. Mar 7, 7:00 PM, Rm 211, Paramount Bldg. Brattleboro