Thetford Town Newsletter

No. 22                                                                                                 December 2005

 

SELECTBOARD NOTES

 

Town Sand Use

As winter conditions come upon us, we want to remind you of the town's policy for use of sand from the town sand pile at the Town Garage.

Residents are asked to limit their use of town sand to one to two buckets from the pile in front of the Town Garage. Please do not use town sand to fill your pickup truck to sand your road or driveway.

In the interests of safety, please do not go behind the Town Garage where No Trespassing signs are posted.

Thank you for your consideration.

Selectboard

 

 

SKI AND SKATE SALE

 

Sunday, December 4 - TES Gym
Consignment 9:00am -11:00am
Sale 12:30pm - 2:00pm
Volunteers are needed for the day of the sale!
Please call Regina Smith @ TES 785-2426

 

Submitted by Wendy Cole

 

 

LATHAM LIBRARY

 

Did you know Latham Library has wireless internet?  Bring your laptop into the library, on the Green or in the library parking lot to do your internet surfing.

We heard your request for more best sellers, books on tape and DVD's.    Stop in and see what new material we've added to the collection.

 

Submitted by Maureen Morse

 

KWANZAA Celebration & Potluck  Friday, December 30, 2005   5:00pm to 7:00 pm

at Casey Family Services, 160 Palmer Court, White River Junction, VT ///

Bring the whole family and join us for a Kwanzaa celebration and potluck! Please bring an appetizer, entrée or dessert to share, preferably a dish reflecting African heritage.

[E-mail Lisa Hayes, lisa.f.hayes@dartmouth.edu, for suggestions or recipes and to let her know what you are bringing.]

 

Submitted by Jo Ann Woodsum

 

 

DIVERSITY BOOK GROUP

 

The next meeting of the Diversity Book Group will be on Monday, December 12 at 6:30pm when we will be discussing Sherman Alexie's, Ten Little Indians. Latham Library has extra copies of the book, so if you don't have a copy please feel free to check out the book from Latham. 

 

Ten Little Indians is described by Publisher's Weekly as, "Fluent, exuberant and supremely confident, this outstanding collection shows Alexie (The Toughest Indian in the World, etc.) at the height of his powers. Humor plays a leading role in the volume's nine stories, but it’s love, both romantic and familial, that is the lens through which Alexie examines his compelling characters.”

 

Latham Library Hours

·        Monday: 2:00 - 8:30 PM

·        Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: 2:00 - 5:00PM

·        Friday: 9:00 - 5:00

·        Saturday: 10:00 - 1:00

Future Meetings:

Monday, January 9: 6:30 pm

Book: Harriet McBryde Johnson, Too Late to Die Young: Nearly True Tales from a Life

Monday, February 13: 6:30 pm

Book: A.J. Verdelle, The Good Negress

Monday, March 13: 6:30 pm

   Book: Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake

Monday, April 24: 6:30 pm

   Book: Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum

 

Submitted by Jo Ann Woodsum

 

 

RECYCLING UPDATE

 

We are working out the kinks in the new recycling system, and I know most people are finding it very usable and easy.  It is imperative that all cardboard put into the "anything that rips" bin be FLATTENED OUT.  This would include all food packaging, cardboard moving boxes, and all new appliances received for the holidays.  It would be helpful if the plastics were flattened (okay to stomp on them) before throwing into the bin.  Both these containers seem to be overflowing before noon on Saturdays, and this would help us out immensely.

 

Unfortunately, we can no longer accept:

     * used refrigerators, freezers, or air conditioners if they contain Freon, 

     * gas grill propane tanks.

 

Call me at 802-785-2543 if you have these to dispose of, and I will try to send you off in the right direction.

 

Lastly, we are looking for community service volunteers to help us at recycling on Saturday mornings.  We need another set of eyes to check for windshield stickers, and drop offs such as unusable or broken items, clothing, construction materials and other items that we cannot dispose of.  Call me at 802-785-2543 for further details. 

 

Submitted by Frank Bonnett

 

 

TA NOTES

 

Thetford Academy's efforts to help the schools in Varnado, Louisiana, are ongoing. A large shipment of donated items, in conjunction with the Vermont Rural Partnership, is expected to be sent to Varnado soon. TA thanks all who have so generously donated --class fundraisers and community members alike.

The TA Alumni Memory Tree, located in front of Goddard Hall, will be lit at 4:30pm on Sunday, December 4. Contact Jessica Eaton, 333-9491, to have a bulb dedicated to someone's memory.

The TA Winter Instrumental Concert will be held at 7:00pm on Thursday, December 15 in Anderson Hall. All are invited to enjoy a wonderful evening of music.

Winter break will be December 22 - January 2. Classes will resume on January 3, 2006. We hope everyone is safe and happy and able to enjoy the season.

 

Submitted by Wendy Cole

 

 

EXPANDING CARPOOLING


The Thetford Energy Committee needs your input.  We are working with the Town
Selectboard to encourage and expand carpooling in Thetford and help our residents reduce their fuel use, save money and protect the environment by cutting greenhouse gas emissions.  As a first step, we seek your feedback on the following questions to help guide us in our decisions.

How often do you use the current Park & Ride area at I-91 and how could it be
improved?

Have you ever used the Stagecoach bus that serves Thetford and how could this
service be improved?

If new Park & Ride areas were developed in the following villages, which ones
might you use: North Thetford, Post Mills, Union Village, Rices Mills?

We encourage Thetford residents to send comments to Bob Walker, Chair, Thetford
Energy Committee, bobwalker@valley.net, 802-785-4126 by Dec. 11. 

 

In the meantime, we hope all Thetford and Upper Valley residents will reduce their
driving by biking, walking, using public transportation or riding with a friend.

You can find helpful information on carpooling at www.uppervalleyrideshare.com.

Submitted by Bob Walker

 

 

CONSERVATION COMMISSION

 

One mandate the Conservation Commission in town has is to inventory and protect the Town's natural resources. We want to share the information we acquire with our neighbors as communicating what we learn is also critical. We are all very busy and even if we are interested in a presentation or a nature walk, etc. we often do not have the time to participate. Therefore the TCC is going to try and keep you all informed and educated regarding the Town's natural heritage by contributing short articles and information to the town newsletter and listserve. We know there are a lot of people in town with a vast understanding of the natural world so we hope they will contribute their ideas as well.

The State Fish and Wildlife Department has recently published a new manual to offer citizens the technical guidance they need to identify important wildlife and natural heritage resources in our communities and that whole manual can be viewed on-line at "http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/library.cfm?libbase_=Reports_and_Documents". Choose "Conserving Vermont's Natural Heritage" when you get to the site above. This site will define and explain the importance of many concepts you may have heard discussed including "contiguous habitat", "vernal pools", and "fragmentation of habitat". We will follow up with more details and how they relate to Thetford in future months.

Please contact me or anyone else on the Commission if you have questions or ideas about how we can better serve the Town.

Submitted by Jennifer C. Davey
Thetford Conservation Commission

 

 

NORTH THETFORD CHURCH AND TIMOTHY FROST CHURCH SUNDAY WORSHIP NEWS

 

The Timothy Frost United Methodist Church and North Thetford Federated Church, UCC/UMC have been worshiping and working as one congregation for almost a year and a half. During that time we have rotated Sunday worship in our beloved sanctuaries on a monthly basis. Staring in December we are going to change to a schedule of Sunday worship at North Thetford from December through Palm Sunday (this year April 10) and at Timothy Frost in Thetford Center from Maundy Thursday until Labor Day (Sept. 4). Sunday service and Sunday School are at 9:30.

 

We continue to be moving toward completely merging these two historic Thetford Village Churches into one new united church.

 

Submitted by Gail Dimick

 

 

DO NOT CALL PHONE LISTING

 

Cell phone numbers will soon be released to telemarketers and if you wish to avoid having them call your cell phone you must put the number on the Do Not Call list. You may call 1-888-382-1222 and list your phone. You must call from the phone you are listing on the registry. You may not call from another phone and have it entered.

 

Submitted by Lynne Miller

 

 

THETFORD TOWN NEWSLETTER SUBMISSION INFORMATION

The deadline for submissions is the 20th of each month. Send news including contact name and telephone number to Cathee Clement at 785-2668 or turtlepond@netzero.net.

Please list Thetford Town Newsletter in the subject line.