Vermont Packinghouse

http://www.vermontpackinghouse.com/about-us/

The US meat industry is almost entirely controlled by four companies. If we are to ever to move away from this consolidation and towards a de-centralized and sustainable base of meat production, we must develop mid-sized supply chains that are big enough to have an impact, yet small enough to care. Making meat as it ought to be, that is the mission of Vermont Packinghouse.

While a new company, Vermont Packinghouse is the 2nd plant in a network of medium-small meat packing plants working towards this mission. The first is Lorentz Meats in Cannon Falls, Minnesota which has been in operation since 1968. Lorentz Meats provides a strong network foundation that has greatly strengthened in the last decade. Vermont Packinghouse located in North Springfield, will prove that making good meat really can happen on a regional scale.

Vermont Packinghouse offers a full suit of meat processing services from slaughter and fabrication to case-ready fresh sausages and fully cooked items.  These include ready-to-eat sausages, bacon, and ham.

 

Our facility is USDA inspected, certified organic, and 3rd party audited for safety, quality, and animal welfare.

 

We work with a wide range of customers, from direct marketers bringing in just one animal, to branded programs with a full truckload.

Our abattoir handles cattle, hogs, sheep, and goats. We do not slaughter,but will further process poultry.

Our fabrication area regularly handles cuts from full primal cuts to 4 oz. portion steaks. All cuts are vacuum packaged. Our further processing can produce fresh and Ready To Eat (RET) sausages to a wide range of specifications. 

We offer ham and bacon curing and slicing, in addition to the following specialty services:

• Natural Curing
• Modified Atmosphere Packaging
• Stated net weight portioning of raw and cooked products

Some services do have minimum volume requirements and/or set-up charges.

25 Fairbanks Rd., N. Springfield, VT 05150

http://www.vermontpackinghouse.com/about-us/

BLESS OUR ANIMALS

BLESS OUR ANIMALS

On Sunday October 4 the Gethsemane Episcopal Church in Proctorsville will hold its annual Blessing of the Animals to honor of the love and compassion that St. Francis felt toward all creatures on this earth.  Pastor Todd McKee will personally bless each animal brought to the event, be they furry, finned or feathered.  It will be a time to celebrate the bond between humans and animals as well as the value that pets bring into our lives.  The event will be held at 1:30 at Gethsemane Church on Depot St., rain or shine.   Dogs should be leashed, cats in carriers and fish in their bowls.  

Learn about the Viking History of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World

The Book Nook is proud to host Vermont author Nancy Marie Brown to talk about her new book "Ivory Vikings" at 7pm at the Fletcher Memorial Library at 88 Main Street in Ludlow. The Ivory Vikings refer to the world famous Lewis Chessmen that were found on the Isle of Lewis in 1831. On a Hebridean beach in Scotland, the sea exposed an ancient treasure cache: 93 chessmen carved from walrus ivory. Norse netsuke, each face individual, each full of quirks, the Lewis Chessmen are probably the most famous chess pieces in the world. Harry played Wizard's Chess with them in movie adaptation of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". Housed at the British Museum, they are among its most visited and beloved objects.

Questions abounded: Who carved them? Where? Nancy Marie Brown's Ivory Vikings explores these mysteries by connecting medieval Icelandic sagas with modern archaeology, art history, forensics, and the history of board games. In the process, Ivory Vikings presents a vivid history of the 400 years when the Vikings ruled the North Atlantic, and the sea-road connected countries and islands we think of as far apart and culturally distinct: Norway and Scotland, Ireland and Iceland, and Greenland and North America. The story of the Lewis chessmen explains the economic lure behind the Viking voyages to the west in the 800s and 900s. And finally, it brings from the shadows an extraordinarily talented woman artist of the twelfth century: Margret the Adroit of Iceland.

Nancy Marie Brown is the author of six general interest books and one young adult novel: "Ivory Vikings" , "The Saga of Gudrid the Far-Traveler", "Song of the Vikings", "The Abacus and the Cross", "The Far Traveler", "Mendel in the Kitchen", and "A Good Horse Has No Color".  She writes about Iceland and Vikings, science and sagas. Her books combine extremes: medieval literature and modern archaeology, myths and facts. They ask, What have we overlooked? What have we forgotten? Whose history must not be lost?

For 20 years, Nancy worked as a science writer and editor at Penn State University. She continues to provide editing services for a select group of clients, as well as serving on the editorial committee of The Icelandic Horse Quarterly. She lives in northern Vermont, where she keeps four Icelandic horses and an Icelandic sheepdog, and spends part of each summer in Iceland, offering history and horseback tours in collaboration with America2Iceland.

Nancy is a member of the Medieval Academy of America, the National Association of Science Writers, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the American-Scandinavian Society, the Mythopoeic Society, the Icelandic National League, and the U.S. Icelandic Horse Congress.

She grew up in Media, Pennsylvania, and attended Penncrest High School, graduating in 1977. She holds a B.A. in English (Writing Option) and an M.A. in Comparative Literature (with emphases in Arthurian Romance and Icelandic Saga), both from the Pennsylvania State University. She is married to the writer Charles Fergus, author of 16 books about nature and the outdoors, as well as the novels Shadowcatcher (Soho 1991) and A Stranger Here Below: A Gideon Stolz Novel (forthcoming).

Brown will talk about the "Ivory Vikings" on Tuesday October 13th at 7pm at Ludlow's Fletcher Memorial Library.  The event will take place downstairs in the Community room, so please park and enter at the back of the library.  Copies of "Ivory Vikings" and other of Brown's books will be available for sale at the author talk. Please join us for this fascinating look at Vikings and the famous Lewis Chessmen.  

Scott

The Book Nook
An independent bookstore in Ludlow, Vermont
http://www.thebooknookvt.com

Celebrate Reading and Star Wars on October 10

Be a Rebel. Read a Book! Come celebrate reading and Star Wars at The Book Nook in Ludlow for Star Wars Reads Day on Saturday October 10.

This year is a big year for Star Wars fans as the world prepares for the first new Star Wars movie since Revenge of the Sith in 2005. The new movie is just a small portion of the new Star Wars adventures that have appeared this year.  Little Golden Books has released a book for each of the first six Star Wars Movies for the youngest readers. There are new hardcover retellings of the first three Star Wars movies for readers aged 8 to 12.  For older readers there is "Star Wars: Aftermath" by Chuck Wendig, which fills in the details of what happened after the second Death Star was destroyed at the end of "Return of the Jedi" movie and sets the stage for the new movie "The Force Awakens". These are just a few of the books that we will feature at The Book Nook during our Star Wars Reads Day at The Book Nook.

The Mount Holly Town Library presents....

Matthias Weiter – Continuing the Series of Talks on the Middle East

On Tuesday, October 6^th at 7:30 pm Mr. Weiter will present "New dynamics in the Middle East - how peace initiatives might supersede regional feuds."  The library has been hosting Mr. Weiter’s popular talks since 2006.  His intent is to broaden our understanding of the area and not to promote a particular point of view.  Matthias Weiter, PhD.,  is a part time resident of Mount Holly and has been working and traveling in the Middle East for 40 years.  Professor Weiter teaches Development Studies at Humbolt University in Berlin , Germany. He is also a member of the advisory team for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA) to develop a post-crisis scenario for Syria.  He has just returned from Beirut and he will share his impressions of the current situation in the Middle East.  He will talk about the ruling forces and clarify the conflicting interests.  As in the past, Mr. Weiter will be happy to answer questions from the audience. For more information, call the Library at

      259- 3707.  Refreshments will be available.  

VT Drug Take Back Day Nets Largest Haul Ever

VT Drug Take Back Day Nets Largest Haul Ever

 

MONTPELIER – Gov. Peter Shumlin today announced that 5,800.4 pounds of prescription drugs were collected this past Saturday during the drug take back initiative in Vermont, representing the largest haul in the history of similar efforts in the state. Vermont’s drug take back day was part of a nationwide effort led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in partnership with local and state law enforcement to ensure the safe disposal of unwanted, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs. 

 

“I want to thank the DEA, U.S. Attorney Eric Miller, the Health Department, Sherriff Roger Marcoux, and all local law enforcement that participated in this past weekend’s effort,” Gov. Shumlin said. “Prescription drugs that fall into the wrong hands, on purpose or by accident, can help fuel addiction, crime, and in some cases the loss of life. The increased amount of drugs that were taken in this year is a good indication that Vermonters are doing their part to combat addiction and make our state a safer place. I want to thank everyone who participated.”

 

Previous drug take back days in Vermont have yielded as much as 3,000 pounds of unused prescriptions, about half of this year’s haul.

 

###

Thank you to everyone who participated this year.  Permanent take back boxes are available at the Ludlow Police Department and the Rutland County Sheriff's Office every day.  Simply take your unused or expired pills or capsules to one of those locations for safe and anonymous disposal.  For more information contact us.  

Obituary of Rhonda Bixby

Rhonda J. Bixby

Colonie, NY-

Rhonda J. Bixby, 59, of Colonie, entered into eternal life, Saturday, September 5, 2015 at her home. Born in Niskayuna, NY, she was the daughter of the late Clarence E. and Rosalie J. (Lawrence) Bixby.

She lived in the Town of Colonie most of her life.

She retired from NYS Dept. of Tax and Finance after 35 years of service.

She will be dearly missed by her brothers & their spouses: Richard & Tina Bixby of Proctorsville, VT, and Lawrence (Randy) & Phylis Bixby of Mt. Holly, VT along with her nieces and nephews: Stacy Bixby of Webster, NH, Crystal Bixby of Salisbury, NH, Richard Bixby Jr. of Warner, NH, Joshua Bixby and Leslie Bixby of Mt. Holly, VT, one great nephew Connor Bixby of Warner, NH.

A Graveside Service will commence at the Hillcrest Cemetery (off of Route 103 on Bailey Hill RD) in Proctorsville, VT at 11:00 AM on Friday September 25, followed by a celebration of life at a location to be determined.

Memorial contributions may be made to the animal shelter of choice in lieu of flowers.

- See more at: http://www.simplechoicescremation.com/tribute/details/241/Rhonda_Bixby/obituary.html#content-start

All Aboard!

The Mt Holly Library provides many services to town residents, including, airline boarding passes!  Recently, when some local folks found themselves with travel plans but no printer, they were able to print out their boarding passes at the library.  Part of our mission at the Mt Holly Library is to provide town residents with access to the wider world, and we are delighted to do that any way we can.  So, all aboard! Step right into the Mt Holly library and take advantage of the 24/7 wi-fi, the printers, books about foreign lands, and so very much more.

Library Hours
Saturday 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Sunday 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Monday 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Wednesday 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm

WIFI available 24/7

 e-mail mthollylibrary@gmail.com   our website: https://mounthollytownlibrary.wordpress.com 

Weston Playhouse Celebrates a Groundbreaking Season

Weston Playhouse Celebrates a Groundbreaking Season

Weston, VT.  The award-winning Weston Playhouse Theatre Company is celebrating the conclusion of a groundbreaking season even as it prepares to announce exciting plans for its 80th anniversary in 2016. Bookended by events that underscore the company’s mission to Celebrate the Classics and Nurture the New, the 2015 season was marked by firsts and partnerships that point to a vital future for Vermont's oldest professional theatre.

The season kicked off early in April when Producing Artistic Director Steve Stettler accepted the 2015 Rosetta LeNoire Award from Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers, in New York. The award, received by such luminaries as Joseph Papp of the New York Shakespeare Festival, recognizes Weston for "outstanding artistic contributions to the universality of the human experience in the American theatre."

Hot on the heels of this national honor, the Company hosted its 8^th annual artists retreat. Among the group of actors, composers, directors, and playwrights who spent the week living and working in Weston were Griffin Matthews and Matt Gould, who wrote a new song for their musical, Invisible Thread, opening Off Broadway at Second Stage in December.  A group of Weston friends will travel to New York to see the production and reconnect with Matthews and Gould.

In June, Weston joined its seven HillsAlive arts partners as one of the New York Times’ Top 50 “Must See” Summer Arts Festivals. Audiences loved the rollicking MainStage opener, Pump Boys and Dinettes, featuring composer Joe Iconis and his family of multi-talented performers, and the Vermont Premiere of the 5-time Tony-Winning Peter and the Starcatcher. In keeping with tradition, Weston's Young Company delivered a hilarious, heartwarming, family-friendly work in Junie B.Jones the Musical while new works on Weston’s OtherStages included Sharr White’s stirring The Other Place and – another first – the New England Premiere of Cass Morgan’s new play with music, The Road to Where.

The blockbuster musical Guys and Dolls ran for a healthy four weeks in August, drawing praise from critics and audiences alike, who called it “better than Broadway,” with a sparkling cast of national talent. The production coincided with Weston’s inaugural Broadway Bootcamp, a 3-week musical theatre camp for teens, produced in collaboration with Burr and Burton Academy’s Creative Arts Department and culminating in a performance on Weston’s MainStage.

Closing the season, Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie launched the Company’s 5-year American Masters series. Funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the series brings classic American dramas to Weston’s stage with artists of national stature. American Masters productions include daytime school matinees and an appearance at Burlington’s Flynn Center, allowing the company to share these iconic works with a broad statewide audience.

Not content to rest on its laurels, Weston plans to announce the MainStage offerings for its 80th anniversary season before the end of September. "Our 2016 season builds on the successes of our current season," notes Producing Artistic Director Stettler, "and is marked by expanded partnerships, an exciting new collaboration with a major star, and the Vermont Premiere of one of Broadway's longest running hits."  For more, visit westonplayhouse.org.   

IRS ruling could promote solar projects

WILSON RING6:50 p.m. EDT September 1, 2015

MONTPELIER – A man who bought 10 solar panels as part of a jointly owned solar power project is poised to get 30 percent of his cost added to his income tax refund after the Internal Revenue Service ruled he could take the same tax credit used by some of the people who put solar panels on their roofs.

While the IRS ruling only applies to Roland Marx, the Mount Holly man who sought the credit for his $8,746 investment in the Boardman Hills Solar Farm in West Rutland, the people who helped him win the ruling hope it will give a boost to others who would like to do the same thing.

Marx bought 10 solar panels that are part of the 640-panel solar farm that started generating electricity late last year. The tax credit reduces his cost to just over $6,000.

“It makes a big difference, a very big difference,” said Marx, who asked for an extension of his 2014 taxes and is now ready to file. He got the ruling with the help of the Montpelier-based nonprofit, the Clean Energy States Alliance.

The Boardman Hills Solar Farm is one of a growing number of solar power projects that allows people who are unable to install solar panels on their property to get power generated by the farm and use it to offset their consumption of electricity, a process called net metering. More than 30 people own a different number of panels in the Boardman Hills project.

The Boardman Hills project is one of a number of so-called community-shared solar projects that are different from those in which people install panels on their roofs. People who put the panels on their roofs — depending on how the deal is structured — have been able to take advantage of a special one-time 30 percent tax credit.

“It has not been clear whether a person who owns panels in one of these community solar projects qualifies for the residential tax credit they would get if those panels were sitting up on their own roofs,” said Clean Energy Executive Director Warren Leon.

Leon’s organization worked with the Vermont Department of Public Service to get a ruling from the IRS. The IRS recently issued what’s called a “private letter ruling” that allowed Marx to take the credit. By law the letter cannot be cited as a precedent by other taxpayers, Leon said.

“But it’s the first indication of where the IRS stands,” he said. “It suggests that the IRS is likely to be receptive to claims for the residential tax credit if the project is similar to the one that got the favorable ruling.”

Christopher Recchia, the commissioner of the Vermont Public Service Department, said he was grateful Leon’s group helped get the IRS ruling.

“This is good news, not only for the Boardman Farm, but if indicative of the IRS’ direction generally, the letter ruling should help others who want to participate in group net metering projects take advantage of the residential tax credit, just as though the solar project were on their own property or on their roof,” Recchia said.

While officials say the ruling could give a boost to some community solar projects, it’s unclear how far it will go because the credit is scheduled to expire at the end of next year.

(Photo: AP file)

 120CONNECT 12TWEET 9LINKEDIN 3COMMENTEMAILMORE

 120CONNECT 12TWEET 9LINKEDIN 3COMMENTEMAILMORE

Mount Holly Man allegedly had stolen property

Man allegedly had stolen property

 

MOUNT HOLLY — Police charged a local man with possessing stolen property after a burglary.

Bradley Elliott, 32, of Mount Holly, will face the charge Oct. 12 in Rutland criminal court. He has been jailed for violating furlough, Vermont State Police said.

Police were notified June 26 that a home on Sawyer Hill Road in Mont Holly, owned by Andrew Bishop, 58, of New York City, had been burglarized. The police report did not say what had been stolen.

A lengthy investigation led to some of the stolen items, police said, and Elliott was arrested last week.

“Investigation deemed that Elliott had sold one of the stolen items for profit,” the report said. “However, it could not be proven that he was the suspect which had broken into the home.”

4 Winter tires for sale

From: Donna Lee 

Great set of 4 Winter tires for sale.  Firestone 245 70 R17.  Less than 5,000 miles of use. 

$200 firm.

Call 259-3936  Leave a message

Help Needed

From: Tina Rosen


Tina's Fun Stuff to Wear, in Ludlow, VT. needs a part-time person from November. Retail experience preferred. Drop off resume at the shop. Please call first and ask for Tina: 228-7623.

Thank you.
Tina

Chimney Sweep Needed in Mt. Holly

Can anyone recommend a Chimney Sweep for our house for this upcoming season? 

 

Thanks...

 

Sheila Wickham  (mtholly481@yahoo.com)

Celebrate Vermont HistorySeptember 19th Black River Academy Museum and The Book Nook will host "A Walk Through Vermont History" on Saturday September 19th featuring a tour of historic Ludlow and three author talks. The day begins at 10am with a historical tour of Ludlow. A bus will take participants to fifteen different houses in the village of Ludlow, with Ludlow Elementary 6th graders in period costume providing historical information about each house at each stop of the tour. After the tour three historians, Bruce M. Venter, Gary G. Shattuck and Michelle Arnosky Sherburne, will talk about specific historical events in Vermont history.  Venter's new book "The Battle of Hubbardton - The Rear Guard Action that Saved America" came out earlier this year and looks at the details and consequences of the British tactical victory in Western Vermont following the capturing of Fort Ticonderoga in July 1777. Shattuck released his second Vermont history book entitled "Insurrection, Corruption & Murder in Early Vermont - Life on the Wild Northern Frontier" in 2014. His extensive knowledge of the law sheds new light on the riotous beginning of the War of 1812. Sherburne examines the northernmost land action of the Civil War in "The St. Albans Raid Confederate Attack on Vermont". Michelle Arnosky Sherburne leads readers through the drama, triumph and legacy of the Confederate raid on St. Albans of October 1864. Doors open at 9:30am with breakfast snacks before the tour. Author talks: 11:00am Gary Shattuck (lunch break) 12:30pm Bruce Venter 1:30pm Michelle Arnosky Sherburne Entry: $20 per person including snacks and lunch. Please call 802-228-3238 or 802-228-5050 to make your reservation today. glbrehm@tds.net • www: bramvt.org

PO Box 73, 14 High Street, Ludlow, VT 05149 | 802 228 5050 | www.bramvt.org

Scott

The Book Nook
An independent bookstore in Ludlow, Vermont
http://www.thebooknookvt.com

Phineas Gage Walk & Talk, which takes place on Sept. 13 at the CHS Museum, Route 131 in Cavendish, VT.

September 1, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ANNUAL PHINEAS GAGE WALK & TALK: DR. HARLOW There are probably few readers in our area that aren’t aware of Phineas Gage, the railroad foreman, who on September 13, 1848, had a tamping rod pass through his head as a result of a blasting accident, and lived for 12 more years. What people may know less about is Dr. John Martyn Harlow, the Cavendish, VT physician who treated him and followed his recovery, thereby documenting the first case of traumatic brain injury in the medical literature. Harlow’s training in antiphlogistic therapy (preventing or relieving inflammation) was important to Gage survival.
      But what happened to him when he left Cavendish in 1857? Was he really the “obscure country doctor,” as he referred to himself?
      Learn more about Dr. Harlow at the Cavendish Historical Society’s annual Phineas Gage Walk & Talk, which takes place on Sept. 13 at the CHS Museum, Route 131 in Cavendish, VT. The program begins at 2 pm at the Museum. The walk includes the location of the accident, Dr. Harlow’s home/surgery, and the boarding house where Gage was taken after his injury. This program is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 802-226- 7807 or margoc@tds.net FOR MORE INFORMATION Margo Caulfield, Coordinator Cavendish Historical Society 802-226-7807 margoc@tds.net