CHS Briefs August 1, 2017

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Please also check the Cavendish VT Facebook page for photo albums of various CHS activities.

WHERE HAVE THE BRIEFS BEEN?

We didn’t do a brief in June, since the 1^st corresponded with the release of the Spring newsletter, and when July 1^st rolled around we were up to our elbows in plants and dirt for the annual plant sale. The Summer newsletter will be out shortly, but in the mean time, here’s what we’ve been doing and some dates to put on your calendar.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Blueberries!!!: Once again the McEnaneys have opened up their amazing organic blueberry patch for "Pick your Own." Bruce, CHS board member and blueberry expert, says they are the best ever thanks to all the rain. Proceeds from the picking goes towards the CTES 6th graders trip to Sturbridge Village. It's a large class so pick early and often. The McEnaneys is located at 354 Miner Rd. just over the Cavendish line in Chester. It's  off Smokeshire, which is off route 103. Thank you Bruce and Betty for your ongoing generosity. The kids love this trip. 

 

Stone Church: Thanks to Pieter van Schaik the powder post beetle problem has been taken care of. Whew!

Museum: Doors will hopefully be installed in August. During the torrential rainstorms this summer we’ve discovered two leaks in the Museum, which need more investigation.

Annual Plant Sale: In spite of a weekend with non-stop rain and storms, we did incredibly well and we’re already preparing for the 2018 sale. A very special thank you to Svetlana Phillips, Pieter van Schaik, Bob Naess and Margo Caulfield for braving the elements that weekend. Thank you to Kem and Svetlana Phillips for the many hours of transplanting and tending to chestnut trees and so much more; the Tings of Moonlite Meadows for the best compost ever, and particularly to Pang for helping with transplanting; Lu Choiniere-we love the diversity of your plants and it’s a real pleasure spending the morning working with you as we learn a lot; and to Tim Calabresse for the pots and carriers.

Carmine Guica Young Historians Program: We just received a significant endowment for this program, more about will be in CHS’s summer newsletter. In August, we will be meeting with each of the teachers at CTES to discuss programming that fits with their grade’s history curriculum.

Emory Benoit screening

Archeology: CHS continues to provide volunteers to the South Champlain Historical Ecology Project.  This summer, we had a 16 year old Cavendish student who spent several days on the dig to see if she’d like to pursue a career in this field. The first day on the dig, she had a chance to see a timber rattlesnake and take some incredible pictures. On her second day, she found pieces of woodland Indian pottery. In 2018, once again our 4-6 grades will have an archeology experience. We can always use volunteers for lab or field work.

 

Solzhenitsyn’s 100^th Birthday: 2018 will be the 100^th birthday of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. We’ve been meeting with the VT Historical Society, VT Humanities Council, Univ. of VT’s Russian Department, state representatives and various interested people. Lots of ideas are being discussed, but we have various activities confirmed including a proclamation from the Governor and an exhibit about his life in VT at the VHS Museum in Montpelier.  

SAVE THE DATE

August 20 (Sunday): Solar eclipse workshop-learn what a solar eclipse is and make projectors that can be safely used to watch the eclipse.

August 21 (Monday): Solar eclipse viewing at the CHS Museum. Will be setting up at 1:15 pm with peak viewing at 2:42. We will have a variety of ways for people to view the partial solar eclipse. Children 3 and under will only be able to use the pinhole method.

Sept 9 (Saturday). Honey Festival at the Golden Stage Inn in Proctorsville. CHS will once again be doing candle dipping with beeswax.

Sept: 10 (Sunday): Annual Phineas Gage Talk & Walk-Met at the Museum at 2 pm. Wear comfortable walking shoes for walking. The accident site is a little over ¾ of a mile from the Museum

Oct 8 (Sunday): Ghost Walk in Proctorsville. Meet, 2pm at the War Memorial in Proctorsville, which is on Route 131 (Main Street) close to the Proctorsville Fire Department and Village Clippers

HOW YOU CAN HELP

If you can help with any of the following, please contact CHS margocaulfield@icloud.com; 802-226-7807 or PO Box 472, Cavendish, VT 05142

• Do you like to paint? CHS has painting projects both at the Museum and at the Stone Church.

• CHS is looking for new board members as well as volunteers who can help with various activities.