CHS Briefs June 1, 2019

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

With the gray chilly weather and the never ending rain-we had six clear days in May-it’s hard to believe the plant sale is behind us and summer is here. 

It’s either feast of famine when it comes to water and the CHS Annual Plant Sale. Last year, the decision was made to move the sale to Memorial Day weekend because the Museum no longer has water and temps can be pretty high around the 4^th of July. The water connection to the Museum was destroyed in 2017 when the adjacent town garage burned.

Pang's Salad Bucket.

Despite the dire forecast the weather was perfect for the plant sale and we did quite well all things considered. Many thanks to Kem and Svetlana Phillips (we would have been lost without the plant book Svetlana has developed to help our customers as well as those of us selling); Pang Ting, who was the brains and brawn behind the “salad in the bucket;” Etienne Ting who helped with planting and hauling soil; Angela Assermely, her bleeding heart and bee balm were big hits, and Pieter van Schaik, who has been involved with the plant sale since its inception back in the 1970s and always has surprisingly new plants. A very special thank you to Joe Vulo for the food grade containers we used for the salad buckets and tomato plants and, without it, our plants wouldn’t look so good, the magical soil from the Tings’ Farm.

ARCHEOLOGY: We’re incredibly excited that Okemo Valley TV has made a film   about the archaeological dig at Jackson Gore in Ludlow, VT in 2007. CHS provided volunteers to the dig-look closely at the film and you'll see some in the footage- and it was the beginning of our understanding of just how long Cavendish has been occupied by humans-probably 12,000 years. It also began CHS’s active involvement in archeology. We are still working with archeologists that we met on this dig and now have an established relationship with the archeology program at Castleton University. On June 12, we will be taking the 5^th and 6^th graders out to Bruckner Preserve as part of the SCHEP  (Southern Champlain Historical Ecology Project)  where they will have a chance to dig, as well as learn from the elders of the Elnu Abenaki tribe and the Nature Conservancy.

BUILDINGS: This summer is all about building repair. While the new doors are on the Museum, they are far from finished. Lots of painting is in order. Bruce McEnaney will be heading up an over haul of the Museum steps in July. We’re waiting for quotes on roof repairs on both the Stone Church and the Museum.

Bruce & George helping a student.

CARMINE GUICA YOUNG HISTORIANS: While the school year is ending, we’re already in the planning stages for the 2019/2020 school year. Before we get ahead of our selves we have a number of projects this month-grave stone cleaning with the 5^th and 6^th grades and as mentioned above a trip to the archeological dig site.

Hollis showing pictures of past classes

In May, the 6^th graders once again placed flags on veterans’ graves, cleaned cemeteries and made poppies for Memorial Day. The 2^nd grade visited the first one room schoolhouse in Cavendish on Center Rd. Thank you to all our volunteers: Pang Ting, George Thomson, Penny Trick, and a special thanks to Hollis Quinn for opening up the school and giving the kids a tour.

We’re now having other schools coming to the Museum for Phineas Gage Walk and Talks. We hosted Black River High School from Ludlow in May and the 5^th & 6^th graders from Lathrop Elementary from Pittsford will be visiting next week.

NEWSLETTER: If you didn’t have a chance to read the spring newsletter, check it out on-line. It not only contains a tribute to Dr. Eugene Bont, who served Cavendish for many years and in many ways, but it includes Part I of the history of Cavendish Schools.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Anyone who would like to volunteer to paint at the Museum and/or the Stone Church, please contact CHS at the numbers below.

If you have questions or wish to volunteer with CHS, please call 802-226-7807, e-mail margocaulfield@icloud.com