A Song to Begin
Twelve Rotarians and five guests joined Acting President Tony in the Pledge of Allegiance followed with a grace by Tom.
Maestro Zorn then led us in singing Let There Be Peace on Earth, a small measured response to the chaos in the society, and Is It the Truth, the Four Way Test set to the tune of When the Saints Go Marching In.
Guests: Amy Anderson, Jack Stuart, Amanda Garland, Michele Braun and Art Zorn.
Since Last We Met
Birthdays: Butch Churchill April 10
On this day in history: In 2003 At age 40,
Michael Jordan, widely regarded as the best player in the history of
basketball, played his last game in the NBA.
On this day in history: In 1962 American journalist
Walter Cronkite became anchor of the CBS Evening News, a position he held for nearly two decades, during which time he became known as “the most trusted man in America.”
Happy Dollars $18 (estimated) Sad Dollars $1 Fine $(one-and-nine)
Dan started things off with two Happy Dollars in reporting that a Bob Dylan imitation contest raised $2500 for People's Health and Wellness.
Tom had a Sad Dollar because he won’t be able to attend our meeting next week--he’ll be in Aruba with members of his family.
George was up with five Happy Dollars, happy with the photo he had taken of Camel’s Hump from his condo. (Couldn’t miss it as you opened Granite Chips.)
Art added a “roll” of dollars to the coffers: wonderful to see George’s back; one Happy for one eye and one Sad for the other eye (vision affected by palsy); and happy to have sold several of his paintings as a result of the showing at the Barre Opera House.
Tony rose with a Happy Dollar in recognition of the Tony-Jan team for the great job they did of helping an ailing Nicole with the Pie for Brunch event.
Jan threw another $ in the basket for good measure.
Guest Amy gave a Happy Dollar in thanks for the $500 Community Grant award. At the request of Tony, Amy spoke briefly about the work of Amy's Armoire, a thrift store on North Main Street. It's a non-profit with a mission; proceeds from the thrift store benefit foster children through individual and programmatic outreach. It provides clothing, toys, books, furniture and baby equipment to families in need.
Eddie gave two Happy Dollars for the art work on the walls and the Masters “one for the ages.”
Tom wrapped things up with a fine of one-and-nine on Tony for being Tony. Tony’s defense was that “the meds had worn off” and that he “had no problem being me.” Fine passed anyway.
A River Flows Through It
Tony introduced the first of our speakers for today, Amanda Garland.
Amanda first joined the Vermont River Conservancy as River Steward for their 2023 summer season and is now the full-time Stewardship Coordinator where she continues to
care for VRC sites via field-based easement monitoring and land stewardship projects. Amanda has a BA in Environmental Science, with an emphasis on Terrestrial Ecology, and graduate-level study in conservation ethics, ecology and natural resource management at UVM’s Rubenstein School. Backed by her rich experience as a service project leader, park ranger, trails manager, and conservation educator, Amanda brings enthusiasm and a can-do sense of adventure to everything she does.
The mission of the VRC is to: “protect and restore rivers for people and wildlife.” It hopes to achieve healthier climate-resilient rivers and connect communities, volunteers and partners to this work. The work of VRC includes: protecting wetlands and headwater forests, key places where our conserved lands let nature regain its footing; restore rivers for people and wildlife; restoring floodplains and removing old dams; helping communities by connecting people with rivers through hands-on stewardship, outreach and education and working with volunteers to build riverside trails, plant trees and shrubs along riverbanks, pick up trash, and help keep our waterways in tip-top shape; working with landowners to protect the watershed and to facilitate access to rivers. For more information on the work of the Vermont River Conservancy visit their website: vermontriverconservancy.org.
Amanda introduced the second speaker for today,Michele Braun, the executive director of the Friends of the Winooski River.
Michele began her portion of the talk with some facts about the Winooski River: it starts in Cabot and ends in Lake Champlain. The Winooski is the largest watershed in the Champlain Basin. It has seven main tributaries. Two major tributaries (Jail Branch and Stephens Branch) and four smaller branches (Gunner Brook, Potash Brook, Edgewood Brook and Aldrich Brook) run through Barre.
The Friends of the Winooski has been working with the Barre City River Access Task, a group of local residents whose mission it is to promote and increase river access through community engagement, access development, education, grant opportunities, local partnerships and outreach activities. The Friends of the Winooski/Barre City River Assess Task Force recently were awarded a $100,000 grant from the State of Vermont to create a Master Access Plan for the City. The goal is to eventually identify twenty locations adjacent to the river to be developed for public use. For more information about the Task Force, here is the link:
https://winooskiriver.org › barre-rivers.
The Friends of Winooski work with schools, conduct workshops and sponsor a host of several clean up the Winooski events. For more information ,visit their website:https://winooskiriver.org.
In responding to Rotarians questions, Amanda discussed the pros and cons of dredging, the high cost of culvert replacement and the high levels of e.coli in the Stevens Branch. Her warning: “Don’t swim in it!”
Amanda and Michele presented an upbeat account of the work and future plans for the rivers in Vermont and increased access in Barre. Rotarians showed their appreciation of their work and their presentation with a warm round of applause.
.png)
