Cavendish Update 11/11/11 News/Events/SB Agenda

Information can also be posted on the Cavendish VT Facebook Page

The 11/11/11 Cavendish Update Contains the Following
1. Nov. 15 Last Day to File for FEMA
2. Route 131 in Cavendish Now Open
3. Thank You Cavendish from Krissy Stocker
4. Selectmen’s Meeting, Monday, November 14 Agenda
5. Helping Hands Class
6. Stuff a Bus for BRGN
7. Classifieds
8. Cavendish Semiquincentennial: Quilting/Anniversary Quilt
9. Cavendish Activities 11/11-11/18

1. Nov. 15 Last Day to File for FEMA
If you haven't filed for FEMA, you have until Tuesday Nov. 15. The Irene Recovery Resources have been updated and are posted on the upper right hand side of the this blog.

2. Route 131 in Cavendish Now Open
The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) today (Nov. 4) opened Route 131 through Cavendish, which had been closed since Tropical Storm Irene struck more than two months ago.

Irene severely damaged several miles of Route 131 between Weathersfield and Cavendish, and completely obliterated about 250 feet of the roadway just east of Cavendish Village. Dubbed the “Cavendish Canyon” because floodwaters created a crater 54 feet high and almost a football field long, the roadway had to be completely rebuilt from the edge of the river up.

“Rebuilding Route 131 through Cavendish clearly was one of our most significant challenges,” said VTrans Secretary Brian Searles. “Raging floodwater did not just damage the road, it basically eliminated it. But with significant help from the National Guard, a couple of our neighboring state transportation departments and others, we rebuilt the road in just two short months, which is quite remarkable. “

At its apex, the work crew along Route 131 in Cavendish numbered nearly 150 men and women along with more than 50 pieces of heavy equipment including dump trucks, bulldozers, backhoes, road graders and other earth-moving vehicles. Dozens of National Guard troops from both Vermont and Ohio were involved, as well as highway crews from VTrans, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, the Main Department of Transportation and private contractor DeLoury Construction.

Some 70,000 cubic yards of stone and fill were trucked in and put into place to restore the roadway just at the canyon, while thousands more cubic yards were needed to repair various other washouts along the rest of the road.

“It literally took an army of people and machines working sunup to sundown for more than two months to rebuild Route 131 as well as the rest Vermont’s damaged road network,” Searles said. “This is a tremendous achievement. Our Vtrans team has, once again, accomplished what no one thought was possible. By opening the Cavendish Canyon today, we have advanced from over 500 miles of road and 200 bridges damaged by Irene in August, to just 2 closed bridges under construction in Roxbury, and three remaining road projects,” he said.

The final roads to be completed include route 106 in Weathersfield, Route 107 in Stockbridge and Route 73.”

3. Thank You Cavendish from Krissy Stocker
As part of Cavendish’s 250 Anniversary celebrations, donations were collected for the family of Master Sgt. Shawn Stocker, a member of the Vermont National Guard, who died from an apparent heart attack, while working on Cavendish flood recovery. Many people signed the card, which was forwarded along with a money order for the amount collected.
A thank you was recently received from Krissy Stocker, Sgt. Stocker’s widow. The note reads as follows:

Dear Margo and all the wonderful people of Cavendish:

I would like to take a moment to thank you all for the wonderful prayers thoughts and monetary gifts you have all sent to our family in our time of loss. As you were aware, Shawn was an incredible man, father, husband and son. He talked fondly and often of his encounters with all the town folks during his service there. When he was pulled off duty down there, for a very brief time, he fought extremely hard to get back on orders and return to your town to continue helping. He always had great things to say about how supportive and welcoming everyone was.

We miss Shawn more than you could even imagine, but we take comfort in the fact that he was doing what he loved for people who appreciated his efforts.

Blessings and thanks again for your help and support.

Krissy Stocker

4. Selectmen’s Meeting, Monday, November 14 Agenda
The Meeting will be held in the Cavendish Town Office Meeting Room at 6:30 pm. Note: Executive session of Select Board from 6:00 to 6:30 pm, immediately prior to regular monthly meeting. The agenda will be as follows:
1. Call the meeting to order for executive session on a matter of litigation beginning at 6:00
2. Close executive session and recess until 6:30 pm
3. Open public session - Regular monthly Select Board Meeting beginning at 6:30 pm
4. Sign Orders
5. Review Correspondence
6. Adjust agenda
7. Hear Citizens
8. Leon Woods local trail master to review snowmobile trails in Cavendish for the 2011-12 season and to request proposed road traverses for Select Board approval.
9. Representatives of the Windham & Windsor Housing Trust present to give the Board and the Cavendish public a presentation on the services provided by the Trust to Cavendish and other communities in it’s service area
10. Updates on Hurricane Irene clean-up and restoration activities including progress update on FEMA assistance especially with regard to data collection, documentation, paperwork preparation and survey work and Natural Resource Conservation Program participation
11. Select Board to review and sign “Corporate Resolution” for Trustees of Public Funds. This resolution is needed for the Trustees’ business with People’s United Bank.
12. Review property owner Dean Kaupinen’s response to the recent Public Health Notice.
13. Board to review a draft of a Derelict or Dangerous Building Ordinance.
14. Update on various other town activities
15. Other

5. Helping Hands Class
Barbara Snyder provided the following information about The Helping Hands Class.

The Helping Hand Class is the ladies group at the Cavendish Baptist Church. You don't have to be a member of the church to come to our meetings -- a few years ago we even had a couple of men as members!

We meet (usually) on the third Monday of each month (except Nov. & Dec. when we meet on the second Monday) at 6:30 p.m. in the church dining room. We take turns hosting the meetings, which means we bring the refreshments, do Devotions and have a monthly fund-raising project -- these include auctions (liquid, dozen, pound), quizzes and specialty projects -- these are never expensive, unless you bid on all the items. We receive an offering and we bring in our Love Gift boxes.

We are the "Mission" group and as such we participate in the American Baptist Women's ministry for White Cross. White Cross supports missionaries here in the US and overseas. We help out by making roller bandages, surgical caps and masks, hospital gowns and infant gowns for overseas and we receive a list of items for an Overland Mission group in the US that we fill each year. This list includes many of the following items: yarn, embroidery floss, paper cups, paper plates, plastic cutlery, games, toys and clothing items for men, women and children.

We do fundraising -- suppers, sales & RADA Cutlery -- to raise money to cover postage costs for White Cross, but we also have given donations to families after fires or floods; we've donated towards hats for a local little league team; we've given baby showers and bridal showers. Each year we bring in canned goods and donate to the Church Christmas Boxes and Remembrances; we bring in toys, games and books for children that are donated to the Black River Good Neighbors to go with their Christmas Boxes; we bring in baby items for the Pregnancy Center in Claremont.

The Helping Hand Class serves refreshments after funerals. The food is solicited from members of the congregation. We do not charge for this, but donations are always welcome.

6. Stuff a Bus for BRGN
Before we know it the holiday season will be upon us. It is a time of year that marks significant need in our communities. This is a very busy time for Black River Good Neighbor Services, as this non-profit local organization prepares to deliver gifts and a full holiday dinner complete with turkeys and all the fixings to those in need. It is estimated that over 160 families from the immediate and surrounding towns will be helped this holiday season

To help make this possible there is a planned “Stuff A Bus” on Saturday December 3rd. This important food drive will take place at the Shaw’s shopping center parking lot in Ludlow from 9am until 3pm.

The following items are the foods most needed:
Canned Fruit Canned Cranberry Sauce Pickles – Olives
Mac & Cheese Hot Chocolate Cookies
Tea Cereal (Oatmeal) Candy
Carrots/Peas Gravy Stuffing
Margarine Corn Green Beans
Yams Coffee Frozen Turkeys

If you are not a shopper, donations of money are always needed and greatly appreciated.
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There are many ways to get involved with this year’s efforts. Volunteers are needed to sort food as it comes in and countless other tasks are required to make sure that everyone who needs help this winter gets it. Please call Audrey at the Thrift Store, 228-3663 or visit 37B Main Street to ask how you can get involved.

The staff at Black River Good Neighbors thanks you for your continued generous support. Every contribution makes a difference.

7. Classifieds
A “Moving In” give away will take place on Saturday morning 11/12 at 831 Knapp Pond Rd in Cavendish. The new residents do not need the furnishings left by the previous owner. There are a number of big items like couches, end tables and small stuff like silverware and board games. Please let those who lost furniture and other household items in Irene have first pick.

8. Cavendish Semiquincentennial: Quilting/Anniversary Quilt
These posts are made possible by the Cavendish Historical Society and are archived at the CHS Blog.

Quilting was very prominent among the early settlers, not only because of the need for warmth, but fabric was expensive to buy and “homespun” was labor intensive. Every scrap had to be saved and “re purposed.”

The Cavendish Historical Society has quite a collection of quilts in the Museum, most of which were most likely made by a group of women to commemorate an event, such as a marriage. The oldest quilt in the collection is from the Civil War era and a recent acquisition.

Teresa Campbell of Lancaster, California was given eight squares by a friend of her husband. A quilter, as well as a genealogist, Campbell traced the squares to Cavendish and donated them in early June.

While we were discussing the Civil War era squares, a number of women and men (a first) in Cavendish, were preparing the 250th Anniversary quilt. When Campbell supplied the names of the quilters- Evey Kendall, Leizzie Kendall, Mrs. Maria Spaulding, Julia A. Davis, Mary Hemminway, Celia A. Davis, and Ella A. Spaulding-it was immediately noted that one of the quilters for Cavendish’s Anniversary quilt, Pang Ting, now lives in the house where the Kendall sisters once resided.

The Cavendish 250th Anniversary Quilt was on display at Old Home Day as well as serving as a backdrop for the play Cavendish Chronicles II: The Early Years. Because the school’s multi purpose room was both the site of the shelter during Irene recovery, and the play, the set was keep up for most of the shelter duration, so many people saw the quilt. Of particular interest was the square made by fiber artist Paulette Martell, which depicted the 1927 flood.

A combination of 14 different people made the 30 squares in the quilt. A variety of techniques were used to create a very unique design. While many of the squares were collaborative efforts, they depicted the town’s history as well as aspects that people thought should be remembered.

In addition to Martell, the quilters included:
• Jackie Blanchard: Raised in Cavendish, she is an award winning quilter. Not only did she transfer a number of photographs of Cavendish onto fabric, she included embroidered squares of the town name and dates, as well as an appliqué flower square.

• Margo Caulfield: From Baltimore, MD, is the coordinator of CHS. She, worked on several squares and choose to remember Phineas Gage, as she has spent many years working in the field of traumatic brain injury.

• Barbara Dickey: A retired researcher, Barbara worked with Wendy Regier and Tess Ellwood to capture the Cavendish countryside through six wildflower squares.

• Tess Ellwood: New to Proctorsville, Tess comes to our community from North Carolina. She is a quilter as well as a weaver. She not only contributed the log cabin square, but was the one who carefully sewed, repieced squares and masterminded the completion of the quilt.

• Gloria Leven: Born in West Virginia, Gloria has been a lover and maker of quilts for many years. She made several squares, including the pieced maple leaf.

• Paulette Martell: Originally from Maine, she is a well known fiber artist and quilter. Who knew her square depicting the 1927 flood would take on such significance?

• Jennifer McBride: A well known textile designer and owner of Jennifer Hoar designs and Soap Baubles, Jen moved to Cavendish from Brooklyn, New York just a few years ago. The bear, moose, tractor, and deer were her designs.

• Mary Ormrod: From Toronto Canada, where she lived in the bush country of Canada at one point, it is not surprising that Mary would choose the Crown Point Road as her quilt square theme

• Becky Plunkard: Growing up in a military family, Becky has lived in many different places. Making the square of the Universalist Church, known locally as “The Stone Church,” she only had to look out her window for inspiration.

• Craig Rankin: A landscape architect from New York, Craig retired to Cavendish in 1979. He was well known for his pen and ink drawings of Cavendish. His rendering of the CHS Museum was transferred to fabric by Jackie Blanchard.

• Lonnie Rankin: The daughter-in-law of Craig Rankin, she spent many happy days on the Rankin Farm and choose that as her theme. .

• Wendy Regier: From New York City, Wendy ahs been a professional weaver for the last 35 years. She made three squares: Marino sheep and loom; the Cavendish Green Marble Quarry (which is near her home) and Alexandra Solzhenitsyn

• Rich Svec: From New Jersey and Town Manager, Svec’s photograph of the town office, as well as the town logo were converted into squares by Jackie Blanchard.

• Pang Ting: From Hong Kong, while Pang may be a fiber artist with a love of paper, she created a one of a kind portrait of Cavendish today by using small pieces of fabric.

The quilt is being preserved and will be available for future generations as one of our town’s remembrances of our anniversary.

9. Cavendish Activities 11/11-11/18
November 11 (Friday): Veteran’s Day No School for Cavendish Elementary

November 14 (Monday): Select Board Meeting, 6:30 pm at the Cavendish Town Office. Agenda above LPC-TV tapes meetings and makes them available on-line and Comcast Cable TV. This should be available by Nov. 16. Check the website for more information.

November 15 (Tuesday): Bone Builders Class at the Cavendish Baptist-- Class from 10:15-11:45. FMI: Linda at Green Mountain RSVP & Volunteer Center of Windsor County at (802) 885-2083, or Anne Oakes or Andrew Ohotnicky at (802) 228-5236, Dot Ramsdell at (802) 226-7870 or Charlotte Snyder (802) 226-7343.
• CTES School Board Meeting: LPC-TV tapes meetings and makes them available on-line and Comcast Cable TV. This should be available by Nov. 18. Check the website for more information.

November 16 (Wednesday): Library Program-Booksploration Grades K-1 One is a Feast for a Mouse. FMI: 226-7503

November 17 (Thursday): Bone Builders Class at the Cavendish Baptist-- Class from 10:15-11:45. FMI: Linda at Green Mountain RSVP & Volunteer Center of Windsor County at (802) 885-2083, or Anne Oakes or Andrew Ohotnicky at (802) 228-5236, Dot Ramsdell at (802) 226-7870 or Charlotte Snyder (802) 226-7343

• Monthly Community Luncheon at St. James United Methodist Church in Proctorsville at 11:30 am. We'll celebrate Thanksgiving a week early - serving roast turkey breast with dressing and gravy, mashed potatoes and peas, a tossed salad, hot rolls, and home-baked pumpkin pies for dessert. Coffee, hot tea or a fruit drink will round out the meal. A suggested donation of $4.00 for seniors or $5.50 for those under 60 years of age helps us defray the cost of the meal.

• Sit & Knit" at the Six Loose Ladies yarn shop, Pollard Building, Proctorsville Green, 2:00 -9:00 PM. Open to knitters, spinners, crocheters, hookers. Free. FMI: 226-7373

• Half Day of School at Cavendish Elementary Parent/Teacher Conferences

November 18 (Friday): Half Day of School at Cavendish Elementary
• Okemo Mountain Ski Swap at Okemo Mountain Base Lodge. FMI: 228-1583