Cavendish VT Blog: Cavendish Update 12/27/13 News/Downton/Exiled/Events

Information can also be posted on the Cavendish VT Facebook Page.

The 12/27/13 Cavendish Update Contains the Following:

1. Cavendish Related News

2. Get Ready for Downton Abbey Season 4

3. Publication Led to Exile in Cavendish

4. BRGNS Thanks Volunteers and Donors for Their Effort

5. Events

1. CAVENDISH RELATED NEWS

GMP Says No Base Rate Increase for 2 Years: Green Mountain Power says its customers won’t be seeing any increases in their base rate for power for at least two years. In filing with the utility regulating Public Service Board, Green Mountain Power said efficiencies from its merger with Central Vermont Public Service and a continued focus on cost controls means the company can hold base rate flats for the foreseeable future. WCAX

VT Red Cross in Need of Volunteers: Due to the high number of fires in VT this winter, plus the increase chance of more fires in the winter months ahead, VT Red Cross is in need of volunteers and donations. If you are interested in doing either, go to http://www.redcross.org/vt/burlington

2. GET READY FOR DOWNTON ABBEY SEASON 4

Season Four of PBS’s smash television series Downton Abbey will premier this coming January. Join the Cavendish Fletcher Memorial Library and The Book Nook on Saturday January 4th at 2pm at the Cavendish Library for a lovely afternoon of food inspired by the hit show as well as a viewing of the final episode of Season Three.

Kata Welch will once again work her culinary magic to provide a lovely spread for afternoon tea. As part of the festivities, The Book Nook will raffle off a copy of “The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook,” by Emily Ansara Baines and a copy of “Below Stairs,” by Margaret Powell, which is The Book Nook’s book discussion book for January.

Although not required, it would not be out of place to come dressed in your finest for the afternoon. The fun begins at 2pm at the Cavendish Fletcher Community Library in Proctorsville, so please join us. FMI: 226-7503

3. PUBLICATION LED TO EXILE IN CAVENDISH

In Paris 40 years ago on December 28, 1973, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s masterpiece, “The Gulag Archipelago” was published. Describing the horrors of the Soviet forced labor camps, the book was translated into 40 languages and some 10 million copies were printed around the world. “Judged by how much impact a book has on the course of world history, this is certainly the most influential book of the 20th century,” said Solzhenitsyn’s literary agent, French publisher Claude Durand.

“Solzhenitsyn’s book was a shock to us,” the Nobel Peace Prize winner and Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, who died in 1989, wrote in his memoir. “From the first pages arose the sinister world of grey camps surrounded by barbed wire, torture chambers... millions of our citizens vanished in glacial mines of Kolyma.”

Two months after the book’s publication, Solzhenitsyn was arrested, stripped of his citizenship and expelled from the USSR. Of the 20 years he was to be exiled from his homeland, Solzhenitsyn spent almost 18 of them in Cavendish.

On January 11, the Cavendish Historical Society and the Cavendish Library will be holding a

discussion about “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.” Published in 1962 during a less repressive era under Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, the book described one day in the life of a gulag prisoner. As a result of writing this book, Solzhenitsyn said, “Thousands of ex-prisoners wrote to me after the publication of Ivan Denisovich. I then realized that fate sent me what I needed. I got material for The Archipelago thanks to them,”

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is available at the Cavendish Library, most book stores and from ebookbrowse http://ebookbrowsee.net/one-day-in-the-life-of-ivan-denisovich-doc-d136317251

Film adaptations of the book are available at the following sites:

• 1970 Version

• Bob Hope Presents Chrysler Theater

4. BRGNS THANKS VOLUNTEERS AND DONORS FOR THEIR EFFORTS

On Wednesday, December 18^th some thirty volunteers gathered to fill boxes with all-inclusive holiday dinner ingredients for the annual Black River Good Neighbor Services’ holiday food distribution. Complete with turkey or chicken, stuffing, vegetables, bread, milk and more than a dozen other food items, the boxes were destined for the tables of those families who might not otherwise enjoy a holiday repast. In addition, to make the season more festive, toys and presents were packed for those families with young children.

Then, on Friday, December 20, over 70 volunteers descended on the distribution headquarters at Fletcher Farm. According to Lee Potter, a director at BRGNS and distribution coordinator, “In all we delivered 224 boxes of food and 105 bags of toys to 107 families. That’s 266 people, of whom 95 were children. This project has been a centerpiece of the Black River Good Neighbor Services program for over twenty years. It has grown substantially, although the staff and volunteers wish it wasn’t needed.”

In addition to those who packed and delivered, many people gathered the food and toys during the previous month. Food came from the November 30^th Stuff-a-Bus and the December 7^th Okemo Cares and Shares food drive. Okemo donated turkeys; Black River Produce donated fruit and potatoes; Countryside Lock and Alarms donated hot chocolate; and numerous individuals donated cash, which was used to buy perishable food items to complete the menu.

Toys were donated by dozens of organizations and individuals from across the BRGNS service area. Doris Eddy, toy collection coordinator and BRGNS director, said, “The outpouring of generosity toward the children was overwhelming. So many people went out of their way to help – it was amazing.”

This is truly a community effort, and the BRGNS’ officers, staff and clients deeply thank the many volunteers and donors who make this program possible each year.

5. EVENTS

This week, the following activities will be taking place in Cavendish: