Community Roundup – February 9, 2023

League Of Women Voters hosts program on non-citizen voting
The League of Women Voters of Vermont is sponsoring a free program on non-citizen voting at the Fletcher Free Library at 235 College Street in Burlington 2-3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18, in the Fletcher Room.

Town Meeting TV will live stream the program on YouTube.

In Vermont, Winooski and Montpelier allow non-citizen residents to vote in local elections. Both cities undertook a complicated process to gain that right for their non-citizen residents. Burlington will consider a question to approve non-citizen voting at Town Meeting Day on March 7. So, what is non-citizen voting? Should other Vermont cities consider non-citizen voting?

Marguerite Adelman of the League of Women Voters of Vermont will present information about the two Vermont towns that have all resident voting, historical facts on the subject, non-citizen voting at the state and national levels, and arguments for and against non-citizen voting. The program will be educational in nature, providing time for questions and discussion.

Please contact League of Women Voters of Vermont with questions about the program.

Volunteer with United Way’s Volunteer Connection
United Way’s Volunteer Connection site is set up to help connect agencies and volunteers. Agencies are working hard to navigate volunteering during this time with opportunities increasing.

Parenting education
Prevent Child Abuse Vermont invites skilled professionals, experienced parents or grandparents and grad students seeking field work to join a team facilitating virtual parent education classes and support groups. Help parents learn the skills to strengthen themselves and their families. Volunteers are also needed to translate materials into Spanish and French. Fill out a volunteer application.

Ending domestic violence
Steps to End Domestic Violence has many ways to get involved: 24-hour hotline shifts are available Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; legal advocates can volunteer at legal clinic appointments and court hearings; and others can staff tables at local events to provide information, serve at special events and children’s programs. A 20-hour community advocate training is required. Learn more.

Pre and apres ski
Cochran’s Ski Area in Richmond welcomes inner city children from the Boys and Girls Club in Burlington each Wednesday and equips and teaches them to ski. The program needs volunteers, from teens to seniors, to ski with and assist the children. Following skiing, the children are treated to dinner, and volunteers are also needed to help prepare and serve the meal. To inquire, email.

Cook and share a meal
Burlington Dismas House is looking for members of the community who love great conversations and connections to be volunteer cooks at their home on Buell Street. Volunteers purchase and prepare dinner for up to 10 residents and one staff member and sit down together to enjoy a family dinner. For more details, call 802-658-0381.

Organic dairy conference planned for March 9
Farmers who register for the 2023 Vermont Organic Dairy Producers Conference will learn about strategies to manage high feed costs, satellite imagery for better pasture management and research on bedding and mastitis, among other topics.

The eleventh annual conference will be held March 9 in Judd Hall on the Vermont Technical College campus in Randolph Center. It is sponsored by University of Vermont Extension’s northwest crops and soils program.

The registration fee is $25 and includes lunch. Registrations accepted until March 6.

Anyone without internet access or with questions should call the Non-Credit Registration Office at 802-656-8407. To request a disability-related accommodation to participate, please contact University of Vermont Student Accessibility Services or 802-656-7753.

The conference will open with a presentation by Greg Brickner, a staff veterinarian and grazing specialist for Organic Valley in Wisconsin. He will describe new satellite imagery technology that will allow graziers to predict pasture inventory weeks in advance and monitor plant health in paddocks.

There will be presentations by a variety of speakers on topics including key production and financial benchmarks, updates on research, ways organic dairy producers can manage high feed costs in the coming year, the impact the choice of housing and bedding systems have on mastitis risk among organic dairy cattle, what’s new in mastitis and mastitis control, parasite management and major health challenges on pasture during the grazing season.

University of Vermont sponsors no-till and cover crop conference
The 2023 No-Till and Cover Crop Conference, set for March 2 in South Burlington, will provide information and research updates to farmers and field crop growers on cover crop and manure management.

Speakers hail from New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Vermont.

Registration is $75 and $50 for students, payable online by Feb. 24. Registrations also can be made at 802-656-8407. For disability-related accommodation requests, contact University of Vermont student accessibility services at 802-656-7753.

Aaron Ristrow, American Farmland Trust, will open the conference with a talk on the Genesee River Demonstration Farms Network in western New York and biomass productivity and decreased inputs from planting green. He is followed by Kirsten Workman, Cornell University, with a discussion on cover crop alternatives to winter rye, and Glen Arnold, Ohio State University Extension, on precision manure management and sidedressing in corn.