Fall prevention clinic offered in Guilford
GUILFORD - The Guilford Cares Senior Support Group is hosting a clinic on Thursday, June 19, from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Broad Brook Community Center (3940 Guilford Center Rd.) to discuss why we fall and what we should be doing to avoid falling.
The presenters are volunteer physical therapists with the Southeastern Vermont Medical Reserve Corp. (MRC), a community-based network supporting local public health initiatives and emergency response efforts.
The presentation will focus on strength and flexibility and will include demonstrations, videos, and a question-and-answer session.
For more information, contact Guilford Cares at 802-579-1350 or [email protected].
Bellows Falls Farmers Market opens for season
BELLOWS FALLS - The Bellows Falls Farmers Market 2025 season begins Friday, June 20, from 4 to 6 p.m. with a kick-off fundraiser. This cookout-style community celebration offers a meal by donation and free live music from Intercept.
The market will be held each Friday from 4 to 7 p.m., from June 27 through Sept. 19, at Hetty Green Park (2 Church St.) with free music, hot food, farmers, vendors, crafters, demonstrations, and more.
Interested in vending? You can do a one-week pop-up for $25 or commit to the season for $190. Contact Market Manager Zoe Dodd at [email protected] with details on your booth and the dates you'd like to participate.
Food Truck Fridays return in Vernon
VERNON - Food Truck Fridays have returned for the season at the Governor Hunt House Community Center (322 Governor Hunt Rd.) on every third Friday of the month through October, rain or shine, from 4:30 to 7 p.m.
On June 20, food trucks will include J & B Curbside Café and Catering, Vernon Creamie, Mama T's Sweet Spot, 802 Soul Kitchen, and The Lemon Wheel. New additions on Facebook as they occur.
Bring your lawn chairs or blankets and settle in for a fun gathering.
In the event of poor weather, indoor seating will be available. Overflow parking is available across the street at the Vernon Elementary School.
Celebrate the Summer Solstice with fireflies and live ambient music
GUILFORD - The Springs Farm, 49 Carpenter Hill Rd., is hosting a unique way to celebrate the summer solstice - watching the fireflies emerge with live musical accompaniment by Brattleboro's Caldon Glover - on Friday, June 20 at 8 p.m.
The event is called Firefly Fête Champêtre, or "party in the fields." As darkness falls, a musical program will begin, with bats emerging around 8:30 p.m. and fireflies not long after.
Glover, an electronic musician, creates slow, industrial soundscapes with synthesizers and found sound. They scored the Perseid meteor shower last August at the Springs Farm.
Come early to set up, picnic, bring blankets, chairs, and flashlight. A donation ($5 to $10 suggested) will support the artist. There is limited parking at the farm for those who need access.
In case of rain, the event will be rescheduled for Sunday, June 22, at 8 p.m. Change of date will be posted at bit.ly/820-fireflies.
Genealogy group meets on June 21
BRATTLEBORO - The next in-person and Zoom meeting of the Windham County Genealogy Interest Group will focus on "Tracing Ancestors in the Salem Witch Trials" and "Using Cemetery Directories to Find Ancestor Burials" from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m on Saturday, June 21.
The meeting at Brooks Memorial Library (224 Main St.) is free and open to all. Register at bit.ly/WCGIG2025. A Zoom link will be sent to remote participants before the meeting.
For those who have ancestors in Essex County, Massachusetts, it may be possible to identify the family connections to the Salem Witch Trials - whether through the accused, accusers, witnesses, or jurors. The session will explore the use of colonial records, court documents, and genealogical tools to uncover ties to one of New England's most pivotal events.
Online cemetery databases such as Find a Grave and BillionGraves have transformed searching for your ancestral burials in cemeteries. These databases also act as family trees, linking parents, siblings, children, and beyond, no matter where they are buried. These constructed family trees linked by gravesites might include birth, death, biographical, and other textual information as well as images of tombstones and other related subjects.
Brattleboro's cemeteries were inventoried by local resident Marjorie Valliere Howe from 1999 to 2004. Participants will see a demonstration of how to use the Howe cemetery directories and Find a Grave to locate and document gravesites.
For more information, contact Wayne Blanchard and Jerry Carbone at [email protected].
Senior Solutions hosts ice cream social
ATHENS - The Athens Brick Meetinghouse (2 Meetinghouse Road, just off Route 35) will be the site of an old-fashioned ice cream social from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 22.
The 1817 Meetinghouse will be open for tours (free; donations welcome).
At the Senior Solutions outreach table, Outreach Specialist Susan Peters will answer questions, provide referrals, assist with applications, and provide information on the programs and services of the area's agency on aging.
For more information, contact Sherry Maher at 802-275-2835, or follow Athens Meetinghouse on Facebook.
Food drop in Putney
PUTNEY - The Vermont Food Bank and Putney Foodshelf co-sponsor a monthly food drop, offering a selection of produce and nonperishable foods. The free drive-thru service takes place on the fourth Thursday of every month from 9 to 9:45 a.m.
The next food drop is Thursday, June 26.
For the next year, with construction underway on Alice Holway Drive, the food drops will take place at 78 River Rd. (the parking lot of what used to be Five Maples).
For more details, including a map, visit putneyfoodshelf.org/food-drop.
Dummerston Church hosts Strawberry Picnic
DUMMERSTON - The second annual Dummerston Congregational Church Strawberry Picnic, a fundraiser for the church, is planned for Sunday, June 29, from noon until 3 p.m.
The complete picnic ($15) includes a lunch of cole slaw, potato salad, baked ham, a tomato wedge, and an individual biscuit with strawberries and real whipped cream.
An individual serving of shortcake costs $8. A large shortcake can feed eight people for $45.
If it's a sunny day, you may bring your chair or a blanket and sit near the fire pond behind the church in Dummerston Center or across the street on the Center Common. In case of rain, limited seating will be available in the church, but your food will be packaged and ready to be carried home.
Reservations are suggested only for the large shortcakes, with only a limited number available. Please leave your name, phone number, the number of large shortcakes you need, and an approximate time you plan to come for your food.
Call the church office at 802-257-0544, or email [email protected] up until 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 28. After 10 a.m. on Sunday, call 802-579-1518 for information or to order.
Westminster Garden Tour tickets available
WESTMINSTER - Tickets for the 22nd Westminster Garden Tour - an annual fundraising event for Westminster Cares - are now available.
During this year's tour, on Saturday and Sunday, July 5 and 6, stroll through the gardens of Mary and Gordon Hayward, Cyndy Fine's Kismet Garden, the Laughlins' family farm, and the Westminster Center School's garden.
On Saturday, at 1:30 p.m., Julie Moir Messervy will give a talk, "Landscaping Ideas That Work" at the Westminster Institute (3534 U.S. Route 5). Entry to this talk is included with your ticket.
Tickets are $20 for one or $35 for two and are good for both days of the tour. Children under age 16 are admitted free. All proceeds benefit Westminster Cares.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit westminstercares.org.
This Town and Village item was submitted to The Commons.