Things to do, people to meet, places to be in March.

 

Prepare for and Attend Legislative Breakfasts

Monday, March 31, 2025

Monthly meetings during the legislative session provide opportunities to hear directly from lawmakers and ask questions.

Location: St. Johnsbury Athenaeum 1171 Main St, St Johnsbury, VT 05819
Time: 8:00 am – 9:00 am
ALL Dates: Monday, February 24, 2025, Monday March 31, 2025, Monday April 28, 2025 and Monday May 19, 2025 For more information follow this Llink to the NEK Chamber of Commerce Events Page

Click here To Watch the NEK Chamber: 1/27/25 Legislative Breakfast and find other past Legislative breakfasts

 

Waterford’s Banned Book Book Club

First Meeting Sunday March 2nd, 3:30 at the Davies Memorial Library
Meets every two months

Do you have any idea how many books have been banned or challenged in the United States of America? The answer: Countless. A quick Google search will enlighten and disappoint you; give it a try.

All are invited to participate in Waterford’s Banned Book Book Club (you don’t have to live in Waterford). We will meet once, every 2 months, to discuss our past read and to pick our next book. Most books will be available at your public library-YAY for public libraries!

Our first book is The Handmaid’s Tale. I read this when it was first released and look forward to revisiting it. Context and timing will certainly play into my 2025 perception. I ​a​m curious to hear how ​others feel about it. Hope to hear back from you. – Robin Migdelany

 

Upcoming events with Rights & Democracy

2/27 – 3/6

We have added a new meeting of the RAD VT Federal Resistance Team this Thursday, March 6, from 6-7:15pm. We heard from several folks that they didn’t want to wait until March 20 to meet again. You can register here: https://www.mobilize.us/rightsdemocracy/event/755065/

Hope to see you at one of these upcoming meetings!

Here are some ways you can take action.

• Thu, Mar 6 @ 6pm · People’s Action
  Tax and Budget Fight 2025 Phone bank! ›
• Tue, Mar 11 @ 7pm · People’s Action
  People’s Action National Volunteer Power Hours ›
• Tue, May 13 @ 6pm · People’s Action
  Deep Canvass Institute 101: Foundational Skills of Deep Canvassing ›
• Tue, Mar 18 @ 6pm
  Rights & Democracy NH Resistance Team ›
• Tue, Mar 25 @ 6pm · People’s Action
  Introduction to Deep Canvassing: The Proven Method to Change Hearts and Minds ›

All times Eastern

 

Death Cafe 

March 9th, 10:30am at The Wandering Vine in St. Johnsbury VT

 

50501 

Visit https://www.fiftyfifty.one/ to find out more

 

Holocaust Memorial

March 9, 2025

Antisemitism Symposium
Woodstock, VT
March 9, 2025 | 1:00-5:30pm

For more information follow this Link to Newsletter

Soup and Story Share hosted by the Vermont Workers Center and Nonviolent Medicaid Army

Wednesday , March 12th at 5:30pm 

Come share your share story! We’re organizing to take on the health insurance industry and its backers on wall st to make healthcare a public good for all. Cuts to Medicaid , skyrocketing costs , denial of care -we’re all impacted by the growing crisis of for-profit healthcare .

Please join the Vt Workers Center and Nonviolent Medicaid Army at the United Community Church, St Johnsbury. on Wed , March 12th at 5:30 for a soup and story share!

 

EcoGather’s Vermont

Mar 20, Thu 6-8pm the topic is Solidarity

EcoGather’s Vermont based facilitators of community learning are collaborating with Hard-Pressed Community Print shop in West Danville, Vermont to offer a series of EcoGatherings in the Northeast Kingdom.

They have 5 sessions scheduled, each with a different focus topic.
On Feb 22, Sat 3-5pm the topic is Rage/Joy
On Mar 20, Thu 6-8pm the topic is Solidarity
On Apr 19, Sat 3-5pm the topic is Work
On May 17, Sat 11am-1pm the topic is Language
On Jun 7, Sat 3-5pm the topic is In the Shell of The Old

Climate Café Monthly Gathering:

Monday, March 31, 2025

7 pm for 90 minutes

A place to connect with others and share feelings about our changing climate and associated impacts. This is not a therapy group, but is focused on deep listening and our shared humanity.
Facilitated by Sara Demetry and Judith Springer
To get the zoom link or with questions, contact Judith, see poster for contact information. No charge!
This will be a monthly offering. -Jen Here is the flyer:

 

 

As Published in the Sugarbush daily report by snow reporter Lucy Welch and then posted to Good Trouble by Jason Kottke

March 1st 2025

I chose to copy and paste the full article in case it disappears again!
It was already taken down once, from it’s original posting.

Good Trouble: JD Vance Chastised by Vermont Snow Reporter

JD Vance, fresh off of helping his boss ambush & insult a foreign leader in the White House yesterday afternoon, is on vacation in Vermont with his family this weekend and will be skiing at Sugarbush Resort in Warren, VT, a 15-minute drive from where I live.

This morning, Sugarbush snow reporter Lucy Welch took the opportunity to make some good trouble by sending out a message of resistance against Vance and the administration he represents. The message went out via email to all Sugarbush daily report subscribers and appeared on the website for a brief time before it was removed. Here is the text of her message:

Mar 1st, 2025, 6:49 AM: Today of all days, I would like to reflect on what Sugarbush means to me. This mountain has brought me endless days of joy, adventure, challenges, new experiences, beauty, community, and peace. I’ve found that nothing cures a racing mind quite like skiing through the trees and stopping to take a deep breath of that fresh forest air. The world around us might be a scary place, but these little moments of tranquility, moments I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy as a direct result of my employment here, give me, and I’d guess you, too, a sense of strength and stability.

This fresh forest air, is, more specifically fresh National Forest air. Sugarbush operates on 1745 acres of the Green Mountain National Forest. Right now, National Forest lands and National Parks are under direct attack by the current Administration, who is swiftly terminating the positions of dedicated employees who devote their lives to protecting the land we love, and to protecting us while we are enjoying that land.

This Administration also neglects to address the danger, or even the existence of, climate change, the biggest threat to the future of our industry, and the skiing we all so much enjoy here. Burlington, VT is one of the fastest-warming cities in the country, and Vermont is the 9th fastest-warming state. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), a resource I use every day for snow reporting, is crucial in monitoring extreme weather events and informing public safety measures, and is also experiencing widespread layoffs and defunding at the hands of the Administration.

Sugarbush would not be Sugarbush without our wonderful community. Employees and patrons alike, we are made up of some of the most kind hearted, hardworking people I have ever met. Our community is rich with folks of all different orientations, ethnicities, and walks of life, who all contribute to make this place what it is. They all love Sugarbush because it is a place where they can come to move their bodies, to connect with the land, to challenge themselves, to build character, to nourish their souls with the gift of skiing.

Many of these people are part of the LGBTQI+ community. Many (well, that’s a stretch, we all know this is an incredibly white-washed industry) are people of color. Half are women. Many are veterans or adaptive skiers who, through Vermont Adaptive, are able to access snow sports in part thanks to federal grants through the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is also facing devastating cuts. Many of our beloved employees moved across the world through an exchange program on the J1 visa to help this resort run, and they are not US citizens. ALL of these groups are being targeted, undervalued, and disrespected by the current Administration.

The beauty of National Forest land, is that anyone and everyone is welcome to enjoy it. Anyone and everyone can buy a lift ticket. I also imagine it is incredibly difficult, and likely impossible, to say “No” to the Secret Service. I hope that, instead of faulting Sugarbush management or employees for “allowing this to happen”, you can direct your anger to the source — the Administration that, in my oh-so-humble opinion, is threatening our democracy, our livelihoods, our land.

I want to reiterate how much I admire and respect my fellow employees and managers — they work so hard to make this place operate, to keep you coming back and enjoying it and making lifelong memories. Many of them may feel the same way that I do, but their hands are tied, and for good reason. They have families to support, they have benefits and health insurance to receive, they face far greater and more binding pressure from Corporate. I am in a privileged position here, in that I work only seasonally, I do not rely on this job for health insurance or benefits, and hey, waking up at 4:30 AM isn’t exactly sustainable. Therefore, I am using my relative “platform” as snow reporter, to be disruptive — I don’t have a whole lot to lose. We are living in a really scary and really serious time. What we do or don’t do, matters. This whole shpiel probably won’t change a whole lot, and I can only assume that I will be fired, but at least this will do even just a smidge more than just shutting up and being a sheep.

I am really scared for our future. Acting like nothing is happening here feels way scarier than losing my job. I want to have kids one day, and I want to teach them to ski. The policies and ideals of the current Administration, however, are not conducive to either of these things, because, at least how things look now, I’d never be able to afford a good life for a child anyway, and snow will be a thing of Vermont history. So please, for the sake of our future shredders: Be Better Here. It has truly been a pleasure writing your morning snow reports — I hope this one sticks with you. With love, peace, and hope, Lucy Welch

But hey, while we’re here…1-3” of fresh snow to kick off this interesting weekend. Chance of scattered mixed precip showers today, with warmer temps reaching 36 at the base and 28 at the summit. Right now, the snowpack is a mix of machine groomed and frozen granular, with more winter-like conditions near the summits, but the new snow may help nudge conditions into the powder/packed powder category in certain aspects and elevations. Enjoy 60 groomers and 100% open terrain today! For Saturday, we’ll be rocking 111 trails, 484 skiable acres, and 60 groomed runs. Temps are expected to be in the mid-20s and mid-30s under cloudy skies with winds out of the WNW ranging from 15-40 MPH. With all the new snow we saw this month, it is more important than ever to be diligent when skiing and riding in the woods — tree wells pose a greater risk with all this fresh pow.

Thank you, Lucy — that was wonderful.

The rest of the towns around here and in the surrounding area have turned out for protests as well…some pics and video here, here, and here. There were some protesters spotted earlier on one of the Sugarbush webcams as well.