Published by the Preservation Trust of Vermont, 104 Church Street, Burlington, VT 05401
http://www.ptvermont.org

CREATING COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS:  Helping Government, Nonprofits, and Community Groups Work Together to Strengthen Town Centers

Friday May 23, 2003
Barre, Vermont

The Preservation Trust of Vermont, the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation and local sponsors welcome you to downtown Barre for a full day of workshops and tours with a focus on how preservation partnerships can work together to strengthen downtowns and village centers.

The day will begin at the Barre Opera House with a welcome by Governor Douglas, followed by a keynote address by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Tom Hylton, author of "Save Our Land, Save Our Towns."  The day will include a tour of the granite industry; a workshop with Nick Wates (communityplanning.net); Certified Local Government training; workshops for community volunteers and professionals; and a celebration of downtown Barre's own partnerships: the City of Barre, the Barre Downtown Partnership, Barre Opera House, Studio Place Arts, the Aldrich Library, the Granite Museum, and a special reception at the newly opened Vermont History Center, home to the Vermont Historical Society.

A very special event of the day is a genuine Italian lasagna lunch at the National Historic Landmark, the Socialist Labor Party Hall (proceeds to benefit the Barre Historical Society), and the presentation of the National Trust for Historic Preservation Honor Award to the Barre Historical Society and the magnificent Labor Hall!

Please join us, and register by May 14 so that we can have an accurate count for lunch.  Cost for the conference, lunch, and reception is $50.

Registration forms are available on our website www.ptvermont.org, by email conference@ptvermont.org, or by calling Meg Campbell at (802) 442-8951 or Connie Bryant at (802) 658-6647.

In This Issue....
 
 

Vermont News
• Preservation Grants Awarded
• Neighborly Planning
• PTV Website

 
National News
• Bozeman Caps Size of Retail Stores

 
Publications & Resources
• Proud to Live Here
• Effective Communication for Preservation Nonprofit Organizations
• Website: Planning & Development News, Jobs, & Events
• Buy Annapolis


Events

• The Way Home: Paintings of Two Generations of A Vermont Farm Family by Eunice Kinsey, February 22 - June 8


Education & Training Opportunities

• Preservation Retreats
• National Covered Bridge Conference
• Seminar at Nantucket for Historic Site Staff
• Developing and Promoting Cultural Heritage in Your Community
• Community Planning Course
• Community Mapping Program
• National Preservation Conference Emerging Leaders Scholarship
• VT Planners Association Spring Workshop
• Did Mark Twain Really Sleep Here?  Learning to Write about Historic Buildings and Gardens,  April 5 & 26, 2003
• Preservation Education Institute: Workshop Schedule at a Glance
• Paint Your Lady Program:  Expert to Help with Rockingham House Colors


Opportunities for Employment & Volunteer Work

• Volunteers Needed!
• Museum Visitor Services
• Carving Studio Seeks Artists


Grants, Funding & Awards

• Opportunities for Action grants
• Save America's Treasures
• National Trust Preservation Honor Awards
• Great American Home Awards

VERMONT

Preservation Grants Awarded
Since 1994 the Freeman Foundation and the Preservation Trust of Vermont have had a partnership to support preservation projects.  Over $6.3 million in grants have been awarded to help more than 280 projects in communities throughout the state. These grants have played a key role in over $76 million in total rehabilitation work.  The latest round of grants includes:
 

Yosemite Firehouse, Chester. $35,000.
This charming and rare example of late 19th century firehouse architecture is a prominent landmark on Vermont Rt.103. The firehouse and collection of 19th and 20th century fire-fighting equipment are owned by the Chester Historical Society. The community has supported the Historical Society's efforts to open the firehouse as a museum whose focus will be fire fighting, evidenced by 200+ contributions from town residents and businesses.  The grant will allow them to repair the firehouse roof and towers, repair exterior woodwork, paint the building, and conserve some of the windows.

First Universalist Church, Chester Stone Village. $25,000
This stone church building (c.1845) is key part of the Stone Village Historic District, and is home to a growing congregation.  It is regularly used by the larger community for arts and other community events. The grant will help complete the next phase of construction, which will address access to the basement level, repair/conservation of interior woodwork and finishes, and plumbing improvements.

Log Cabin, Franklin Historical Society. $15,000
This c.1830 log building has served as the headquarters of the Franklin Historical Society for over four decades. The Society plans to use an upcoming rehabilitation project as an occasion to promote the use of traditional techniques and methods in the repair of historic buildings. The scope of work includes repairs to foundation and floor frame, drainage improvements, window and door repairs, chinking of the logs, and repainting the roof. The project will culminate in a public event (conducted in cooperation with other historical societies) that will feature demonstrations of traditional crafts and building practices.

Vermont Foundry/Southern Vermont Recreation Center, Springfield. $45,000
Fifty years ago, Springfield was the manufacturing center of Vermont. Today, the town's machine tool industry is all but gone, leaving a host of vacant industrial buildings in the wake. Over the last several years, a local group has been working to raise the funds necessary to adapt one of those buildings, the Vermont Foundry, into a regional recreation center, attaching a new building on the west side to house a swimming pool. The overall project is budgeted at $4.9 million with approximately one third going toward the rehabilitation of the Foundry. The grant will allow them to restore the now boarded-up original wood windows on the front and south sides.

Shrewsbury Library, Cutttingsville. $20,000
The Shrewsbury Library is notable as the only accredited all-volunteer library in the State. With such a dedicated corps of volunteers, it is not surprising that the community has raised $129,000 toward a $150,000 project that will add a bathroom (currently there's a "porta-potty"), children's area, utility/furnace rooms, and a LULA (Limited Use/Limited Accessibility elevator) to the 1851 former schoolhouse. The LULA is of particular significance, since it will provide access to the upstairs community meeting room. The grant will allow them to complete the addition and renovations.

The Maclure Library, Pittsford. $30,000
The library is housed in the richly detailed 1895 Romanesque Revival style Walker Memorial Building. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Pittsford Green Historic District. >From 1999-2001 the library raised $321,000 and completed Phase I to make the building fully accessible, create a new children's area downstairs, a computer and a young adult space on the main floor, and a meeting and study space on the third floor with an elevator accessing all floors. They are now fundraising for Phase II to conserve the windows, add storm windows, repair the slate roof, copper flashing and gutter system, repoint the masonry, and repair plaster that suffered water damage. The grant will allow them to begin work on the roof and windows.

South Royalton House, South Royalton.  $25,000
Housing Vermont, in cooperation with Vermont Law School, has put together a partnership to rehabilitate this former inn which sits prominently on the Green in South Royalton. Twenty-one units of rental housing will be created on the upper stories of the main building and in the attached barn, and public meeting and reception space will be located on the ground floor.  The grant will enable the partnership to fully rehabilitate the deteriorated first and second floor porches, the most significant architectural features of the building.
 

Neighborly Planning
Organizations around the state are successfully getting people out to planning meetings by incorporating fun neighborly events with the task at hand.  In Montpelier, Mary Hooper served delicious food at the Downtown Community Association big planning day in Montpelier.  The Ferrisbugh Town Hall Committee had an open house about their rehab project -- entertainment provided by the school bands and choirs. Plenty of interested citizens and proud parents showed up!  Curtis Koren of Brookfiled recently sent out invitations to a fiddler concert/potluck to drum up excitement for the plans of rehabilitating the Town Hall.  These community events are working!  Please let us know if you have had similar successes in involving your community.  We'd love to hear about them and share your ideas with others.  ann@ptvermont.org

If you'd like more inspiration for planning in your community, attend Nick Wates's Community Planning Workshop at the historic preservation conference in Barre on May 23. Nick Wates is a leading specialist on community planning and design, and author of The Community Planning Handbook. http://www.ptvermont.org/hpconference.htm

Preservation Trust Website New Look
We recently overhauled our website with a new design, better organization and more information.  Take a minute to look around:  http://www.ptvermont.org.  Work is still in progress.  We are especially looking for great photographs of community-based historic preservation rehabilitation projects, especially photos with people in them.  If you have any photographs that you would like to submit for consideration for inclusion on our website, please email meg@ptvermont.org or send them to Meg Campbell, Preservation Trust of Vermont, 99 Furnace Grove Road, Bennington, Vermont  05401.  Thank you!
 

Bozeman Caps Size of Retail Stores
In February, the city of Bozeman, Montana, enacted an ordinance limiting retail stores to no more than 75,000 square feet. The measure makes permanent a temporary moratorium on construction of large retail stores in place for the past year.

The ordinance was approved by a 3-2 vote of the City Commission and took effect on March 21. It notes that "large-scale retail development imposes additional costs on public facilities and services" and "is potentially inconsistent with the existing community character and future community objectives." The measure's goals include ensuring "that development of additional areas does not degrade the Historic Core of Bozeman" and fostering "a diverse economy that will protect the economic climate for existing businesses."

In addition to capping the size of new stores, the ordinance requires retail developments between 40,000 and 75,000 square feet to meet design and site development standards. The ordinance notes that abandoned big box structures are of significant concern and requires developers to submit plans for re-using structures should the original tenant leave. It also mandates that developers include specific design elements when constructing large stores to facilitate re-use by multiple tenants (e.g., provision for interior subdivisions and multiple entryways).

The city plans to conduct a long-term study of the economic and community impacts of large-scale stores (those over 40,000 square feet) and to review and update the ordinance in five years.

Bozeman's ordinance and other examples of size caps: http://www.newrules.org/retail/size.html

[This article is reprinted with permission from The Home Town Advantage Bulletin, a free email newsletter published by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. To read back issues or join the mailing list, visit www.newrules.org].

PROUD TO LIVE HERE in the Connecticut River Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire from the Connecticut River Joint Commissions
The entire Connecticut River Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire is the stage for this 232-page exploration of its rich natural and cultural treasures. Liberally illustrated with almost 400 images, Proud to Live Here features historic and contemporary scenes from all over the watershed, from Pittsburgh to Brattleboro.

Written by historian Richard Ewald, working with biologist Adair Mulligan, Proud to Live Here illuminates ten themes in the valley’s history and highlights present-day examples of its physical geography, natural communities, Native American history, Euro-American settlement, agriculture, industry and commerce, transportation, bridges, railroads, architectural treasures and styles, civic life and the arts, and tourism and recreation.

The Connecticut River Joint Commissions are distributing complimentary copies of Proud to Live Here to schools, libraries, historical societies, and officials in the river’s upper watershed. A page of our web site (www.crjc.org) also promotes the publication. Proud to Live Here is available for purchase through CRJC for $20 plus $5.00 postage and handling.  For more information, contact CRJC at 603-826-4800, or contact@crjc.org. CRJC is a non-profit organization.
 

Effective Communications for Preservation Nonprofit Organizations
This new book from the National Trust's Preservation Books focuses on key areas -- media relations, publications, fundraising materials, and webpages -- to help organizations do a better job of getting the preservation message to the public, decision-makers, and supporters.  Available at www.preservationbooks.org
 

Website: Planning & Development News, Jobs, & Events
A great website full of thoughtful commentary and articles related to planning.
http://www.planetizen.com
 

Buy Annapolis: Guidebook to Locally Owned Businesses
 "Buy Annapolis" is an 80-page directory of locally owned business in Annapolis, Maryland. The directory sells for $15 and contains a comprehensive inventory of products and services available from hundreds of local businesses. It also includes about $3,000 worth of coupons and an essay, "Why Buy Annapolis," that outlines four economic reasons to support locally owned businesses. Buy Annapolis is the joint creation of Annapolis-based Alliance for Sustainable Communities (ASC) and ProgressivePubs, Inc., and was funded primarily by FoodRoutes Network.

Although sales have been slower than expected, the directory "has had a significant impact in terms of public awareness," according to Anne Pearson of ASC. Many residents have said that the guidebook has altered their shopping habits; officials are paying more attention to the needs and potential of local businesses; and the newspaper's business reporter has been writing more articles about small business.

Copies of Buy Annapolis can be ordered at: http://www.progressivepubs.com

[This article is reprinted with permission from The Home Town Advantage Bulletin, a free email newsletter published by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. To read back issues or join the mailing list, visit www.newrules.org].

EVENTS

The Way Home: Paintings of Two Generations of A Vermont Farm Family by Eunice Kinsey
February 22 though June 8, Fairbanks Museum, St. Johnsbury
The Way Home features more than 40 watercolors and corresponding short essays.  The images and stories offer first-person accounts of rural life in the Northeast kingdom, revealing details about farming and household practices during the Depression and the decades that followed. References to tools, traditions, and both special and ordinary occasions are included.  The Way Home celebrates regional art and history and allows the Museum to highlight some of its historical collections in a context of the period of their common use.

For more information, contact the Museum at 802-748-2372. www.fairbanksmuseum.org

Preservation Retreats
The Preservation Trust cordially invites community groups to participate in one of five retreats being offered at the Grand Isle Lake House this year.

 
May 12,13 (emphasis on libraries and community buildings)
June 9, 10 (for churches)
Aug. 5, 6 (emphasis on industrial heritage)
Sept. 2, 3
Oct. 14, 15

Participating groups should be prepared to present a 10- to 15-minute case study about a particular challenge or project they're working on, and to use the case study to frame a questions or problem that needs to be addressed in order to move a project along.  The retreats are for sharing ideas, solving problems, and getting together with others who are working on similar kinds of projects.  Check-in is at 3:00 and we finish by 2:00 the following afternoon.  Cost is $50/person for a shared room, $75 for a single, and includes 3 meals.  (There are a limited number of single rooms available on a first-come basis.)  We are very grateful to the Gannett Foundation and Burlington Free Press for their generous support of the Grand Isle Lake House Retreats.

For more information or to talk about a possible project of case study, please e-mail. ann@ptvermont.org or doug@ptvermont.org.  For a preview of the Grand Isle Lake House, visit our Web site http://www.ptvermont.org/grand_isle_lake_house.htm.
 

National Covered Bridge Conference: June 5-7, 2003
Keeping in mind the myriad contributions covered bridges will continue to make well into the 21st century, the first National Covered Bridge Conference: Best Practices, Care and Repair will take place in Burlington, Vermont on the campus of the University of Vermont in the historic Billings Center (designed by H. H. Richardson), June 5-7, 2003.

The first two days of the conference will be devoted to more than 35 presentations in multiple tracks on a range of topics. Experienced practitioners from New Hampshire to California and Oregon to North Carolina will present case studies detailing repair, rehabilitation, preservation, restoration and reconstruction, engineering analysis, fire detection and suppression, history, craft traditions and practices, maintenance programming, and cultural tourism.

Participants will discuss and evaluate ‘best practices’ when developing plans to preserve, restore, rehabilitate or reconstruct an historic covered wooden bridge. Conference attendees will be asked to help draft a charter detailing how practitioners from disparate disciplines can arrive at shared decisions on covered bridge projects. Henry Petroski, professor of civil engineering and history at Duke University, will serve as the keynote speaker. He is the author of numerous books including To Engineer is Human and Great Bridge Builders and the Spanning of America.

Conference attendees will receive continental breakfast and lunch on Thursday and Friday and a conference reception at Shelburne Museum. The fee includes hors d’oeuvres, cash bar, and transportation to and from the museum. Weather permitting, the reception will take place on the 1845 covered bridge (formerly in Cambridge, Vermont) on the grounds of the museum.

Register on-line for this National Conference.
http://www.historicwindsor.com/covered_bridge.htm
 

Seminar at Nantucket for Historic Site Staff
Holistic Stewardship of the Historic Site addresses the careful balance required to preserve and interpret historic buildings, collections, and landscapes within the context of mission, financial concerns, and visitors' needs.  This intensive seminar offered by the National Preservation Institute (NPI), with the Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) as cosponsor, will be held October 19-24, 2003 at Nantucket, Massachusetts.  Participants will enjoy a stimulating mixture of lectures, field trips, and on-site case studies at local historic sites.  Four museum and preservation professionals and NHA staff will serve as instructors and will be available throughout the seminar for interaction with participants.

Whether your institution is an historic house museum, a park with historic structures, or an historical society the combination of an historic building, a collection, and a landscape offers unique challenges for preservation and interpretation.  Here is your chance to spend several days with your peers enjoying the beautiful fall foliage in this historic whaling town, exchanging ideas and learning a new approach to the administration of your historic site. This is the third year this successful program has been held.  A past participant said of the seminar "The quality of the presenters, small size of the group and comprehensiveness of material made this the best professional program I have ever attended."  You are guaranteed a great educational experience that is also FUN.  For complete information call 703.765.0100 or go to http://www.npi.org/HolisticStewardship/2003.pdf
 

Community Planning Course
The Vermont Forum on Sprawl has announced an innovative new Community Planning course for interested citizens and local planners! The 8-week course is designed to give participants smart growth planning strategies for promoting compact, vital town centers separated by working landscape.

The course, guided by professional planner Dana Farley, will cover topics such as community assessment, community involvement, best site planning, planning for vital growth centers, and maintaining working landscapes. The course is built on the research of the Vermont Forum on Sprawl, uses innovative cooperative learning tools, and encourages active discussion and sharing of experiences between participants. Participants will receive paper copies of all Vermont Forum on Sprawl publications as course reading materials.

The course fee is $50 and will begin May 9th (orientation meeting is on May 5th). To register or for more information, contact Dylan Voorhees (dvoorhees@vtsprawl.org or 864-6310), or visit http://www.vtsprawl.org/Initiatives/projects/onlinecourse.htm. Starting April 23rd, you can visit the course website and register online at http://course.vtsprawl.org.
 

Community Mapping Program: Making Community Connections
Community Mapping and GIS Professional Development Opportunities for Educators
www.communitymap.org

We encourage educators and community organization representatives working with middle or high school level students to join us this summer and learn how to foster place-based student investigations of local social, economic, and ecological systems.

In 2003, we are offering a 3-day plus 5-day institute sequence, Community Mapping Program Institute: Part I and Part II, in order to provide more GIS training for educators planning to use GIS as an integral part of their community mapping project. Part I is a prerequisite for Part II.

CMP Institute Part I: Fundamentals of a Community Mapping Project
This is a three-day introduction to community mapping for supporting standards-based learning and understanding of local systems. At the heart of the institute is an on-going mini-mapping experience; participants work in small groups to conduct investigations and present results that meet a community need. Themes and skills to be included: field methods, learning for sustainability, map interpretation, using historic maps, and GPS data collection. Community Mapping Program case studies and planning time will help teams get started on their own community mapping projects. Participants have two options for attending the Community Mapping Project Part I !
 

May 1 - 3, 2003
Lebanon College, Lebanon, NH (Non-residential).  Cost: $120 (includes instruction, snacks, and Maptech® Terrain Navigator software)
Schedule: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm daily

June 19 - 21, 2003
Green Mountain College, Poultney, VT (Residential).  Cost: $235 (includes instruction, dorm room, meals, snacks, and Maptech® Terrain Navigator software)
Schedule: 9:00 am on Thursday, June 19 to 2:00 pm on Saturday, June 21
 

CMP Institute Part II: ArcView GIS Training for Community Mapping Projects
Educators and community organization representatives planning to use GIS and GPS as a significant part of their mapping projects should sign up for this five-day residential institute with ArcView GIS training. GIS lectures, self-paced tutorials, problem-based exercises using local data, mastery of GPS to GIS integration and experienced educator presentations will give participants a solid base for using GIS for community mapping projects and meeting curricular goals. Part II participants will have the opportunity to receive an ArcView site license for their K-12 school or library upon completion of their community mapping project.
 

June 23 - 27, 2003
Green Mountain College, Poultney, VT (Residential). Cost: $395 (includes instruction, dorm room, meals, snacks, and Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop)
Schedule: 9:00 am on Monday, June 23 to 2:00 pm on Friday, June 27

National Preservation Conference Emerging Preservation Leaders Scholarship Program
Applications are now available for the National Preservation Conference Emerging Preservation Leaders Scholarship Program at www.nthpconference.org/PDFFiles/EPL_Application2003.pdf

The Emerging Preservation Leaders program makes available limited scholarships to help preservationists from diverse, racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds attend our National Preservation Conference. It provides the perfect opportunity for community activists/leaders and college students to expand their preservation efforts, and it identifies good candidates who can work to further the preservation movement.

While we are sending out thousands of applications and press releases, YOU are the reason for the program's success.  Since the 1992 Miami conference when the program began, more than 900 community activists/leaders and college students have participated. Many have said that they were told about the program by someone who received an application. We ask that you continue to spread the word about the program using the enclosed application.

Deadline: Applications must be postmarked by June 1, 2003. Should you have any questions please call (843) 722-8552 or e-mail scholarships@nthp.org.   Applications are also available through the National Trust faxback service by calling (202) 588-6444, document number 9006, and in hard copy.

Vermont Planners Association Spring Workshop -- Community Planning
May 22, 9:30am-4pm, Shelburne Farms, Shelburne, VT
VPA invites people to join them at Shelburne Farms for a presentation and workshop by British planner, Nick Wates, on Community Planning. There will be a presentation by Nick Wates and discussion in the morning, followed by lunch and workshops on the community participation process in the afternoon. Nick brings exciting ideas on involving the public in planning--you won't want to miss this! Registration is required. For more information call or email David Spitz at 879-3063.

Did Mark Twain Really Sleep Here?
Learning to Write about Historic Buildings and Gardens
Two-Session Certificate Elective
April 26, 2003, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
Chaplin Hall, Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont

This writing workshop will take a nuts-and-bolts approach to how to write about houses, gardens, and horticulture. The basics of journalism will be covered, and students will explore the differences among the forms of non-fiction for periodical publications. Participants will also dissect previously published examples of the genre, and suggestions will be made regarding ways to sharpen the edges of a piece of writing. There will be an out-of-class assignment to be completed for review during the second session.

Instructor: Paula Panich, publisher and editor of DiRT: A Gardening Journal from the Connecticut River Valley. She has been a house and garden journalist for 16 years. And is co-author of The Desert Southwest and Desert Southwest Gardens (Bantam Books). Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other publications; she was an editor at Phoenix Home & Garden Magazine for 5 years. She ran a public relations consulting firm for the architectural and building trades in Phoenix, and recently founded Taking Root! The Connecticut River Valley Horticultural Marketing Exchange.

Cost: HWI member/government staff: $160; Others: $180.  Click here to enroll: http://www.historicwindsor.com/registration.htm
 

Preservation Education Institute: Workshop Schedule at a Glance
www.preservationworks.org

• May 16 - 17, 2003  Structural Evaluation and Repair:  Masonry
• July 10 - 13, 2003    Historic Plaster Repair
• July 14 - 15, 2003    Paint:  Historic and Contemporary Materials and Practice (Date Confirmation Pending)
• July 16 - 17, 2003    Structural Evaluation & Repair:  Timber Frame Structures (Date Confirmation Pending)
• July 18 - 19, 2003    Introduction to Architectural Photography
• Date Pending     Preservation Philosophy for People Who Maintain Old Buildings
• Date Pending     American Building Design and Technology
• Date Pending     Repointing Brick Masonry
•  

Paint Your Lady Program:  Expert to Help with Rockingham House Colors
A noted Vermont paint consultant is returning to Rockingham on Saturday, May 17th to provide free advice to homeowners concerning the colors of their historic houses or commercial buildings. Leonard Spencer, of Cabot, will conduct a one-day visit to Rockingham that Saturday to meet free-of-charge with as many as four property owners who will be selected through a competitive application process. The deadline for applications is coming up soon, on Wednesday, May 7th. Applicants must be available to meet with Spencer for about an hour and a half on the 17th.

The "Paint Your Lady" program is sponsored for the seventh year by the Rockingham Historical Commission, in partnership with Brown & Roberts Hardware. Its goal is to provide practical assistance to Rockingham property owners and improve the general appearance of the town's historic homes. The program is supported by a grant from the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation.

Spencer is a specialist in the selection of colors appropriate for Victorian-era homes known as "painted ladies" due to the number and variety of their historic paint colors. His experience as a house painter also equips him to provide general advice about house painting.

Applications may be obtained at the Rockingham Development Office, third floor of Town Hall, by calling 463-3456, or emailing rbfprsrv@sover.net.  Applications must include color print photographs of the exterior facades of the property. Applications may be turned in to the Development Office or mailed to: Rockingham Historical Commission, PO Box 370, Bellows Falls, VT 05101. The deadline is 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 7th. To qualify, a property must be located within the Town of Rockingham and date from before 1953. Both residential and commercial properties are eligible.

As a sponsor of the program, Brown & Roberts Hardware, on the Square  in Bellows Falls, will give discounts to the four applicants chosen. Exterior paints will be available at the best sale price. Other paint supplies will be available at a 10% discount. For more information, contact: Paula Sagerman, 463-3456, rbfprsrv@sover.net.

Volunteers Needed!
Would you like to come to the Historic Preservation Conference on May 23rd in Barre for free?  Then volunteer to help out at the registration table!  You'll need to arrive early but you'll be finished by the time the conference speakers begin.  Email meg@ptvermont.org.
 

Museum Visitor Services
American Precision Museum in Windsor VT seeks a visitor services coordinator responsible for front desk phone and greeting visitors, admissions, gift shop and special projects. Seasonal 40 hr./week hourly position, starting mid-May, ending in Nov. Must enjoy contact with the public and have excellent communication, inter-personal, computing and financial skills. Background/interest in museum work or cultural tourism highly desired. Also seeking a part-time visitors services assistant. Both positions include weekend work. Send cover letter, resume, and 3 references to: American Precision Museum, PO Box 679, Windsor VT 05089. info@americanprecision.org. No phone calls please.
 

The Carving Studio & Sculpture Center
CALL TO ARTISTS – Members’ Show 2003

The Carving Studio and Sculpture Center invites all artist members, current as of May 1, 2003, to exhibit a work of art in the Annual Members’ Show, May 3 – 25. We will be installing Monday through Friday, April 28 – May 2, and ask that members planning to participate notify us in advance with size and materials of the pieces they will be submitting.

We hope that you will be able to attend the two events planned for Saturday, May 3rd.  The Spring Thaw Sculptors’ Forum will be held at the main Studio building from 2-4 PM and will feature a lively panel discussion on arts education, moderated by founder B. Amore. The opening reception for the Annual Members’ Show will be at the Gallery, 259 Marble Street, 5-7 PM.

To check the status of an existing membership or to sign up for a new one please contact the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center at (802) 438-2097 or carving@vermontel.net.

GRANTS, FUNDING & AWARDS

Opportunities for Action Grants
The Lake Champlain Basin Program recently announced the 2003 Opportunities for Action Local Implementation Grants! The LCBP will award over $140,000 to support local community involvement in the implementation of the comprehensive management plan Opportunities for Action.

Grant programs included in the 2003 Local Implementation Grants are as follows: Partnership Program, Organizational Support, and Annual Priorities.  Cultural heritage and recreation groups are, for the first time, eligible for Organizational Support grants.

The applications must be postmarked or received at the LCBP office by Friday, May 2, 2003. For more information, please visit our website at www.lcbp.org
 

Save America's Treasures
Grant applications due May 20.
www.saveamericastreasures.org
 

National Trust Preservation Honor Awards
Recognize the efforts of individuals, nonprofit organizations, public agencies and corporations whose skill and determination have given new meaning to their communities through preservation.  the deadline is May 1, 2003.  For more information, visit www.nthp.org/preservation_awards/index.html
 

Great American Home Awards
Co-produced by the national Trust and the Old House Journal, these awards are given to homeowners for renovation projects completed in the last five years.  homeowners, professionals, and third party observers (such as preservation organizations) may nominate projects.  The deadline for entry is May 30, 2003.  For contest details, visit www.oldhousejournal.com