Cavendish Update 3/4/22: Election/Recycling/News/Events
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3/4/22
1. Tuesday Election Results
2. Cavendish Info
3. Recycling & Repurposing Your Spring Cleaning
4. Covid update
5. Events
1. TUESDAY’S ELECTION RESULTS: By a margin of 648 to 277, voters in the Green Mountain Unified School District (Cavendish, Chester, Baltimore and Andover) approved a $14,705,015 budget, which is $18,770 per equalized pupil. Of Cavendish’s 1,162 registered voters, only 118 voted on Tuesday.
Chester voters approved retail cannabis. Note that sales are limited to those 21 and up, with public consumption prohibited.
Cavendish’s Town Informational meeting will take place on Monday March 28 in a hybrid format -7 pm, In person at CTES multi-purpose room or via zoom. Voting by Australian ballot will take place the next day, Tuesday, March 29 at the Proctorsville Fire Hall from 10-7. Town Meeting Warning
2. CAVENDISH INFO
• CTES Principal Position offered to Amy Boehrn: At Wednesday’s GMUSD board meeting, the board authorized Superintendent Lauren Fierman to negotiate a contract with Amy Boehrn as CTES's next principal. Boehrn is currently the director of Special Programs for Rescue Union School District in Northern California. According to her letter of January 28th, she has recently relocated to Killington VT with her family. Learn more about her background and references at the TRSU website.
• Black River 100% Campaign for Food, Fuel & Security: Three local organizations – Black River Good Neighbors Services, Senior Solutions, and the Black River Valley Senior Center – have come together to strengthen each household in our communities during the month of March. Thom Simmons, Outreach Specialist for Senior Solutions, noted that “More than 60% of our local seniors who are eligible for food and fuel benefits do not participate in these programs. The Fuel Assistance program alone can provide up to $3,000 annually to help people with their fuel bills, and that’s a lot of money to be ‘leaving on the table’ during a Vermont winter. We want people to understand that participation in these programs helps strengthen local communities and their economies. More than 9 million dollars is added to the Vermont economy each month through the 3SquaresVT program alone, and that doesn’t even include the multiplying effect of those dollars throughout the community.” The Senior Solutions team will be holding ‘open hours’ to answer any questions residents may have related to the 3SquaresVT food benefits and Fuel Assistance programs at the following times and locations: BRGN Food Shelf Wed. March 16 & 30th 10 am to noon; Cavendish Library March 8 (Tuesday) 4-6 and March 26 (Saturday) Noon-2 pm.
• Cavendish Calendar Seeks Entries: The 2023 Calendar theme is “Wildlife in Cavendish.” The deadline to submit photos is June 1st. If you have a wildlife photo taken in Cavendish, and you are a Cavendish/Proctorsville resident or second home owner, submit your entry in one of the following ways: Mail to P.O. Box 605, Cavendish VT 05142, or email as an attachment to cavendishcommunityconservation@gmail.com. All photos must be in landscape format. Print photos should be on 8”x10” non-glossy finish paper, digital photos should be minimum 3MB. All photos become the property of CCCA upon submission. All pictures received will be considered for publication. Actual photos may not be returned and all photos may be used in products created by the CCCA. FMI: cavendishcommunityconservation@gmail.com.
• CCF Accepting Grant Applications: The Cavendish Community Fund CCF has announced that it is now accepting grant applications for spring 2022 awards. The Fund has given grants twice each year for the past fifteen years. Grants will be awarded for cultural, educational or artistic programs, projects or events that benefit the people of Cavendish in some fashion. Filing date is May 2nd. Applications can be made by letter that describes the organization that is applying, the project proposed and the overall budget, including the amount requested. It must also describe how the project will benefit the people of Cavendish. Application instructions can be obtained by emailing CavendishCommunityFund@gmail.com or by mailing to the Cavendish Community Fund, P.O. Box 154, Proctorsville, VT 05153. Projects for which funds are sought must directly benefit the Cavendish community in some way. A panel of local citizens reviews all applications and recommends grant awards based on the quality and feasibility of each proposal. Grants are not expected to exceed $1,000 each and will depend primarily on the number of applications received and the amounts requested. FMI: Douglas McBride at 226-7142 or Peter LaBelle at 226-7250.
• Upcoming Events for the Cavendish Library: March 8 (Tuesday): The Senior Solutions team will be holding ‘open hours’ to answer any questions residents may have related to the 3SquaresVT food benefits and Fuel Assistance 4-6 pm. March 16 (Wednesday): Book Club for Grown Ups, 7-8 pm at Murdock’s on the Green. March 27 (Sunday) 1-2 pm Visit with an author: Howard Coffin, at the Library.
• Free Easter Dinner: Proctorsville Fire Department, Ludlow Fire Dept. and Black River Good Neighbor are providing an Easter Dinner. Curbside Pickup at Ludlow Fire Dept., Saturday, April 16 from 12-2. Dinner includes ham, potatoes, gravy, corn, roll & dessert. Call Angela at 802-356-3823 by April 5 to reserve your free dinner(s).
• “Eight Oh Brew” Opening in Ludlow
• Dinner for Ukrainian Relief: The Ludlow Rotary Club and the United Church of Ludlow are combining efforts to raise money for humanitarian relief for the people of the Ukraine on Saturday, March 19 at the United Church, located at the corner of Elm and Pleasant Streets. Lasagna dinner (vegetarian and gluten free options) which will also include salad, breads and dessert. Take-out meals may be picked up at the church between 5 and 5:30pm while in-church dining will be available from 5:30 to 7. Pre-orders for take-out meals can be made by call 802-228-6275 or emailing Thomson131VT@gmail.com. General donations are also appreciated. They may be made at the Ludlow Rotary Club’s website, or mailed to Ludlow Rotary, PO Box 216, Ludlow, VT 05149. Donations are tax-deductible.
• 2-year-old, 80-year-old die in crash on Rt. 103 in Chester
3. RECYCLING & REPURPOSING YOUR SPRING CLEANING: The first day of spring is not that far off, and the occasional warm day and bright sunshine maybe encouraging spring cleaning. Use the following resources to sustainably rid your home of items that no longer work or you no longer need or want:
• A-Z Recycling and Waste Guide for Southern Windsor County
• Cavendish Transfer Station: Note Cavendish has Zero Sort Recycling; free composting (bring your food scraps); metal recycling; leaves, grass and other yard waste; free E-waste recycling (batteries, electronics, computers, TVs etc.)
• Shaws and area grocery stores will take plastic bags
• Medications: Ludlow Pharmacy and Ludlow Police have drop boxes for unused medications.
• Cavendish Facebook Market Place Cavendish
• Annual Cavendish Town Wide Tag Sale: July 30 9-2
4. COVID UPDATE: For local information on testing, vaccinations, boosters, notifying contacts as well as other resources, including for Long Covid, please see the Cavendish COVID-19 Resource Guide.
WEEKLY DATA: Note, school data has not been updated for the last two weeks.
Cavendish & Surrounding Towns For the week ending February 23, Cavendish had 1 new case 178 total; Ludlow 2 (331 total); Chester 2 (636 total); and Weathersfield 2 (262). Springfield had a significant jump in cases from 38 the prior week to 81 (1,991 total) this week. In part this is attributed to an outbreak at the Springfield Correctional Facility.
State: The Governor’s weekly press conference was moved from Tuesday, Town Meeting Day, to Thursday. The big announcement was related to the state adopting the CDC’s new COVID risk guidelines particularly their mask wearing guidelines.
Due to Vermont’s size, the state will not be following the CDC’s county-by-county designation but rather are basing changes on hospital capacity and not number of new cases. “We’ll have to react accordingly as we always have, watching the data and hospitalizations and making determinations based on the information at hand. But we should take advantage of it while we can,” said Gov. Phil Scott.
As of March 14, the following changes will take place:
- Those who test positive are recommended to isolate for 5 days.
- Close contacts and not up to date on their vaccines should be tested but do not have to quarantine.
- Lifting masking recommendations for all indoor public spaces
- Optional masks in all schools and buses regardless of vaccination levels
- COVID testing in schools will continue, but those will also be phased out over time.
Moving to a “flu like” strategy, in the coming weeks, the state’s active response will shift. State-run testing and vaccination will be phased out, with at home testing and vaccinations from pharmacies replacing it. People will need to determine their own risk and act accordingly. “The decision to wear a mask will be up to each person based on their own circumstances and health needs,” according to State Epidemiologist Patsy Kelso.
The Modeling Report for March 2 states: COVID-19 cases in Vermont continue to decline, with the state averaging 163 cases per day on a seven-day average. This represents a 91% decrease since the Omicron variant peaked in Vermont in January 2022, with cases now at the same level as September 2021. CDC modeling predicts these favorable trends will continue in Vermont, the Northeast, and across the United States. Hospitalizations have also dropped precipitously as the Omicron wave subsides: new admissions for the virus have dropped by more than a third in the last week while the ICU inpatient census has fallen by half. Hospitalizations continue to be more common among older Vermonters: those over 65 are more than 17 times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID than those under 24. Unvaccinated adults are also at increased risk with quadruple the rate of hospitalization compared to their boosted peers. Deaths were unevenly distributed in Vermont during the month of February, with nearly 60% of the 57 fatalities occurring in the first half of the month. Modeling forecasts deaths will continue to slow in the coming weeks.
5. EVENTS
MARCH 8 (TUESDAY) 4-6 pm at the Cavendish Library. The Senior Solutions team will be holding ‘open hours’ to answer any questions residents may have related to the 3SquaresVT food benefits and Fuel Assistance
MARCH 13 (SUNDAY): Spring forward. Daylight savings returns. Move clocks ahead one hour.
MARCH 14 (MONDAY): Cavendish Select Board Meeting, 6:30 PM at the Cavendish Town Office
MARCH 16 (WEDNESDAY) March 16: Book Club for Grown Ups, 7-8 pm at Murdock’s on the Green. FMI: Kata at 802-226-7503
MARCH 26 (SATURDAY) Noon-2pm at the Cavendish Library. The Senior Solutions team will be holding ‘open hours’ to answer any questions residents may have related to the 3SquaresVT food benefits and Fuel Assistance
MARCH 27 (SUNDAY): 1-2 pm Visit with an author: Howard Coffin, at the Cavendish Library. FMI: Kata at 802-226-7503
MARCH 28 (MONDAY): Hybrid Town Informational Meeting; 7 pm. In person at CTES multi-purpose room or via zoom.
MARCH 29 (TUESDAY): Cavendish Voting Day by Australian Ballot. 10-7 at the Proctorsville Fire Department.
APRIL 1 (FRIDAY): Dog License for Cavendish renewal due
APRIL 5 (TUESDAY): Registrations for Free Easter Dinner due today. Call Angela at 802-356-3823 reserve your free dinner(s).
APRIL 15 (FRIDAY): Town Office closed for Good Friday
APRIL 17 (SUNDAY): HAPPY EASTER
MAY 2 (MONDAY): Grant applications for the Cavendish Community Fund are due. FMI: Douglas McBride at 226-7142 or Peter LaBelle at 226-7250.
JUNE 1 (WEDNESDAY): CCCA’s Cavendish Calendar Photography Contest photographs are due today. FMI: cavendishcommunityconservation@gmail.com.
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