Summit on the Future of Vermont

The Council on the Future of Vermont held a "Summit on the Future of Vermont" at UVM's Davis Center on Monday, May 11th. The Council spent 18 months interviewing Vermonters about their "hopes, aspirations and visions for the future of the state." (Yankee's Board of Directors was interviewed in August 2008.) The Council wrote a report summarizing its findings: Imagining Vermont: Values and Vision for the Future. The purpose of the Summit was to present and discuss the report, and provide a platform for the people of Vermont to use the report's findings to move forward.

Each of the 18 individuals on the Council spoke briefly at the Summit about their observations of the project. One of the Council members was Emily Stebbins of UVM's Finance Office. Emily is the daughter of Yankee director Celeste Kane-Stebbins. Emily noted that her mother was in the audience, thus making this a multi-generational event for her family.

One Council member said that she was impressed with the dedication of the people of Vermont to democracy and as evidence she noted the hundreds of people in attendance at the Summit. I had been thinking myself about the composition of the attendees. There were 514 people registered, which I categorized by affiliation as follows: 16% education, 40% nonprofit, 23% government, 14% private for-profit, 7% other or unknown. It seemed to me that the private for-profit sector was under-represented, and the other sectors over-represented.

Several speakers mentioned Vermont's motto: Freedom and Unity. Freedom and unity are often in conflict, of course, and the motto is about seeking the right balance. I heard a lot at the Summit about promoting unity. I didn't hear much about freedom.

Four people represented Yankee at the Summit: Paul Gingue, Celeste Kane-Stebbins, Pam Simek and me.

The Burlington Free Press article about the Summit: Study: Bright Future for Vermont.

UPDATE 6/18/09: The Summit on the Future of Vermont Final Report is now available (8MB PDF file).

43rd Vermont Maple Festival

The Vermont Maple Festival is an annual event that is attended by 1000's of Vermonters and tourists. People gather from all over to celebrate Vermont's finest- Maple Syrup. It is held every year in the St. Albans park and is usually the last weekend in April. Some of the events that are held at the maple festival include a parade w/ the maple king and queen, a youth talent show, local music, the sap run, maple breakfast, etc… Also there are venders set up selling maple treats such as maple cotton candy, sugar on snow, maple creemees and more. They also have a sugarhouse set up in the park that is in use to show people how the process works to make maple syrup. Yankee Farm Credit and Clarence Brown, Inc. sponsored tours to two local sugarhouses: Cody L'esperance in Swanton; and Matt Playful in Fairfield.

AgEnhancement Grants

Farm Credit Awards $32,500 to 19 Northeast Farm Programs

Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement awarded $32,500 in grants to 19 programs in April. (25 organizations requested $101,255 in grant funds)

April AgEnhancement grants bring the total to over one million dollars! Press release forthcoming. Yankee Farm Credit funds the regional program with First Pioneer, Farm Credit of Western New York & Maine Associations and CoBank. Grants usually range from $1,000 to $5,000.

Farm Credit AgEnhancement April 2009 projects funded:
New Jersey Ag in the Classroom, $1,000
Rhode Island Farm Bureau, $1,000
Maine FFA, $1,000
NY Jersey Cattle Club, $2,500
Jersey Cattle Youth Event, $1,500
Vermont Folklife Center, $1,000
NOFA-Massachussets Organic Program, $1,000
NY Wine & Grape Tractor Demo, $5,000
Farm Fresh Rhode Island, $1,000
NY Pork Producers Scholarships, $1,000
New England Apple Association, $1,000
Vermont Feed Dealers Association, $1,000
Genesee Valley Farm Discovery Center, $1,000
University of Maryland Dairy Workshop, $1,000
NY Berry Growers Association, $1,500
Northern Forest Center, $1,000
New Hampshire 4-H Foundation, $1,000
Big E FFA, $5,000
New England Green Pastures, $4,000

Since it's 1996 inception, the program has awarded over $1,016,000 through 371 grants. Funding review deadlines remain August 1, December 1 and April 1. AgEnhancement guidelines and application are posted online at http://www.yankeeaca.com/about/L3/agenhance.htm.

After reviewing the guidelines, organizations are encouraged to e-mail appropriate funding requests, to include:

Cover letter
One-page application
May include supporting information (up to three pages)

Questions may be directed to Bob Smith.

UPDATE 5/11/09: Delivering the grant to Art Whitman of the Vermont Feed Dealers & Manufacturers Association. Looking on is Louise Calderwood, who wrote the grant application. The building in the background is UVM's Davis Center. Art and Louise were at UVM for one meeting and George was at UVM for another meeting, so it made a convenient place to meet.



UPDATE 5/18/09: Delivering the grant to Brent Björkman, Executive Director of the Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury, Vermont. Brent was kind enough to give a tour of the Center to Ken Button and George. The grant will help support the publication of a book titled Forty-Six Years of Pretty Straight Going: The Life of a Family Dairy Farm. This book by George Bellerose is about the Wyman farm of Weybridge.

Board Officers and Committees

At the April 30, 2009 Board meeting, the Board of Directors elected the following officers:

Chairperson - Paul E. Gingue
Vice Chairperson - Rocklyn A. Giroux

Also approved were committee assignments:

Executive Committee
Alan J. Bourbeau
Rupert C. Chamberlin
Paul E. Doton
Paul E. Gingue
Rocklyn A. Giroux

Audit Committee
Rocki-Lee DeWitt
Walter M. Gladstone
Paul F. Saenger
Charles J. Sniffen
Stephen H. Taylor

Compensation Committee
Rupert C. Chamberlin
Rocki-Lee DeWitt
Paul E. Doton
Celeste Kane-Stebbins
Paul F. Saenger

Membership/Governance Committee
Alan J. Bourbeau
Rocklyn A. Giroux
Walter M. Gladstone
Celeste Kane-Stebbins
Charles J. Sniffen