Circus Smirkus Receives National Award

 

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In January, Circus Smirkus received national recognition for their work and programs at the Celebration of American Circus at Lincoln Center in New York City. The annual celebration, hosted by Circus Now and the Big Apple Circus, honors artists and organizations that have revolutionized circus arts in the United States. Circus Smirkus was the recipient of the second annual Community Impact Award, which is “given annually to a circus artist or organization that has succeeded in harnessing and demonstrating the power of the circus arts for community engagement and social good, and in bringing diverse audiences together through quality programming.

Circus Smirkus continues to engage in the Greensboro community through both its camp and programming at Lakeview Union School. This winter, grades 4-6 benefited from a unicycling program led by Circus Smirkus Camp Director Bill Merrylees during Phys Ed class.

2106 Winter Update

Our members have received the Winter Letter by email. Those who have not “opted out” of paper mailings also received the mailing delivered by the USPS. We look forward to getting your updates, suggestions and new member referrals.

We have been very busy this the fall, addressing a number of issues important to our members. Read the highlights in the Winter 2016 President’s Letter.

Hill Farmstead Recognized as Best Brewery in the World

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Hill Farmstead Brewery once again earned the top spot of “Best Brewer in the World” and “Best Brewer in the US” by RateBeer.com this past weekend. Seven of the brewery’s offerings also made the best beer list. The awards are calculated “based on ten different weighted scales that place an emphasis on reviews of the past year and top performing beers but also includes historical all-around performance, a brewer’s range of performance across styles, and other factors to compare newer and older, larger and smaller brewers under a single method of processing.”

Vermont brewers fared well in this annual ranking, but the top spot honors by a Greensboro business warranted a visit to Willey’s by our local news team, WCAX, on Sunday afternoon.

https://www.wcax.com/category/166239/video-landing-page?clipId=12179352&autostart=true

For more info on the award and rankings of all 22,500 beers, visit ratebeer.com

https://www.ratebeer.com/ratebeerbest/

Congratulations Shaun Hill and Hill Farmstead Brewery!

Upcoming Town Meetings

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Greensboro’s Town Meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 1, 2016.   We will provide more details on this important annual meeting as they become available.

The annual meeting of the Lakeview Union School District will be Thursday, March 10, 2016 at 7:00 PM in the Lakeview Union School Multipurpose Room. Come learn about the FY17 budget, meet school board members, and learn more about our town’s school. The warnings for Lakeview Union and other members of the Orleans Southwest Supervisory Union are located here:

https://www.ossu.org/resources/annual-school-district-meetings

 

Children’s Summer Camps: Registration Open for The Art House Art Camps, Circus Smirkus, and Hosmer Point Saplings Day Camp and Traditional Overnight Camps  

 

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The Art House in Craftsbury offers a variety of programming year-round for adults and children. Registration for their popular children’s summer day camps is open now, and if you register through March there is a 15% discount.

https://www.vermontarthouse.org/classes/summer-camps-for-kid

Hosmer Point is a traditional summer camp located in Craftsbury on Little Hosmer. They offer both sleep-away and day camps, sculling camps for children ages 12-15, and two sessions of Little Bellas Mountain Biking Camp, which is a program for girls ages 11-15. Registration is currently open here:

https://www.hosmerpoint.com/summer-camp/dates-and-rates/ 

Circus Smirkus Camp still has openings for several of its sessions, particularly those earlier in the summer.

And new this year! BIG KID CAMP! Have you ever wanted to run away to the circus? Now is your big chance. Learn some of the skills younger campers have the chance to develop during their session, and still have down time to experience all the other great things Greensboro has to offer. Big Kid Camp is for adults age 21 and up and runs from August 22 to August 24.

Registration info here:

https://smirkus.org/smirkus-camp/#camp-sessions

Sterling College Continuing Education Programs, Summer 2016

Sterling College is offering a host of continuing education opportunities this coming summer. There are opportunities to discover your inner agrarian, brewer, baker, and more. Information and registration is available here:

https://www.sterlingcollege.edu/snaf-2/

GPACT/Mirror Theater Zoning Decision

The Greensboro Development Review Board has approved the recent request for zoning for the Mirror Theater, owned by GPACT.      Members who are interested in this should read the decision and accompanying documents on the Town website.

Upcoming Town Meetings

The Hazard Mitigation Committee will hold its second public meeting on January 15, at 7:00 PM in the Collier Room of the Greensboro Town Hall. This committee is working on an update to the town’s hazard mitigation plan. Dessert and coffee will be provided.

The Greensboro Fire District #1 will hold its annual meeting on January 25 at 7:00 PM at the Greensboro Town Hall. The official warning can be viewed here:

https://www.greensborovt.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Greensboro-Fire-District-No-1.pdf

Greensboro’s Town Meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 1, 2016.   We will provide more details on this important annual meeting as they become available.

Reminder: Greensboro Winter Parking Rules

Winter has been slow to join us this year. Nevertheless, town winter parking rules are in effect from November 1 to April 1.

The parking of vehicles on Town Highway rights-of-way and in turnarounds is prohibited.  Vehicles may be towed at the owner’s expense.

Overnight parking in public parking lots, around the Town Hall Building, or in front of Willey’s store is prohibited.  Vehicles may be towed at the owner’s expense.

Plowing snow across a Town Highway or depositing snow on a Town Highway is a violation of state law and is strictly prohibited.

Trees and brush in the Town Highway right-of-way that are deemed to pose a hazard by the Select Board or the Town Road Foreman may be removed.

Greensboro Awarded Planning Grant

Greensboro was recently awarded a Municipal Planning Grant from the State of Vermont.  Since 1988, the program has supported local community revitalization and planning initiatives by granting over $11 million to 232 cities and towns across Vermont to “help breathe new life into communities, plan for future growth and development and improve Vermont’s quality of life.”  This year the state awarded grants totaling $478,000 to 45 cities and towns to “support local leaders as they create a vision and build consensus on how to make the places they call home stronger.”

Greensboro will use the grant monies to conduct a comprehensive community assessment, which will be the foundation of the updated Town Plan and, ultimately, will dictate any future updates to the Zoning Bylaw.  Working with the Northeastern Vermont Development Association, the Greensboro Planning Commission will create a survey and conduct focus groups and interviews in the assessment process.  We will keep you updated as the process gets underway.

Greensboro Garage Scheduled to Re-open January 2016

The Greensboro Garage will re-open its doors in Greensboro on January 4, 2016. The final day of operations in Hardwick will be December 23. Current office manager of the Hardwick location, Joann Lacasse, is taking over the business from Tim Nisbet and Steve Ferber. The team will be full of familiar faces eager to meet your automotive needs, including Gail, George, Dean, Derek, and Joann, along with new employee Julie.   They have also applied for a permit with the town for a new sign for the business.

Do you need an appointment this January? Call the Hardwick location at 472-6555. After January 4, you can call the Greensboro location at 533-7007.

There are plans afoot for a grand opening celebration at the end of January. Stay tuned for details. Also, while the Greensboro location will not be open the week of the 28th, Joann welcomes folks who are able to stop in and lend a hand with the moving process, or just come by and welcome them back to Greensboro.

Greensboro Community Forum on Act 46, Thursday, December 10

 

Under Act 46 of 2015, communities are being asked to change how school districts and supervisory unions operate to meet student needs and address taxpayer concerns. The Greensboro and Lakeview school boards aim to help build understanding of Act 46, what it means for our students, and how the Greensboro community will move forward to meet the requirements of the law.

Please join us on Thursday, December 10 at 6:30 PM at the Lakeview Union School on Lauredon Avenue in Greensboro, for a conversation about the Act, what we want for our students, and our next steps.

This will be the first of several conversations with our community on this subject. We hope you can join us.

Questions? Contact the school boards at [email protected] or [email protected]. More information on Act 46 is also available at www.ossu.org or by calling the Supervisory Union office at 472-6531, x14.

Important Information about the Mirror Theater Site Visit on Saturday, November 21

 

The site visit by the Greensboro Development Review Board for the amended conditional use application for the theater project will take place this Saturday, November 21 at 11:00 AM. The amended application and models of the proposed construction are available for review at the Greensboro Town Hall or on the town website at www.greensborovt.org.

We have been asked to provide the following important information about this Saturday’s visit.

  1. For safety reasons, no vehicles will be allowed within the project site.
  1. The fire department has asked that no cars be parked in their lot or on their property. Please park at the ball field or along Hardwick Street.
  1. There will be no active construction activities on Saturday. Hard hats will not be required.  Footwear, however, should be appropriate for a construction site where uneven ground is possible.
  1. Although the site won’t be active on Saturday, this is an ongoing construction area. Engelberth Construction will mark off a path along the current driveway and back around the theater building for participants to use during the visit.  For safety reasons, nobody should stray from the marked pathway.

Our Communication Approach

The Association’s communications approach strives to keep our members informed and facilitate a constructive dialog on important issues.

While I am confident that all our residents want what is best for Greensboro, as with every community, there are diverse views on what “best” looks like. Recent developments for the Circus Camp and now plans for the theater represent major changes and have polarized residents. How will the Greensboro change with these projects? What will the impact be to our town services and tax burdens? Are these projects sustainable in the long term? Will these initiatives enhance or detract from what we value most about Greensboro? Naturally these questions are legitimate and should be considered by the community.

Our Association stands for the  principles embodied in our mission which has evolved its initial primary focus on lake environmental protection to a broader focus on both the lake and the Greensboro community.

Our mission is to conceive, advance, and support village initiatives and organizations that enhance our community and to protect Caspian Lake and its surrounding environment for both full and part-time residents of the town of Greensboro.

The Greensboro Association Board of Trustees agreed an approach and policies for communications using a range of channels, including letters, emails, website updates (articles and blog ‘news’ posts) and social media posts (primarily Facebook Page and Group). We seek to stay relevant and true to our mission, while recognizing the diversity of views within our membership. We determined that our role is to foster awareness and facilitate conversation.

So what is our communications approach? Our aim is to facilitate understanding and awareness and provide members with a forum for discussion.

  • We are an entirely a volunteer team and not a professional news organization, but we strive to communicate and share news items that are of interest to our members.
  • We seek to avoid expressing a particular opinion on these matters unless expressly agreed by the board and consistent with our mission and role in the community. We recognize that our board, like the community, represent different points of view on what is best for Greensboro.
  • We encourage constructive dialog and discussion via blog comments and on social media (primarily the Facebook Group).
  • As is typical of most discussion forums, we review blog comments before they are published. Our goal is to publish all comments made by our members, but we reserve the right to not publish a comment that we perceive as inappropriate. A comment is inappropriate if it includes a personal attack or insult or uses inappropriate language.
  • The comments made on blog articles / posts that are published on the website or on social media do not represent the views of the Association. These comments represent the view of the individual commenter.

 

Please share feedback on our approach and policies. You can comment here on this post and you can reach out to me directly or any member of our Communications Committee with your views.

 

 

Subscribe to The Hardwick Gazette

Are you eager to keep up with events and news in the greater Hardwick area, including Greensboro? Subscribe to The Hardwick Gazette to get the full picture. In-state subscriptions are only $35 per year.   Out-of-state rates are only $38/year. Contact them at (802) 472-6521 for details.

Act 46 and Greensboro

Representatives from the Lakeview Union School Board and the Greensboro School Board are participating in an Orleans Southwest Supervisory Union Act 46 discussion group. The two school boards will host the first forum about Act 46 and its implications for the Greensboro community on Thursday, December 10 at Lakeview School.   Representatives from the Orleans Southwest Supervisory Union (OSSU) office will also be present to facilitate an open discussion about the law, which will have implications for all Greensboro residents and taxpayers.   This event will be the first of several community-wide opportunities to help determine the path forward for Greensboro. We will be sending out more information about the event and the next steps for Greensboro as the process unfolds for our town.

Greensboro Development Review Board to Consider Amended Conditional Use Application by Greensboro Area Arts Alliance

The Greensboro Development Review Board will review an amended conditional use application by the Greensboro Area Arts Alliance, now known as the Greensboro Performing Arts Center Trust, on November 30, 2015 at 7:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall of the Greensboro United Church. The amended application is available for review at the Greensboro Town Hall or on the town website at www.greensborovt.org. A site visit will take place on Saturday, November 21, 2015 at 11:00 AM.

Please note that participation in the proceeding on November 30, either in person or in writing, is a prerequisite to the right to make any subsequent appeal to these amendments.

Both the hearing and the site visit are open to the public. Interested persons unable to attend the hearing in person may send a letter to the Development Review Board at the Greensboro Town Clerk’s Office or email ([email protected]).

Photos of the architectural models of the current building design are below. These models are available for viewing at the Greensboro Town Hall during business hours.

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Construction Update for The Mirror Theater

Construction of The Mirror Theater is on schedule for completion in early 2017. Foundation work, including footings and foundation walls, is under way. Construction of the waste water system remains ongoing. The water line is complete and repairs to Hardwick Street following blasting and excavation have been finished well in advance of the winter driving season.

Below is a photo taken from the Center Road slightly above the construction site.

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Greensboro Development Review Board to Consider Amended Conditional Use Application by Greensboro Area Arts Alliance

The Greensboro Development Review Board will review an amended conditional use application by the Greensboro Area Arts Alliance, now known as the Greensboro Performing Arts Center Trust, on November 30, 2015 at 7:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall of the Greensboro United Church. The amended application is available for review at the Greensboro Town Hall or on the town website at www.greensborovt.org. A site visit will take place on Saturday, November 21, 2015 at 11:00 AM.

Please note that participation in the proceeding on November 30, either in person or in writing, is a prerequisite to the right to make any subsequent appeal to these amendments.

Both the hearing and the site visit are open to the public. Interested persons unable to attend the hearing in person may send a letter to the Development Review Board at the Greensboro Town Clerk’s Office or email ([email protected]).

 

Openings on Greensboro Planning Commission and Development Review Board

The Greensboro Planning Commission is seeking a new member to assist with the upcoming community assessment and the subsequent update to the Town Plan.   The Commission usually meets at 7 PM on the second and fourth Monday nights of the month.

 

In addition, the town needs a Second Alternate for the Development Review Board. The DRB meets on an as-needed basis. The board considers the merits of conditional use, variance, and waiver applications, as well as conducts site plan review. Members and Alternates must be residents of Greensboro.

 

Community members interested in either position should send a letter of interest by October 22, 2015 to the Town of Greensboro, Attn: Selectboard, PO Box 119, Greensboro, VT 05841 or send an email to [email protected]. Contact the Town office at 533-2911 with any questions.