Archive for category: News

We have been asked to post this by the Town of Greensboro and the Greensboro/Stannard Emergency Response Team.   For additional posts, go to the Town website at www.greensborovt.org.

July 1, 2020

Dear Greensboro Neighbors and Guests,

July 4th weekend may be the most popular time of year for families to gather together here in the NEK. The Emergency Response Team would like to take a moment to refresh folks’ understanding of Vermont COVID-19 protocols for new arrivals into the Greensboro/Stannard community–both those who briefly leave VT, then return; and those arriving for the first time.

*** Absence of symptoms does not mean absence of infection. Treat everyone as if you and they are infected. 6-8 feet apart, masks, hand hygiene. ***

State protocols for new arrivals into Vermont give travelers 3 options:

1. Vermont’s county-by-county quarantine-free travel policy allows quarantine-free direct travel to and from designated counties with fewer than 400 active cases of COVID-19 per one million residents in New England, New York, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, DC, and West Virginia, only if traveling in a personal vehicle with no stops on the way.
2. Vermonters and visitors traveling to and from counties where there is higher infection and all other states not listed above, must be quarantined (14 days or 7 days with a negative test result) either in VT or in their home state before driving to VT, non-stop, in a personal vehicle.
3. Any travel into VT via any method other than a non-stop personal vehicle requires quarantine in Vermont–14 days or 7 days followed by a negative test result.

Testing details:

• Date of arrival in VT is Day 0.
• The nearest pop-up COVID-19 test sites are in Hyde Park, St. Johnsbury, Newport, or Barre. Register here: Vermont Pop-Up Testing. If the site is full, go as a walk in. No one is being turned away. Please do not travel far. Find a site that is close and near the date you want to be tested and go in as a walk in even if you have not registered online.
• It is best not to be tested before 7 days of quarantine. Viral load in the nasal cavity is not detectable before day 3. It increases daily with its peak on Day 7 delivering the most accurate results.
• Positive results will be communicated within 48 hours. If no call is received after 48 hours, assume a negative test and the quarantine period is complete. Written results are returned within 5 days.
• If you have symptoms you must be referred through a Vermont health care provider. If you do not have a local provider, call Copley Hospital (888-8888) for a testing referral.

Did your family member leave Greensboro and return? The guidelines state that people hosting travelers do not need to quarantine. When travelers to Vermont who are under quarantine are staying with others in a home or lodging, the people hosting those travelers do not need to quarantine. If they are sharing space with others, people who are under quarantine should stay at least six feet from the people they are sharing the space with and are advised to wear a mask. Disinfect commonly touched surfaces. People in the same household should check themselves for symptoms (self-observation) for 14 days. But because this is a community of elders, we ask for a voluntary extra step–that hosts refrain from circulating in the community and quarantine together.  Risk exists.

Anyone coming to Vermont is strongly encouraged to sign up for a daily symptom check reminder called Sara Alert. It is not a contact tracing system. For more information about how to quarantine, visit the Vermont Department of Health’s quarantine chart.

If you have questions, please call Karl Stein, Greensboro Town Health Officer, at 533-2379 or Christine Armstrong, Greensboro Deputy Health Officer, at 802-363-8500.

Together, we have acted mindfully and intelligently in our approach to COVID-19 both as a state and as a small community. That can’t stop now. The Emergency Response Team will continue to support Greensboro and Stannard as we all carry on, together.

The new Directory of Members of the Greensboro Association is available at Willey’s Store.   Ask for it as part of your phone and online orders to the store, or look for it on the shelves.

If you do not plan to be in Greensboro this summer you can purchase a copy of the directory and we will send it to you via mail.  Please CLICK HERE if you would like to order a directory.

The Greensboro Association will hold its Annual meeting in 2020 on August 6 at 4pm.   More information will be available regarding the location and the program closer to the date.

Thank you for your very generous support of the Greensboro Association’s Community Relief Fund.

If you are considering making a donation, now would be a great time to do so.  We are happy to announce that a very thoughtful summer resident, Rhodes Boester, has teamed up with a wonderfully generous anonymous donor to sponsor a matching program for the Community Relief Fund.  Please support Rhodes’ effort, and the Greensboro Association Community Relief Fund, and have your gift doubled, through a very generous anonymous matching gift!

Hello,

My name is Rhodes Boester, and I am in eighth grade. I live in Rye, NY with my parents and two brothers. During my time at home during this pandemic, I began to think of ways to help people in the Greensboro Community impacted by the Covid-19 epidemic. I spent some time looking at organizations that help those hit hard during these times. One group and cause stood out to me: The Greensboro Association Community Relief Fund. I chose it for many reasons. First, I have spent a lot of time in Greensboro throughout my life, and know how special the community really is. Secondly, it is a small organization, and is likely to not have the resources to help people as large charitable organizations have. There are many small businesses and people who are struggling to make ends meet, and this group is helping them. Please consider a donation, however big or small, to this organization. There are two ways to donate: Either send a check to Greensboro Association, Community Relief Fund, PO Box 59, Greensboro VT. 05841, or visit their website (https://www.greensboroassociation.org/covid/). An anonymous donor will match all donations, up to a sum of $10,000. When donating, mention my name to have your donation matched. 

Thank you,

Rhodes Boester

More information on the Relief fund and on Rhodes’ appeal is available in this May 2 letter to our membership from Vince Cubbage.

Please read this updated EXECUTIVE ORDER from Governor Phil Scott with important information for people traveling to Vermont from other states. It is important to note that anyone crossing the Vermont state line MUST quarantine for 14 days.   As of APRIL 10, the Governor has extended STAY HOME/STAY SAFE order  to May 15.  The current status of Vermonts approach to Covid 19 is available from these Press Releases from the Governor.

April 3 Update

GREENSBORO/STANNARD EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM

April 3, 2020

Dear Neighbors,

We hope this note finds you safe and well.

Our Greensboro/Stannard Emergency Response Team has been meeting daily since Governor Scott’s Covid-19 Emergency Declaration on Friday, March 13, 2020.  Together we are actively planning and implementing strategies that serve to protect and support our community.

In accordance with State of Vermont orders:

We ask that returning community members shelter in place for two weeks after arrival.  The Greensboro Town Health Officers strongly suggests the use of face masks by everyone.

We will deliver supplies and groceries to you.  Please telephone Smith Store at 533-2631 and/or Willey’s Store at 533-2621 to place your order.  They will coordinate with a volunteer ‘runner’ who will leave your items on the front porches of your homes.  All you need to do is to stay home and to give the store a shopping list.  Or notify one of us to facilitate this important process on your behalf.  Walgreens Pharmacies and Kinney Drugs are both offering free delivery as well.

After the first two weeks of your arrival or retreat, please continue to maintain a social distance and stand six feet apart, congregate virtually, and don’t risk illness to others.  We stand together in our hearts.

Sincerely,

Greensboro/Stannard Emergency Response Team.

For further information:

• For health related information visit https://www.healthvermont.gov/
• For a comprehensive COVID-19 resources list visit http://nekcollanorative.org/covid19/
• To request help or volunteer to help, sign up here
• https://sites.google.com/view/nekmutualaid/home?authuser=0

On Friday, March 13, 2020, Vermont Governor Phil Scott filed a Covid-19 Emergency Declaration regarding the COVID 19 Corona virus in Vermont.   The Greensboro Emergency Response Team has been meeting daily since then to actively plan and implement strategies that serve to protect and support our community during these extraordinary and, now, unbelievable times.

Effective March 25, 2020 at 5:00 p.m., Vermont Governor Phil Scott issued a “stay home, stay safe” order effective until April 15, 2020.  The Governor’s order directs Vermonters to stay at home, leaving only for essential reasons, critical to health and safety. All businesses and not-for-profit entities not expressly exempted in the order must suspend all in-person business operations. Operations that can be conducted online or by phone, or sales that can be facilitated with curbside pickup or delivery only, can continue.

Please go to the town website for important information about the Greensboro Emergency Response Team and the efforts to protect and support our Greensboro family during this time.   https://www.greensborovt.org/   Please share this information widely. 

In addition, the Greensboro Emergency Response Team is asking current residents of Greensboro (both seasonal and full-time) to complete this Emergency Response Team survey to support efforts to organize our community in response to the novel Coronavirus. Your response and contact information is critical to efforts to develop effective local, community-wide communications systems and preventative responses.   Please share widely.

If you know someone who is unable to access the internet, please fill this form out on their behalf. (Hard copies are also available at Willey’s, Smith’s, or by request).

To complete this form, click: https://forms.gle/qqpwC5e2ZE7YoLmb9

If you know someone who would like to be added to our email list for further updates, please use this link.   Join our mailing list

For further information:

https://www.vermont.gov/

https://www.healthvermont.gov/

https://www.greensborovt.org/

http://nekcollaborative.org/covid19/

https://sites.google.com/view/nekmutualaid/home?authuser=0

https://www.greensboroassociation.org/

https://www.cdc.gov/

During this time of Social Isolation, after you have taken your solo outdoor walk, your closets and drawers are neat and clean, and you’ve finished every jigsaw puzzle in your home, you might enjoy this web site: www.greensborohistoricalsociety.org.  If you missed the program by Linda Radtke on March 1^st at Fellowship Hall, “From the Parlor to the Polling Place —Stories from the Suffragists”, you will find it here.  (Did you know that 60 Greensboro women signed up to vote at their first opportunity, in the 1920 Presidential Election?)

The video of the Greensboro Town Meeting on March 3^rd is there, as are two recent summer programs by Bobby Farlace-Rubio of the Fairbanks Museum: “The First Vermonters: Indigenous Peoples“ and “Abenaki Nations Past, Present and Future.” Did you miss hearing Janet Long, Tim Nisbet, Anne Hanson, and Jacquie Molleur speak about “The History of Greensboro Garages”  or the entertaining talk by Steve Perkins, Director of the Vt. Historical Society, “Treasures from the VHS attic?  Check them out…

Kyle Gray’s chat with our oldest citizen, 103-year-old Jane Sprenger, is a delight, as are audio tapes with past citizens including Philip Gray with Esther Kesselman, Laurette and Ida Perron, and Donald Drown (under “Research Aids”)

The GHS is indebted to Kyle both for recording these videos and for making our web site a fun place to visit.  We hope you will enjoy it!

The Willey’s Store is accepting phone in orders for pickup at the store. Please consider avoiding the store in person and taking advantage of this feature. It is in everyone’s interest to protect Willey’s and its staff from any infection due to its central and critical role in the Town.

A delivery service run by town volunteers is in place for those who cannot get to Willey’s to pick up their orders.